'07 draftee Waters sat out rookie year
By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 21, 2008
Not a rookie and not a veteran but something in between, Anthony Waters finally will be set loose this week.
Rookies, quarterbacks and players coming off injury will practice for the first time this morning at Chargers Park in advance of the official start of training camp on Friday.
Waters won't be practicing today, because there was nothing medically wrong with him at the end of last season, and he technically has a year of experience in the NFL.
But with Waters having never played a game and not having been entirely healthy in 2007, this training camp will be the first time he can really begin to prove himself.
Waters will be one of the most intriguing figures in this Chargers training camp because of that idleness, because his role could be enhanced early by the four-game suspension fellow linebacker Stephen Cooper will serve in September, and because he just might be scary good.
“I am so ready,” Waters said recently. “It was hard watching last year and wanting to be a part of it. It's very frustrating. You want to be out there, but you know you're not 100 percent. I did everything except play.”
A torn anterior cruciate ligament in the first game of his senior season at Clemson dried up expectations of being a first-round pick, but Waters worked hard to ready himself for a pro day workout. The Chargers took a chance on him in the 2007 draft's third round, and Waters expected to be healthy enough to see game action last season. The Chargers, too, held out hope for a while, though Waters was always considered a project.
Ultimately, his knee and the team's depth at inside linebacker kept him inactive all season. He practiced daily, went to every meeting and studied film but never dressed for a game.
There is a difference between being able to get through a practice and being able to play at NFL speed and NFL strength on Sundays.
“I didn't have any limitations in practice,” Waters said. “But I was still hobbling around, sore at times. My knee was having its days. I didn't get healthy until about the midpoint of the season. I did everything I had to do in practice and the weight room. I had to mentally prepare myself in practice. At one point they were talking about letting me play. I had to stay focused.
“I really, really wanted to play, but there was something inside of me telling me, 'No. Just be patient and wait.' ”
An ACL at less than full strength limits a player's starting and stopping ability.
“Certain plays, I knew I could have made a play, but trying to get my knee going, it just wouldn't,” Waters said. “I wanted to do it, but my knee wouldn't let me get that turnover, that speed I needed.”
During workouts in the spring, Waters showed how much progress he has made – mentally and physically.
“He's starting to show what we thought he would,” inside linebackers coach Ron Rivera said last week. “He's a big body (6-3, 238) that can run. That's one of the things he impressed us with in minicamp. He ran really well.”
Said coach Norv Turner: “I see him as fully recovered. He's got a lot better understanding of what we're asking him to do. I'm excited to see him playing in preseason games. I think he's one of the guys that really gets going when the action starts.”
The memory is still there for those who saw Waters play in two exhibition games last year of a kid who liked to bash and was good at it.
“I was impressed with Anthony when he played in the preseason with how aggressive he is,” Turner said. “And he was far from 100 percent.”
Now, with a year of seeing what is required of an NFL player and learning the Chargers defense, Waters is demonstrating signs that he could be a future starter. Perhaps that won't be this season, but someday soon. And his presence will provide not only depth but pressure.
“There are starters who are going to feel the heat from young guys,” Rivera said.
Waters is ready.
“It's still like being a rookie all over again,” he said. “I haven't played since the preseason. It's starting all over, but I have a head start on the playbook, so I feel a little more comfortable in the defense.”
You'll do anything to rain on my Siler parade. Dead in the Waters, yep... DEAD! 
Charger fans are prety excited about him. If he can produce for those 4 games.....Cooper might not get back on the field...ETA..Although I felt similar to Dobbins and we know how that turned out...lol..
I have both so....
I have both so....
I have both so....
