Tag: Chargers draft pick

Chargers 2024 first-round draft pick set

The Chargers are sitting pretty in terms of positioning.

The Los Angeles Chargers’ season concluded Sunday afternoon after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Finishing with a 5-12 record, their position for the first round of the 2024 NFL draft is locked in.

The Chargers own the No. 5 overall pick. Had the Cardinals defeated the Seahawks, Los Angeles would’ve held the No. 4 overall selection.

The previous five players selected No. 5 overall have been cornerback Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks), edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux (Giants), wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (Bengals), quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins) and linebacker Devin White (Buccaneers).

The NFL draft kicks off from Detroit, MI on April 25th and ends on April 27th.

We’ll be spending the next few months covering potential draft prospects for the Chargers, and there will be plenty of mock drafts.

2024 NFL draft order: Where Chargers are projected to pick after Week 17

How the loss to the Broncos impacted the Chargers’ current draft positioning.

The Chargers fell to 5-11 after losing to the Broncos.

After the loss, Los Angeles is still projected to have the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Here is a look at the top 10 selections after Week 17:

1. Chicago Bears (from CAR, 2-14)

Panthers’ strength of schedule: .518

2. Washington Commanders (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .515

3. New England Patriots (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .518

4. Arizona Cardinals (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .562

5. New York Giants (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .514

6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .526

7. Tennessee Titans (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .529

8. New York Jets (6-10)

Strength of schedule: .507

9. Atlanta Falcons (7-9)

Strength of schedule: .423

10. Chicago Bears (7-9)

Strength of schedule: .463

Instant analysis of the Chargers’ pick of TCU QB Max Duggan at No. 239 overall

What the selection of Max Duggan means for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Well, it seems like the Chargers were big fans of TCU’s College Football Playoff run.

After selecting Quentin Johnston at 21 and Derius Davis in the fourth round, LA went back to the Horned Frog well, capping their draft with quarterback Max Duggan at the 239th overall pick.

A 4.52 athlete, matching Johnston, Duggan finished with a 7.12 RAS that was largely weighed down by his agility scores. After beginning the 2022 season as the backup due to a coaching change, Duggan returned to the starting lineup after an injury and blossomed into a Heisman Trophy finalist.

With 47 career games under his belt, Duggan has plenty of experience against high-level competition. He finished with 9,618 passing yards and 73 touchdowns to just 28 interceptions. Those passing numbers were buoyed with 1,856 rushing yards for 28 more touchdowns over his four seasons in Fort Worth.

The Chargers will, of course, hope that Duggan doesn’t have to see the field anytime soon given the existence of Justin Herbert. However, Duggan should compete with Easton Stick for the primary backup job, and his mental makeup will add value as a scout team quarterback and another pair of eyes in the position room.

With ample athleticism for the position, Duggan will be able to simulate some of the more mobile quarterbacks the Chargers will have to face next season. There may also be some room for him to see the field in designed run packages if Kellen Moore wants to get creative with his offensive personnel.

And, of course, Duggan’s chemistry with Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis will likely help all three players transition to the NFL.

Bottom line: the Chargers got their backup QB of the future, one who’s familiar with all their new weapons.

Instant analysis of the Chargers’ pick of Washington State LB Daiyan Henley at No. 85 overall

What the selection of Daiyan Henley means for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Brandon Staley has taken a linebacker on Day 2.

Washington State’s Daiyan Henley became the latest rookie to join the fold Friday after being selected with the 85th overall pick. A former wide receiver at Nevada, Henley has just four seasons of experience at linebacker, including one in which he suffered a season-ending injury.

By his third year at the position, Henley was an All-Mountain West second team selection, leveraging that selection into a transfer from Nevada to Washington State. In just one season as a Cougar, he finished as a Butkus Award finalist and was selected to the All-Pac-12 first team.

Henley’s closest comparison by RAS is Bucs and Jets linebacker Kwon Alexander, a 2017 Pro Bowler and overall solid starter at the position. While undersized, Henley boasts elite testing numbers in every area except the vertical jump.

For the Chargers, Henley will likely serve as a one-to-one replacement for Drue Tranquill, who left for the Chiefs this offseason. He’s an elite coverage linebacker – his background as a wide receiver shows in spades when mirroring routes in man coverage and changing directions. He’s developed as a pass rusher every season, to the point that he’s now a valuable situational rusher. He’ll also contribute right away on special teams, a must for a Staley player.

Henley should be thrown into a competition for a starting spot right away in LA, whether it’s wrestling with Kenneth Murray for a spot in the 4-2-5 formation or taking a third starting job in more traditional fronts. He’ll also provide Eric Kendricks and Murray with a reasonable third option to keep the veterans fresh.

There are some small concerns with Henley’s instincts, but LA will be under the impression that Staley’s coaching will iron those issues out given the rookie’s lack of experience as a defensive player.

Bottom line: the Chargers got another instant impact player in this draft, and Henley should be a valuable piece of a growing defense.

2023 NFL draft: Chargers pick LB Daiyan Henley with No. 85 overall selection

The Chargers added a playmaker to their linebacker room in Round 3.

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The Chargers have taken former Washington State linebacker Daiyan Henley with the No. 85 overall selection in the 2023 NFL draft.

Los Angeles needed more playmakers in the middle of the defense, even after the addition of Eric Kendricks, and Henley gives them just that.

