Max Tuerk suffered a serious knee injury last October.
It limited him in the pre-draft process, but it won't impede him from competing when it matters.
The Chargers drafted the former USC center Friday in the third round. Recovery from his knee injury is "coming along well," Tom Telesco said, the general manager adding that he expects Tuerk to compete for the starting center job this season.
Tuerk played center, guard and tackle for the Trojans.
Chargers offensive line coach Jeff Davidson spoke with him at length in recent months, once meeting him in March at a restaurant in Tuerk's hometown of Trabuco Canyon, Calif.