C-
Los Angeles Chargers
The phones sank the Chargers this weekend: C-.
by Cashydemon ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 2 steals
· 11 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Chargers started one anyway for Jackie Marshall, 146 picks ahead of schedule.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. Stukes falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through quarterback. Job largely done: edge rusher settled and 6 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Not a disaster, not a triumph, just a middling class.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 29 they get a weapon on the perimeter, a steep price for the projection. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
They reached into another round for Domonique Orange, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
DJ Campbell in pick 86 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Treydan Stukes at the 123rd pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Genesis Smith in the 124th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A reach for Reggie Virgil in pick No. 154; a little patience would have been rewarded. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Caleb Douglas in pick No. 155 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Lake McRee at slot 174 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A need, and now a little less of one.
They reached a country mile for Deven Eastern at Round 6, Pick 23, and the board is aghast. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Brent Austin at No. 211 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Garrett DiGiorgio at the 233rd pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It fills a real need, too.
Value said wait; Isaac Smith in pick 250 says they were not listening. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jackie Marshall in the Round 7 slot, miles early. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.