Henley finished his first and only season at Washington State with 106 tackles – second in the Pac-12 – adding 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception. The Nevada transfer was the only Cougar named to the All-Pac-12 first team.

At 6 feet and 230 pounds, Henley has the speed and range to make plays sideline-to-sideline and downhill. His length gives him a great tackling radius and he misses very few tackles. As a former safety, Henley is proven in coverage. And as a former edge defender, he can get home as a blitzer.

Instant analysis of the Chargers’ pick of USC DL Tuli Tuipulotu at No. 54 overall

What the selection of Tuli Tuipulotu means for the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers have added more pass-rush presence.

Tuli Tuipulotu can play on the inside or outside – while he primarily played on the interior for the Chargers, he shed weight from 290 to just 266 pounds at the combine, suggesting he’ll play on the edge once he returns to Los Angeles. However, he did not test prior to the draft with a hamstring injury.

That’s where Tuipulotu’s proximity to the Chargers likely comes into play. As a local player, any visit he took with LA did not count against their 30-player limit, meaning the Chargers may have been able to gain more clarity on his status than other teams around the league.

The rookie’s flexibility illustrates a key point about Brandon Staley’s defense: versatility is key. Tuipulotu can stick on the edge, where his power will be too much for tackles to handle. As a rookie, he’ll likely kick inside a fair bit with Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack both on the field, where his quickness off the snap will be too much for guards and centers to compete with. With Bosa and Mack’s contracts both ballooning beyond 2023, it also gives the Chargers the flexibility to move on from one of their two stars heading into 2024.

While he was a 2022 unanimous All-American, Tuipulotu is only an average tackler who has some stiffness to his game. Those two factors are reasonable causes for concern. But his arsenal of pass rush moves and first step are ready-made for the NFL. As a rookie, he can see the field as a designated pass rusher from anywhere on the line while he improves his tackling ability and finds his true home. The Chargers are one of the few teams with that leeway.

Bottom line: this is a pick for both the present and future. Tuipulotu will contribute right away, with the upside of becoming an impact all-around player.

Watch Quentin Johnston’s reaction to being drafted by Chargers

See Quentin Johnston’s reaction to the Los Angeles Chargers taking him in the 2023 NFL draft.

Wide receiver Quentin Johnston was selected No. 21 overall by the Chargers in the 2023 NFL draft.

As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell read the pick, Johnston, who was accompanied by family and friends, was in joyous tears.

Los Angeles’ social media account shared the video of Johnston soaking it all in.

Check it out:

Instant analysis of the Chargers’ pick of WR Quentin Johnston at No. 21 overall

What the selection of Quentin Johnston means for the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers have finally done what we’ve all asked them to do all offseason: add playmaking to the wide receiver room.

While Quentin Johnston only runs a 4.52 40 yard dash, putting him in the range of every other wide receiver on the team, he adds juice after the catch that the rest of the Chargers roster simply does not have. His explosion grades are elite, with higher than 95th percentile marks in both the vertical and broad jumps.

If there’s a player on the Chargers roster to compare Johnston to, it’s likely Mike Williams. That’s an important distinction to make, as one of Williams or Keenan Allen is bound to be off the roster by the start of the 2024 season. Johnston’s selection makes Williams’ departure much more likely, an outcome that was already likelier than Allen’s given the latter’s chemistry with Justin Herbert.

There are some fair concerns when it comes to Johnston, however. While he stands 6’2 ¾”, he jumps to make nearly every catch, a reflection of his rather poor hands. Drops have also been an issue in his career at TCU, but the Chargers will hope that those problems were due more to shoddy accuracy from QB Max Duggan than problems with Johnston.

Down the field, Johnston is a viable option in the same way Williams is: while he’s not a true burner, he can create downfield push with his route-running tempo and big frame that always threatens a contested catch. Johnston does extend outside of his frame to make catches in these situations with some regularity.

With his combination of high-point ability and shake after the catch, Johnston is a three-level playmaker, one of the traits the Chargers have publicly emphasized repeatedly when speaking about the position. His first season requires less impact, which gives him more time to iron out his flaws before blossoming as an electric playmaker in Year 2 and beyond.

Bottom line: this is the player L.A. has been looking for all offseason.

A look back at No. 21 overall selections in NFL draft from last decade

Find out who has been picked with the No. 21 overall selection in the past ten drafts.

With the Chargers picking 21st overall, here is a look at the past ten years of No. 21 selections in the NFL draft.

2022 NFL draft: Chargers pick CB Ja’Sir Taylor with No. 214 overall selection

The Chargers addressed the cornerback room at pick No. 214.

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The Chargers have taken former Wake Forest cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor with the No. 214 overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft.

Taylor logged 184 tackles, six interceptions, 24 passes defended, one sack, one forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries in 62 career games.

Taylor also returned kicks in his final season, averaging 26.3 yards per attempt, including one touchdown, on eight attempts.

At his Pro Day, Taylor recorded a 4.39-second 40-yard dash and a 1.54-second 10-yard split. Taylor also amassed a 37-inch vertical jump, 10’5″ in the broad jump, and a 6.84 three-cone drill.

At 5-foot-11 and 188 pounds, Taylor has the speed, fluidity, physicality, and ball skills to compete for a roster spot.