B-
Los Angeles Chargers
A sensible, unshowy class lands the Chargers a B-.
by Zouls ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 1 steals
· 5 reaches
Nobody had Michael Barrett this high, and it is not close. The Chargers reached 83 spots to get him at Round 4, Pick 6.
Watts at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster. A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. Cornerback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 5th overall pick they get a moveable chess piece at tight end. A real need, handled.
Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in pick No. 37 is fair value, right on his grade. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Audric Estime in slot 69 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The roster fit checks out.
They reached a country mile for Michael Barrett at pick 106, and the board is aghast. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A premium they did not need to pay, Drake Nugent a notch or two before his time. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A real head-scratcher, AJ Barner in the Round 6 slot is miles ahead of his ranking. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Trevor Keegan this early at No. 223. It fills a real need, too.
Ryan Watts at pick 256 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.