And With The 5th Pick Of The NFL Draft Chargers Select....Discussion

[northerner]

I'll trust this new staff to get these guys playing their best...will you be able to trust the new coaches if they keep pipkins as starting RT? OR if they focus elsewhere in the draft instead of taking a new OT high?

if nothing else, we know that the Oline will be a focal point. there are only so many draft picks and only so much cap space, but they will throw whatever resources and coaching at the Oline that they can.

[Fouts2herbert]

if nothing else, we know that the Oline will be a focal point. there are only so many draft picks and only so much cap space, but they will throw whatever resources and coaching at the Oline that they can.

I'm sure the O-line will look really different by 2026, but due to the cap stuff and other glaring holes on this roster, I wonder if they might not just decide to coach the guys they have up and add maybe a vet here and a mid to late round pick there, but the draft is loaded with tackles at the top, so I can see how they might be tempted grab one of those guys...

[Boltnut]

I agree with you but I think the Fluker pick was more of a desperation necessity. He was basically the only OT left in the first round, there was a huge run before our pick.

You might be right. But we also needed a DT... I liked Star Lotuleilei. I thought Fluker projected as a guard.
In the end, I think it was a bad eval. TT must have seen something that made him think Fluker was a RT.
I saw Fluker get abused by a mid-round DE from Western Kentucky... that made me think... OG-only.
I think TT did the same thing with Tillery. He saw Tillery's game against Stanford... and ignored the rest.
That's what I mean by obsession... he saw something he liked and ignored the rest.

[Boltnut]

I'm sure the O-line will look really different by 2026, but due to the cap stuff and other glaring holes on this roster, I wonder if they might not just decide to coach the guys they have up and add maybe a vet here and a mid to late round pick there, but the draft is loaded with tackles at the top, so I can see how they might be tempted grab one of those guys...

Let's not forget that Jim Harbaugh had Joe Staley at LT (1st rounder) and Anthony Davis at RT (1st rounder).
His last year @SF, he lost Anthony Davis... and the team went 8-8. Jim had brought Johnathan Martin from Miami (also Stanford).
Now, I doubt the whole drop-off can be attributed to Anthony Davis' departure.
But I'm sure there was something to be learned there.

After all we know (and hear) from Harbaugh and Horitz... OT has to be a consideration @#5 if we can't trade back.
The coaching will be better (no doubt)... but good players are also important. Trey Pipkins is not a good player.

[beachcomber]

Let's not forget that Jim Harbaugh had Joe Staley at LT (1st rounder) and Anthony Davis at RT (1st rounder).
His last year @SF, he lost Anthony Davis... and the team went 8-8. Jim had brought Johnathan Martin from Miami (also Stanford).
Now, I doubt the whole drop-off can be attributed to Anthony Davis' departure.
But I'm sure there was something to be learned there.

After all we know (and hear) from Harbaugh and Horitz... OT has to be a consideration @#5 if we can't trade back.
The coaching will be better (no doubt)... but good players are also important. Trey Pipkins is not a good player.

does that mean you have a Taliese Fuaga lean somewhere in your draft bag of trix ??

[beachcomber]

I'm sure the O-line will look really different by 2026, but due to the cap stuff and other glaring holes on this roster, I wonder if they might not just decide to coach the guys they have up and add maybe a vet here and a mid to late round pick there, but the draft is loaded with tackles at the top, so I can see how they might be tempted grab one of those guys...

that's my sense as well.... a vet FA @the OC, and if there's another OC that we like that lasts 'til the third, prolly use an extra third on a longer term prospect @center ?? don't see a tackle @all, as think they're gonna roll w/what they got w/Pips, Salyer and Rashawn ??

[beachcomber]

I've been advocating for OL high in the draft for years, but this year it seems like a luxury because we already have two OTs locked up...that being said, this class features some fantastic prospects at OT and that cannot be overlooked, sometimes you just have to take the BPA because they are too good to pass up even if the team has other needs...I could never be upset about the Chargers taking OL high in the draft unless the prospect is garbage or comes from Alabama, the tide cannot seem to put out good NFL OL despite getting some of the best recruits in the nation...

don't think the lot of OTs are locks by any means this go 'round.... recall when Herbert came out, and there were some of us debating the top four tackles, all which by most accounts were very talented, and.... if I'm not mistaken, @least a coupla of 'em disappointed, and not to mention Wirfs, who Ninja repeatedly claimed was barely, if so, deserving of a first round grade, and so....

def think there are close to a handful of the RTs that are less than certain as value picks thru round 2.... buyer beware/proceed w/caution @RT, me thinx ??

[Boltnut]

does that mean you have a Taliese Fuaga lean somewhere in your draft bag of trix ??

Absolutely! Good call on Fuaga, Beach.
Trade back is my preference.

[DerwinBosa]

We'll know more after the Scouting Combine, but if the medical professionals determine that Laiatu Latu has no issues with his neck, I see no reason for him to not be in consideration for the fifth overall pick. A 6-5, 267-pound pass-rusher who had 10.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in 2022 and 13 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss last season. Five forced fumbles over the last two seasons. I wouldn't be surprised to watch him fall out of the top ten and become the next DeMarcus Ware (drafted 11th overall in 2005) after the mock draft nerds determined that he wasn't worth the fifth overall pick.

Ted Hendricks Award (2023) Lombardi Award (2023) Unanimous All-American (2023) Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year (2023) Morris Trophy (2023) Polynesian Football Player of the Year (college) (2023) 2× first-team All-Pac-12 (2022, 2023)

[Floyal Rush]

Bowers doesn’t want to play for the Chargers. He wants to be a Titan.

[Fouts2herbert]

Let's not forget that Jim Harbaugh had Joe Staley at LT (1st rounder) and Anthony Davis at RT (1st rounder).
His last year @SF, he lost Anthony Davis... and the team went 8-8. Jim had brought Johnathan Martin from Miami (also Stanford).
Now, I doubt the whole drop-off can be attributed to Anthony Davis' departure.
But I'm sure there was something to be learned there.

After all we know (and hear) from Harbaugh and Horitz... OT has to be a consideration @#5 if we can't trade back.
The coaching will be better (no doubt)... but good players are also important. Trey Pipkins is not a good player.

If all the QBs aren't gone by pick #5 there should be a trade back of some kind...Damn, it's so awesome having a Raven guy run the draft, I've been a huge fan of the way the organization has approached the draft for a long time now, always jealous of their drafts...

as for pipkins, keep your fingers crossed and maybe TT will eat some of his salary and trade for him, LV needs a RT...

[Fouts2herbert]

don't think the lot of OTs are locks by any means this go 'round.... recall when Herbert came out, and there were some of us debating the top four tackles, all which by most accounts were very talented, and.... if I'm not mistaken, @least a coupla of 'em disappointed, and not to mention Wirfs, who Ninja repeatedly claimed was barely, if so, deserving of a first round grade, and so....

def think there are close to a handful of the RTs that are less than certain as value picks thru round 2.... buyer beware/proceed w/caution @RT, me thinx ??

It's the draft, you still have to project a lot of stuff and even the best drafting teams miss sometimes...