2024 Chargers Draft Superthread - Prospect Discussion - Draft Has Started

[Lone Bolt]

I sure do like Taliese Fuaga, and even Mims who seems risky.

If they draft Fuaga (at #11), he'd better make a pro bowl or two or he's a bust.
If they draft Harrison Jr (or Nabers), he'd better be a star.

Lol...welcome to the fence...

[powderblueboy]

We've seen teams make trades early before the draft, if I recall the bear/panther trade was early last year, but something tells me that's not going to happen this year, IDK why...perhaps there are too many players involved in moving up or down and the teams holding those high picks are still undecided as to whether they will pass on a QB high or not...I'm not 100% sure that the Vikings trade happens with the Chargers anymore and I predicted that trade from very early on even before Hortiz's hiring was finalized and when Cousins was still potentially going back to Minnesota...

Unless someone moves up to get Arizona's pick, we won't know until pick #5 if the Chargers will make a deal.

Something will happen, unless Arizona selects McCarthy.'

Trading back to #11 for a shiny toy whistle because the QBs are gone would be irritating.
There's no guarantee that your OT will be there, or even Bowers (whose ship seems to have passed).

[Bolt4Knob]

Unless someone moves up to get Arizona's pick, we won't know until pick #5 if the Chargers will make a deal.

Something will happen, unless Arizona selects McCarthy.'

Trading back to #11 for a shiny toy whistle because the QBs are gone would be irritating.
There's no guarantee that your OT will be there, or even Bowers (whose ship seems to have passed).

At 5 - either a trade down is an awesome over pay or you just take the stud WR and move on

[powderblueboy]

I don't thinlk Fuaga needs to make Pro Bowls to be considered a bust. I would just like a good solid RT for two contracts, or 8 to 9 years. Just a plug n play guy, solid player

As for MHJr or Nabers - would hope they are stars drafted at 5 - but not sure expectations

He'd be a bust if you skip on MHJr / Nabers / Odunze to draft him.

A solid RT you can get on day 2.

[powderblueboy]

Lol...welcome to the fence...

I'll make my final decision on who the Chargers should draft 3 years from now.

No Alt at #5 .... that is my line in the sand.

[charger1_sj]

2013: Seahawks (1st defense) beat the Broncos (1st offense) 43-8 in the Super Bowl.
2014: Patriots (8th defense) beat the Seahawks (10th offense) 28-24 in the Super Bowl.
2015: Broncos (4th defense) beat Panthers (1st offense) 24-10 in the Super Bowl.
2016: Patriots (1st defense) beat the Falcons (1st offense) 34-28 in the Super Bowl.
2017: Eagles (4th defense) beat the Patriots (2nd offense) 41-33 in the Super Bowl.
2018: Patriots (7th defense) beat the Rams (2nd offense) 13-3 in the Super Bowl.
2019: Chiefs (7th defense) beat the 49ers (2nd offense) 31-20 in the Super Bowl.
2020: Buccaneers (8th defense) beat the Chiefs (6th offense) 31-9 in the Super Bowl.
2021: Rams (15th defense) beat the Bengals (7th offense) 23-20 in the Super Bowl.
2022: Chiefs (16th defense) beat the Eagles (3rd offense) 38-35 in the Super Bowl.
2023: Chiefs (2nd defense) beat the 49ers (3rd offense) 25-22 in the Super Bowl.

Only the 2021 Rams and 2022 Chiefs have won Super Bowls with defenses outside the Top-10 defenses the last 11 Super Bowls.
Whenever the #1 defense has played the #1 offense... the #1 defense has won.

The 2021 Rams battered Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl.
When the 2022 Chiefs beat the Eagles... MaHommes only threw for 182 yards that game.

That's a lot of losses for the #1, #2, and #3 offenses...
Defense still wins championships...

You put the D rankings on the teams that won. But you failed to put the O rankings on the same teams that won. What you did is called
selective reasoning.

[dmac_bolt]

Chargers have been down and playing catch-up because their defense was horrendous and they had trouble pass protecting, run blocking on offense. Run the ball better (better run blocking) and stay balanced on offense (55/45) and many of those fall-behind early problems go away. The defense is a long ways away from being a defense that will keep you in games. I'd be focussing on defense a lot more than this board is doing right now. Most of the time a Top-10 defense will make you competitive and win a SB for you. Bad weather in late December or early January can be a season ender for an offensive-centric team... just ask the Dolphins.

The ol' saying: Defense travels.

I'd be focusing a lot more on DT, CB and LB than most of this board has been too. I sense some coming back around a bit ...

2023 KC had #2 D, #16 O. KC defense held BAL and SF to 10 pts(+) less than their season avgs. KC offense only scored 17 and 19 pts in the last 2 games (not counting OT). But folks are still adamant they won due to offense.

[powderblueboy]

C'mon man. These "experts" juggle these guys like hot potatoes. Up and down, up and down.
In the end, it doesn't matter what those guys think. It only matters what Hortiz and Harbaugh thinks.
They want to run the ball and protect the QB.

