This past weekend I was asked to take part in a fans mock draft as a Chargers team representative. I was one of 4 reps for the Los Angeles Chargers. Draft rounds 1-2 were on Saturday 4/18 (7 min between picks) and rounds 3-7 (5 min between pick) were on Sunday 4/19. Each team started out with the exact same picks their team currently has for the 2026 NFL Draft. From 4/13 until noon EST on 4/17, teams were able to trade picks and players to shape the roster. After that deadline only picks were allowed to be traded. Future picks are allowed to be traded, but those deals will not carry over to next year’s mock, but to make sure there were no far fetched trades, there was veto power by the moderators, and participants used the draft trade charts for proper value. There was a fair amount of wheeling and dealing with players and picks until Friday 4/17, but the trades were hard to come by after that deadline and before the draft. Without wanting to make any unrealistic moves, our goal was to add at least one pick if possible in Rounds 2-7 and we were up to sliding down whenever possible in the first three rounds to make that happen. Even though we had 4 reps there were only 2 of us that were active the week before the draft and I was the only one that agreed to stick around for day 2 full time. I think most Charger fans would be happy with what we ended up with.
Day 1
- We were not able to make any moves pre draft that were logical so we went into Day 1 with the exact picks we have
- As we got past pick 10, and certain players were still on the board after some surprise picks, the phones were ringing for possible trades. We had a sweet trade lined up with KC of all teams where we gave up 22 and 55 for 26 and 40, but it fell through when Pitt took WR Jordyn Tyson at pick 21 who was who they were targeting.
- We didn’t get another trade offer so we selected Edge TJ Parker at 22
- We were getting some offers for 55 but nothing that was close to value and we loved who was on the board, so we selected OG Keylan Rutledge at 55.
Day 2
- I started reaching out to teams after Rd1 finished about a trade down for pick 96. I was able to secure a deal with NE. We gave up 86/123 for 95/125/198. Slight trade down but we received an extra pick in Rd6 which is what we wanted.
- After I made our pick at 1.25 there was a player that was still on the board that I really wanted and he would never make it to the 6th Rd so I offered a 2027 3rd to SF for pick 4.138 (realizing that trading away this pick has no bearing on next years mock draft picks for this exercise made it easier)
- I made one last trade with Miami for a slight move up in Rd6 by trading 6.198/6.204 for 6.189/7.227 to secure another player that fits what we need and shouldn’t have been around at 6.189
2026 Mock Draft Picks for LAC
1.22- Edge TJ Parker, Clemson
2.55- OG Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech
3.95 (Trade w/NE) DB Treydan Stukes, Arizona
4.125 (Trade w/NE) OG/C Brian Parker II, Duke
4.138 (Trade 2027 3Rd pick to SF) WR Brenan Thompson, Mississippi State
6.189 (Trade w/ Mia) TE Dallin Bentley, Utah
7.221 (Trade w/ Mia) DT Cameron Ball, Arkansas
My Thought Process on the Day 2 Picks
- 3.95- Stukes plays a big nickel/slot role similar to Derwin, so while he is not a traditional CB, he is also very good in 2 high so he gives us needed depth at DB and fits the scheme very well.
- 4.125- Brian Parker played OT at Duke, but projects as an OG/OC and even took snaps there in the pre draft process. He gives us depth at IOL and can be groomed to be the backup C, with an eye toward the starting job in 2-3 years.
- 4.138- Thompson is an absolute burner that has return ability. After addressing the trenches and secondary, MM finally gets a toy.
- 6.198- Bentley needs to improve as a blocker but he is a quality receiver who can be another weapon for the offense
- 7.221- Ball projects as a 5th round rotational NT type DL. He was a real value here and adds more beef to a good unit.
I can’t express how much fun this Mock Draft was. We had the exact same tools to use in our bag as a real GM. We had direct private messaging access to each team’s reps to make deals, we had all the same draft capital from 2026, 2027 and 2028 that our team possesses and access to every player on the roster to be traded before the draft. There was also a Google doc distributed before the draft to each team, which was also continuously updated throughout, showing each teams draft picks, draft selections and trades. Just a phenomenal and fun experience for any draft nerd. Looking forward to the experience again next year as all reps that participated are automatically invited back. I will leave the Google Link below to see the final draft picks and trades made by each team. Let me know how you feel about this draft haul and what you would have done differently or any trades that you would have made/not made.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZluQtWYPNAvtTuxq3aE1k7vOuLPuAjOTfIASY3TwoO4/htmlview
