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Now I want to see where my boy Emmanwori lands.
Great player. I can see a Pro Bowl in his future. Near future. Hortiz raising the floor again, but dang that’s a lot of draft to spend on that player at that position. I hope he runs it down everyone’s throats for the next five years. And I hope he starts practicing a sweet TD dance.
He's a Bolt. Wish him a SB ring as a Charger.
Good night.
Interesting to see these last 4 picks. Board fell very weird for what these teams need. Tyliek was a surprise for Detroit but they needed DL or IOL help.
I guess Greens off field issues were pretty damaging. With that aside, whoever takes him is getting a steak from a talent perspective.
Well, I slept on the pick and my muted but obviously displeased response last night. I actually dozed just before the pick and woke to a buddy texting me about it so part of my response was confusion...lol.
So.....apparently Hampton was BPA on the Chargers' board. A few things here from my perspective....
The board fell somewhat strangely. Both TE's gone. First round consideration IOL gone (and I didn't want Booker anyway). Egbuka gone. Y'all know my feelings about Green. Several DT's gone.
DT is deep and still talent left at edge. WR talent left. Of course you always require a partner but I believe I'd try, via 3rd day picks/player trades to get another Day 2 pick. There's meat here.
Hampton is a good RB. I had Henderson ranked higher but Hampton probably does fit the Harbaugh team vision better. We want identity? It's shaping up.
Here's my questions....does the Harris contract make sense in light of this draft pick? Similar styled backs so that's muddy waters for me. This looks like a one year rental/safeguard IMO. Will we bring Dobbins back now? Unlikely. Will we dip back into a deep RB class later? Less likely but still possible. I think that depends on their evaluation of Vidal. Was this the best use of the pick? That's an argument that could last for years....literally. First blush? I'd say no. I'd have likely gone with an edge not named Green. But, given the team identity they intend to build, I understand the pick.
Am I underwhelmed by it? As of now, yes. Will I be up screaming when Hampton rips off his first big TD run? Also yes. That's the life of a sports fan(atic), right?
This pick will likely look better (or worse) in the context of decisions made today. There's still several directions that can be taken. Defensive line, both interior and edge. TE. WR. Possibly even IOL....I'm not really buying the Zion to center talk. I could just as easily see him packaged in a trade for another Day 2 pick. Not an endorsement, mind you, but a valid consideration. On that note, Pipkins could be used in that manner though I doubt he'd garner much interest...just my opinion. Or Salyer, though I'd keep him as a swing over Pipkins 8 days a week and twice on Sundays.
So .... Welcome to the Chargers, Omarrion! Wish you all the success here. Let's get your name in the lunch pail and the Chargers' on the Lombardi.
Go Bolts and FTR⚡️⚡️⚡️
@buck-melanoma Agree 100%. Reports were they were trying to trade down w/the Eagles, but they couldn't get a deal that they wanted which is why the pick went down to the wire. I think the board fell terribly for them. No Green, Johnson, Burden, Revel, Amos, Sanders or Dart ahead of them. It's obvious Green was off the board, but in this scenario I probably would have went Ezeiruaku or Scourton followed by Johnson or Emmanwori. Not sure what the offers were, but I have to believe whatever they got would have been decent enough to move off of Hampton. I am not a RB in Rd1 guy especially with a class this deep. People can speculate all they want about the pick, and they will tell you he was their highest graded player on their board, but I think they just took the best player at a position of need because the other options they wanted at 1.22 dried up.
@evolz3737 yep. I'd likely have gone Scourton but I understand the pick. Ya gotta look at situational context here.
You and I both have been pounding the table for them to pick/prove this identity they talk. This is a move in that direction, like it or not. Hampton is a bruiser and a complete back.
@buck-melanoma True, but the identity didn't need to come at 1.22. IMO, the team has still not addressed the 2 biggest issues we saw exposed in Houston. Pass game playmakers or IOL and you could argue the IDL has taken a step back as well. 2 more days to go, but A Lot of work to still do.
@evolz3737 I agree and that's my biggest concern...not the player but the order of priorities.
With Jeanty now in the conference they'd better not sleep on run defense. I know it's the Raiders but he's a baller.
IMO, the team has still not addressed the 2 biggest issues we saw exposed in Houston. Pass game playmakers or IOL
This just isn't true. You might not like how they addressed it, but they addressed it:
- Clear upgrade at RG (Becton over Pipkins)
- Possible upgrade at LG and/or C and probable upgrade at IOL depth since 2 of Zion, Bozeman, James, Pipkins will start at LG and C and the other 2 plus Salyer will be backups
- Clear upgrade at TE 1a/1b to pair with Dissly (Conklin over Hurst/Smartt)
- Probable upgrade at X WR (Williams over Chark/Johnston/Palmer) when Williams is healthy
- This could also lead to an upgrade at Z WR, since that is likely better suited to Johnston, who should play fewer snaps at X
And now a clear upgrade at RB.
Overall, the team has already upgraded RB, WR, TE, and IOL. Even if they aren't all the level of upgrades you want, IMO it is not reasonable to deny they are upgrades.
Meanwhile, the defense has been clearly downgraded. They have not replaced Bosa at all yet, and they haven't adequately replaced Ford and Fox IMO. Those position groups should be the priorities in today's draft.
@tau837 I see it differently. Becton is an upgrade but he has an extensive medical history. His last two seasons he played 16 and 15 games respectively but he only played RG last season. I would not feel 100% comfortable he lays every game. So as it stands now we are a Becton injury from having some combination of James, Johnson, Bozeman, Pipkins as the IOL. IMO, not an upgrade from Houston.