My personal want is for us to trade back with Minnesota. Having the #11 and #23 will net us two very good players.
In no way can you convince me that Nabers > Fuaga and Edgerrin Cooper. It's impossible.

You don't need an Oline full of 1rst rounders to run the ball.
Fuaga /Mims & Thomas / Leggett / JPJ / Murphy / Newton would be nice.

Get your linebacker on day 2.

Don't fall in love with anyone.
The trade with Minny is not baked into this draft.
Don't throw yourself at the Jets to move down as some here are desperate to do.

[richpjr]

[charger1_sj]

Unless someone moves up to get Arizona's pick, we won't know until pick #5 if the Chargers will make a deal.

Something will happen, unless Arizona selects McCarthy.'

Trading back to #11 for a shiny toy whistle because the QBs are gone would be irritating.
There's no guarantee that your OT will be there, or even Bowers (whose ship seems to have passed).

Rumor is that Arizona needs and will go for a WR. Here's where it gets tricky. If they are intent on MH2 then stay put and then it's up
to us to decide on a trade down or take the next best receiver or OT. However if Arizona deems that the next two WRs will suffice then a
trade down with the Giants is possible. The Giants get a QB they want, Arizona takes the chance the Chargers trade down and they
get MH2 or they get Nabers, Odunze. The cost to the Giants is minimized. If Arizona is open to that trade that's what the Giants
should do.

If the rumors are not true then Arizona is the prime candidate to trade with Minnesota.

[Boltnut]

You put the D rankings on the teams that won. But you failed to put the O rankings on the same teams that won. What you did is called
selective reasoning.

Feel free to look up the offensive rankings. The point was... that most SB winning teams have Top-10 defenses. I was referring to a poster that stated that defense doesn't win championships any more... he inferred that was ancient thinking. I was just pointing out how often Top-10 defenses have appeared lately... and how often Top-3 offenses have fallen lately.

Also be aware that the #1 scoring offense (Cowboys) couldn't overcome the 48 points the Packers hung on their defense in their playoff game... or that the #2 scoring offense (Dolphins) scored only 6 points in the inclement weather in KC during the playoffs.

[Fleet 1]

NEWS AND NEAR NEWS

March 29, 2024 - 1:08 pm

Movin’ on up … or at least trying! … For awhile now, the buzz around the NFL has been that Minnesota was poised to try and move up into the top 3-4 picks in this year’s draft in order to grab one of the top QBs that will be available on April 25th. Of course, that buzz reached a crescendo when the Vikings added a 2nd round opening round pick earlier this month in a trade with Houston. However, it now appears to be pretty clear that the Vikings aren’t alone in a desire to move up into range to select one of those QBs as both Denver and Las Vegas, which have the 12th and 13th picks overall right behind the Vikings at #11, have also indicated that they are also in the hunt. When asked about the possibility of moving way up in the draft, Denver’s Sean Payton, for example, answered that he thought ‘it was a realistic’ option for the Broncos who released Russell Wilson earlier this year and have nothing more than journeyman back-ups in their current QB room. At the same time, Vegas’ Antonio Pierce indicated that the Raiders were ‘prepared to do whatever it takes’ to get a quality. And what it likely is going to take to get up into that 3-4 range are a couple of future first round picks in 2025 and 2026. However, both the Broncos and Raiders appear to be prepared to at least consider that price as they have to do something at the position or face a decade of football irrelevancy as they compete in a division with both Patrick Mahomes AND Justin Herbert. For the record, both the Raiders and Broncos met privately with Jayden Daniels after the LSU pro day earlier this week and Denver also had a private workout with JJ McCarthy that included a 4-5 hour meeting after Michigan’s pro day. Of course, Minnesota is still very much in the running and may even have a heads up on the Broncos and Raiders as they have that extra pick this year; however, time will tell.

The team that may end up on the outside of all of this are the Giants who are looking for a quality long-term insurance policy for incumbent starter Daniel Jones, who is coming off a season marred by neck and knee injuries. The Giants have also been looking at the top QBs and were most likely hoping that one would still be available at their #6 pick, but that just doesn’t look like it is going to happen. The Giants likely would also have considered trading up several spots to get one of those QBs, but it also seems unlikely that they would be willing to part with a boatload of picks to get there. Indeed, the Giants made a rather startling u-turn yesterday when they headed out to Washington for Michael Penix’ pro day rather than going to North Carolina to see Drake Maye’s workout, although they will reportedly still have a private workout with him next week after doing the same with McCarthy over the weekend.

Bottom line: lots of moving parts and we are moving ever closer to that dreaded moment in the draft process when over-analysis does truly lead to paralysis! Hang in there. The draft is now just 27 days away!!

March 29, 2024 - 9:35 am

Terps wrap pro day week … The final full week on the annual pro day schedule wraps up later today with workouts at Maryland and Central Florida. There is also a rare pro day at a Canadian university as UBC will hold a workout later today featuring offensive linemen Theo Benedet and Giovanni Manu. The 6-8 Benedet, in particular, was widely considered to be the top pro prospect in Canadian college football this year. In fact, there are several pro days still to come next week with Clemson, for example, set to work out on April 6th, but for the most part the heavy pro day lifting is now in the books.