After a day on which they boldly traded to get the backup running back they desired, the Chargers are left still searching for offensive tackle depth.

“Of course we're looking at the tackle position,” General Manager A.J. Smith said last night. “We'd love to have depth and good players. The search is on.”

With tackle as one of their top priorities – if not their No. 1 priority – going into the NFL draft, the Chargers emerged at the end of the two-day selection meeting having added only one tackle, taken in the seventh and final round.

At present, they have starting tackles Marcus McNeill and Jeromey Clary and practice squad tackle Tony Pape on the roster.

“A.J. made it clear we were going to look at tackles, corners and (running backs),” head coach Norv Turner said. “With the way the draft came up . . . the tackles we thought could help us were not there.”

There is time.

A crop of undrafted free agents will be signed in the coming days. A number of veteran tackles might become available between now and September.

The Chargers have, at most, six roster spots available, probably fewer.

“We've got a complete team,” Turner said. “We've got a starting group on both sides. Now, where are the guys who can come in and contribute?”

The definite answers from the weekend: first-rounder Antoine Cason, the team's lone pick on Saturday, who will be expected to win the No. 3 cornerback job; third-rounder Jacob Hester, a strong and deceptively quick running back out of LSU who, after Smith traded for the rights to pick him, is Michael Turner's heir apparent; and another running back, Marcus Thomas of Texas-El Paso, selected with the Chargers' compensatory pick at the end of the fifth round.

Other possibilities from the weekend: Boston College cornerback DeJuan Tribble, taken in the sixth round; and seventh-round pick Corey Clark, an offensive tackle from Texas A&M.

Funny that the Chargers finally got a tackle with their final pick. They had been stymied from starting off the draft with one when an unprecedented eight tackles were selected before they picked at No. 27.

“We came up one pick short,” said Turner, who along with the rest of the Chargers brass watched Houston trade into the 26th spot and take tackle Duane Brown of Virginia Tech.

“One way or another, something is not going to get filled,” said Smith, who had just five draft picks to work with this year because of two 2007 trades and the selection of defensive back Paul Oliver in last summer's supplemental draft.

The Chargers traded into the third round early yesterday morning.

With the 69th pick, acquired from New England, the Chargers took Hester. Considered a 5-foot-10 fullback, Hester was listed by the Chargers as a running back when they selected him, and that is what he is expected to be. They need a primary backup to LaDainian Tomlinson since Michael Turner left in free agency.

So impressed was Smith by Hester that the GM made New England an offer he felt it couldn't refuse, sending the Patriots a second-round pick in 2009 and a fifth-round pick this year.

“This is the guy we wanted,” Smith said.

Asked when he first targeted Hester, Smith said, “When I left the LSU campus in November.”

Hester, a standout special teams player as well, was flattered.

“For him to trade a second-round pick for me, it makes it that much more special,” Hester said.

Thomas (6-2, 215) was taken with the compensatory pick awarded to the Chargers for losing Donnie Edwards in free agency last year. He will make training camp interesting and should make the roster as a fifth running back and special teams player.

“We're going to create a very, very competitive situation,” Turner said. “Michael is a pure tailback. Jacob is a tailback but gives us more flexibility (to possibly line up at fullback at times). Jacob is an outstanding player. He's a complete player. . . . We see him as a running back but certainly a guy we can use at other spots.”

Tribble (5-9, 190) was considered one of the nation's top cornerback prospects before last season, but inconsistent play and a sprained MCL late in the season dropped him. Clark (6-6, 330) might be destined to begin his career on the practice squad.

Playing futures

The trade for Hester cost the Chargers a second-round draft pick in next year's draft, the second consecutive April in which Smith has mortgaged a pick.

Last year, Smith sent his 2008 third-rounder as part of a package to move up and select safety safety Eric Weddle.

“It won't be a steady diet of me doing this,” Smith said. “It just happened to be back-to-back scenarios.”

The Chargers still have eight picks to work with in the '09 draft, as they will receive at least two compensatory picks (at least fourth-rounders) for losing Drayton Florence and Michael Turner in free agency this year.

“It makes it easier for you because you know you're not stripping your draft,” Smith said of having the compensatory picks.

Three No. 1s

The Chargers' top three corners were all first-round picks – starters Quentin Jammer (No. 5 in 2002) and Antonio Cromartie (No. 19 in 2006) and now Cason (No. 27 this year).

“It's a great opportunity for me to come and play behind two great corners,” Cason said. “I'll just watch how they do things. Everything else will come.”

Minicamp

The Chargers hold minicamp this weekend.

Friday's practice is closed to the public because of lack of parking. Saturday's 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. workouts and Sunday's 11 a.m.-1 p.m. session are open to the public.

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Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com