F
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers answered their biggest question with Daniels. Grade: F.
by DutchNugget ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 0 steals
· 15 reaches
The Chargers spent real capital to be 220 picks early on Jacob Dobbs, and the board is going to hold them to it. About as rough as the board gets, and a F to prove it.
Whatever Jayden Daniels becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped tight end, which is a strange place to end up.
It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
In the end, a class that has to defy its grades just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 1 they get a home-run threat at receiver at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the Round 1 slot they get the face of the franchise. A real need, handled.
In slot 10 they get a potential shutdown corner at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jonathon Brooks well ahead of where he belonged. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A conviction pick on Javon Foster at pick No. 44 that the board grades a round light. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Marist Liufau in the 72nd overall pick is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A minor itch, scratched.
They paid up for Howard Cross III at the 108th overall pick when waiting would have done the job. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Ainias Smith at No. 145 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Joe Milton III in the 149th pick, miles early. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A big swing on Jacob Dobbs at the Round 6 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
A premium they did not need to pay, Ricky Pearsall a notch or two before his time. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They liked Reuben Fatheree II enough to skip the value, taking him in pick 214. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Jordan Jefferson in pick No. 216 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jayson Jones at slot 218 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Aaron Lewis at slot 221 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A reach on J.J. Weaver in the Round 7 slot; the board had better options right there. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jordan Toles at the 233rd pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They talked themselves into Isaiah Davis at Round 7, Pick 36, and the board did not agree. It fills a real need, too.