B
Los Angeles Chargers
Speights should have been long gone. The Chargers pounced, and earned a B.
by Proppingupthebargmailcom ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Chargers watched Omar Speights slide 34 picks past his grade and did not hesitate. Nothing here to lose sleep over; call it a B.
The interior defensive lineman spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. The Barner reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade.
The trade work was a quiet net positive. The roster is better shaped than it was, with edge rusher chief among the fixes.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the interior defensive lineman spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 7 they get a moveable chess piece at tight end. A clean fit for the roster.
Quinyon Mitchell in slot 37 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A slide stopped in the Round 2 slot, with Keon Coleman worth more than the price. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They paid sticker price for Junior Colson in the 69th overall pick, and that is fine. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They went early on Nelson Ceaser in Round 4, Pick 6, and the value did not follow. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
By-the-book stuff, Malik Mustapha at pick 139 squarely in line with his ranking. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They let LaDarius Henderson come to them and pounced at pick No. 183. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached a country mile for AJ Barner at the 184th pick, and the board is aghast. It fills a real need, too.
A tidy little value on Jawhar Jordan in No. 223, a step better than break-even. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
You do not let a linebacker like Omar Speights reach pick 256 and blink. They did not. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.