Final draft thoughts

Happy Draft day to my fellow bolts! This is Christmas for those of us who bury their heads in college tape from February to April and I for one am going to embrace the chaos of it all. I’ve managed to put up reports on 70 prospects this year which I’m happy with although Kyle and I have bigger aspirations for next spring. I wanted to thank you all for reading and engaging with the rankings and reports, every comment and like means a lot.

Now to some final thoughts regarding what the Chargers would be right to do in the first round. As inspired by my good friend Alister from the Thunder Down Under podcast I will sort them into a few tiers: Thrilled, Content, Understanding and Unhappy. Let’s get into it.

Thrilled:

Shemar Stewart – Consensus Edge #4 vs My Edge #2

I’ve heard all the criticism regarding Stewart’s lack of production but his tape is absolutely outstanding. The explosive speed and power he plays with is ridiculous, he has NBA like athletic ability and his RAS score of 10.00 backs this up. I haven’t got a big board in place but Stewart is a top 5 talent that has fallen to us a few times in mock drafts and I’d be punching the air if that happened tonight.

Colston Loveland – Consensus Tight End #2 vs My Tight End #1

I’m not going to write out the same few sentences every other chargers fan has but if Loveland ends up sliding due to the reported runs on Offensive and Defensive Lineman.

Tetairoa McMillan – Consensus Wide Receiver #2 vs My Wide Receiver #2

This one is more about opportunity cost as the Chargers have a great need for a dominant X receiver and the Arizona Wildcat is the closest thing we can get to that in an era where size and catch radius is hard to come across. I’d absolutely love to see him learn his craft alongside Mike Williams.

Content:

Kenneth Grant – Consensus DT #3 vs My DT #2

Matthew Golden – Consensus WR #3 vs My WR #3

Gray Zabel – Consensus IOL #1 vs My IOL #1

James Pearce Jr – Consensus Edge #5 vs My Edge #3

If we miss out on Shemar this is the next guy I’d want to see rushing the passer in Powder Blue. His length and athletic ability is there along with his production, he needs some refining technically but his skill set is something we don’t have right now and these guys rarely ever hit the market.

Understanding:

Walter Nolen – Consensus DT #2 vs My DT #3

Omarion Hampton – Consensus RB #2 vs My RB #2

Now to be clear I love Hampton but the Day 2 class is loaded full of running backs and the value is just not there at 22nd overall. If a trade down happens then we can revisit this.

Unhappy:

Emeka Egbuka – Consensus WR #3 vs My WR #6

Derrick Harmon – Consensus DT #4 vs My DT #4

I can see some of what others see in Harmon but his tape does not scream first round talent to me. You can read my exact thoughts on his profile but the depth at DT in the second round is some of the best I’ve ever seen and for me the upside of Harmon does not equate the value.

Tyler Booker – Consensus IOL #2 vs My IOL #4

Donovan Ezeiruaku – Consensus Edge #6 vs My Edge #7

Mason Taylor – Consensus TE #3 vs My TE #7

I can’t get on board with a tight end in the first round that has very little juice on tape. The name, the jersey and his test data has amalgamated to create a hype bubble that has gone way too far in my opinion.

We are so close now! Let me know your last minute thoughts in the comments.