Williams has played in only 34 of 54 games the last 3 seasons. Banking on him to be a healthy upgrade all year is skeptical at best. They didn't replace Palmer who was mediocre, and Johnston has a long, long way to go to be considered serviceable. At this point he is JAG until proven otherwise. So, this point the WR room is not really an upgrade from last year.
Conklin is a backup level TE at best. He has never had more than 61 receptions, 621 yds or 4 TD in a season. He is a slight upgrade to the Stone Smartt pass catching option, but I would not label him as a pass catching weapon at TE that this offense still requires.
I agree that defense has also taken hits at Edge and IDL which is why I am not in love with Hampton being the use of the most premium pick. This draft board fell terribly for them and screamed trade down, and I think they were entertaining it, but just couldn't get it done in time. Hell, they could have even traded up a few spots to get Egbuka or Harmon, but didn't. With what was on the board, I would much rather have preferred an Edge there and I could even understand CB and I could have understood a perceived slight reach for Tyliek Williams since IDL was a need.
I started to write a detailed response, but it's not worth it since we clearly have a strong difference of opinion.
Instead, I will just agree to disagree with your response to what I wrote about the offense.
@tau837 Haha. We should start a pod. It would always have some interesting takes and positions.
@evolz3737 This doesn't really make sense. You can point at injury history or not like a particular player, but there is no scenario where adding Becton and James (with everyone else being the same) is not a significant upgrade to last year's group.
Its basically the same OL group right now except with Becton (who is potentially a massive ugprade) and James over Foster Sarell and McFadden. This is a much better scenario right now, and they can still add another player.
As far as pass catchers, maybe not as obvious as an upgrade and more status quo, but I'd take Conklin and MWill over Palmer/Hurst right now so that's really the comparison.
@blue-beers Agree with all this.
The Mike Williams injury risk is overblown IMO. He missed 14 games after he tore his ACL in game 3 in 2023. I see no reason to believe tearing his ACL is predictive of future injury.
But if we exclude those 14 games missed, Williams has missed 7 of 106 possible games over the past 7 seasons. He averaged slightly more snaps per game in those 99 games played than McConkey averaged last season.
@evolz3737 I was watching the Draft Room footage saying, "There're trading, they're trading!" I couldn't believe we were picking until Goodell actually read the card. Joe Hortiz was hammering those phones, no one was high-fiving, it was very tense and clearly came down to the wire.
It's frustratingly similar to the QJ pick in that we explored a trade, and didn't pull the trigger because we thought the pick was worth more, and we as fans are frustrated because there were plenty of other options we were fine with or would have preferred that were likely available after a trade-back.
The added frustrating wrinkle is we still have the option to hit Dobbins with the UFA Tender, giving him a 120% raise over his previous salary and the continued chance to earn a comp pick if he signs elsewhere (it's a non-exclusive tag). Running back felt like a position where we were the most insulated from the board falling against us.
Now, having said all that - Dobbins also brought a level of excitement last year that I haven't seen in the run game in ages. We've also seen this and the prior regime try to value-engineer upgrading the RB room through Day 3 picks. I genuinely feel like James is a massive improvement over Bozeman based on his career, and that his PFF grades in an injury-shortened season on a weak Raiders offense isn't indicative of the potential he has. As others have stated, Becton should be an immense upgrade as well.
The table should be really set for this team to have a punishing run game for years to come. The offense needs to be rounded with more receiving threats, but I don't think we are as far off from the well-rounded, complete offense we desire/deserve as fans as we think.
I am really, really hoping we take to the trade market to upgrade TE and EDGE though. Huff and Goedert/Andrews are absolutely perfect fits for us and would go a long way raising the floor (and ceiling) of this team.
@kylededi I felt exactly the same way with the draft room. Nobody was moving. Rappaport said after Rd1 that Philly was trying to trade up with us for Campbell b/c they knew he wasn't a target for us. I heard the Giants were also interested after Pitt didn't take Dart. Not sure what the offers were, but as long as it was reasonable I would have taken it from Philly. I would have taken the Giants Rd2 pick this year and a future 1. At 1.22 and with how the board fell, I would not have been looking to break the bank. I am convinced Hampton was a pivot due to the state of the board.
@buck-melanoma Don't agree with this at all. Hampton is significantly more faster, more explosive and overall athletic than Harris with the home run potential that Harris does not. Hampton is closer comp to Jonathan Taylor and can possibly impact the offense that way which would be huge if he pans out.
Similar styled backs so that's muddy waters for me.
And to help prove my point about Day 2 meat, look at this list. IMO, there are a few names missing but this list has me salivating and wanting a third bite at the day 2 apple.
https://www.chargers.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-best-available-players-2025-nfl-draft
@buck-melanoma I'm not sure many of these guys will be left by 55, but fingers crossed for a pass catcher or Edge. One of the second tier TEs or Edge guys like Tuimoloau or Scourton would be ideal IMO.
@blue-beers I'd be psyched if Scourton was there and the pick. I probably would have picked him at 1.22.
@blue-beers Agreed. I would be delighted for Scourton, Higgins, Bech, Ezeiruaku, Alexander, Tui, Morrison or Thomas.
I personally think the Jax move was dumb as a Dixie Cup fulla dirt but no one has hired me as an NFL anything so there's that. Grading it an A in light of the trade and saying Jax is closer than many think is, again just my opinion, horseshit. I've admittedly never bought the hype surrounding Lawrence.
@buck-melanoma 100%. Moving up 5 spots and giving up a future 1 for a WR or CB is the reason they are picking in the top 10 every year.
Popper weighs in along with 2 other analysts.
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