2024 Chargers Draft Superthread - Prospect Discussion - Draft Has Started

[Jack Burton]

If it's Drake Maye on the board.
I would ask for pick #47 and 2025 4th. Then see if we can settle for Pick #70 and a 2025 3rd. This would be a fleecing and would work by putting them against the Vikings "possible offer" to scare them.

If it's McCarthy the Giants won't be as interested.

They would then have (3) 2025 3rd round picks and could use one to trade away for a True CB1.

Yeah, and they stay at 6 and get a blue chip player. Just adding a 2nd or a 3rd is huge for this team.

[Charge!]

This is interesting from The Athletic


2024 NFL Draft confidential: Coaches pick Nabers over Harrison

I had planned on leading The Athletic’s annual NFL Draft confidential with the quarterback intel I’ve gathered; after all, this is the exact kind of quarterback crop that makes the draft so fascinating: star power, intrigue and a half-dozen potential first-rounders. But after speaking to more than a dozen NFL coaches and scouts over the past month, I needed to audible. That’s what I realized after several interesting conversations about the receivers.

I came away from the NFL Scouting Combine thinking that the two closest players to sure things were Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Washington’s Rome Odunze. In Harrison, you have the son of an NFL receiving great and the most complete of what has been a remarkable run of Buckeye star wideouts over the past decade — many of whom have shined in the NFL. I’d assumed he would be the No. 1 guy on everyone’s wide receivers board.

But apparently, that is not the case. At all.


Marvin Harrison, Rome Odunze … and Malik Nabers above them both


“(Harrison’s) not No. 1 to me,” said a veteran NFL receivers coach, whose team is in the market for another top receiver, and whom we’ll ID as WR Coach 1. “(LSU’s Malik) Nabers is the No. 1 on my list and I think he is on a lot of people’s lists. He’s just different to me. I don’t think it’s anything toward Marvin, it’s just really that Nabers is that good. His skills with the ball in his hands are really different. His acceleration is just different. His explosive is different. He tracks the ball really well. He’s a smaller guy but he can still play outside. He’s rare in a lot of ways. He’s got some Ja’Marr Chase in him, some DJ Moore skills. I hesitate to say this because Tyreek Hill’s speed is just so different from anybody in the league, but Nabers has some of that kind of burst and just so explosive off the line of scrimmage.

“He’s as fast as the person chasing him. He’s gonna run away from whoever. If Deion was chasing him, he’d go 4.21 or whatever. He’s the best WR prospect since Chase and on tape, I think he’s even more impressive. This dude is different.”

Another long-time NFL assistant, who has coached receivers and been an NFL offensive coordinator, agreed that Nabers was the top receiver prospect.

“It’s Nabers and then there’s a gap,” said Offensive Assistant 1. “He is the best wide receiver in the draft in a couple of years, maybe more. He is Tyreek Hill combined with both of those San Francisco guys (Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk). He is so explosive. He has a second gear. He can stop on a dime. He breaks tackles. You can’t jam him because he’s just too quick and if you miss at all, he’s gonna outrun you. He’s really competitive but he can be a pain in the ass. He’ll be the guy who’ll have something to say to the coordinator coming off the field. He’s got that edge to him where he doesn’t know when to let up. He doesn’t know that those guys are on his side.”

Scout 1: “Nabers is so much more explosive. I think he has more upside. I don’t know if I trust him like I trust Marvin. I trust Marvin to be disciplined.”

WR Coach 2: “We have Nabers as No. 1. He’s got all the ability in the world. He’s got Receiver No. 1 written all over him. He does have some stuff he’s got to clean up. Route running, which will come naturally with the right coach and group of receivers. So much upside. He just brings a different presence. His physicality. You see that on tape. He’s got that dawg in him.”

Harrison, the 6-foot-3, 209-pound Biletnikoff Award winner, is bigger than the 6-feet, 199-pound Nabers, who finished second in the FBS with 1,569 receiving yards and third with 14 touchdowns. Harrison ranked No. 2 on the Freaks List in 2023 after putting up impressive numbers in the Buckeyes strength program. He’s bench pressed 380 pounds, broad-jumped 10 feet 8, clocked 3.94 in the shuttle and topped out at 23.5 mph, according to Ohio State sources. But Harrison didn’t do any of the testing in the draft process, which has added to some skepticism about his explosiveness.

“Marvin is great too,” said WR Coach 1. “You question just how fast he is. He can take the top off and he’s got elite ball skills and elite tracking. I don’t see 23 mph — that’s really, really fast. He’s to me more of a glider, build-up speed type of guy. Which you would expect, because he is huge.”

Offensive Assistant 1: “Marvin is really good. Polished. If you’re looking to pick on something, he’s not gonna run by people. They’re gonna squat on him at the top of the break. He’s good. I just wished he did the testing. He comes across as casual a little bit.”

Scout 1: “I think Marvin is pretty damn explosive. Physically, he’s like a 6-3 CeeDee Lamb. He just doesn’t have that innate dog that Malik has.”

WR Coach 2: “Harrison is like a fluid, smooth receiver. He doesn’t have the same elite traits like Nabers. He can separate and catches the ball real well. I don’t think he wows you.”

Odunze is as tall as Harrison and a little thicker at 212 pounds. He did all the testing in Indianapolis, clocking a 4.45 40 with a 1.52 10-yard split, vertical jumping 39 inches and going 4.03 in the 20-yard shuttle. Last season at Washington, Odunze led the nation in receiving yards with 1,640 to go with 82 catches and 13 touchdowns.

Scout 1: “Rome is the safest guy of the receivers. He’s just not as talented as Malik or Harrison as far as getting consistent separation at an NFL level. I trust him a little more than those guys. As far as strength through the catch, he might be the best. He’s built right to last and run routes.”

WR Coach 1: “He’s great at tracking the ball; he’s rugged and has good run after the catch ability. Can play inside and out, and he’s so smart — like different type of smart. He can pick things up so easily and will adapt easily to the pro game because of the system and the concepts they had there, and that really shows up in his game.”

Offensive Assistant 1: “I like the grit and his lower body is really strong. But he’s not running by people or closing cushion like Nabers does.”

WR Coach 2: “I think you have a top two with Malik and Marvin, and then I think there’s Rome, who I don’t think is in that same tier as those two. Rome has the make-up to be really good but in my opinion he doesn’t have the elite traits like the other two. I question his top-end (speed). He doesn’t have that juice like Nabers. He’s more of a possession-type receiver. He’s a more polished route runner, but I don’t think he’s to the level of Marvin.”

Harrison and Bowers have universally been best 2 players in country for 2 years in a row based on game play..... like Bosa was..... yet about a month or so before draft, people start dreaming up stuff trying to play down those players as ho hum..... because they do everything so well, they are boring and maybe not as good as belived.... so they start promoting others as better to get more ratings and interest..... lol some may be muddying the pool just hoping those 2 drop lower so they can get them.... lol

Real football people know that MHJ and Bowers are elite generational talents.....who produce at that level..... these 2 are cant miss!..... that is who you take top 5....

I find it interesting that almost all the Sirius NFL "experts" want chargers to take one of the 3 WR's or an OT.... and say that 5 is far too high to take Bowers, but they also say NY Giants should grab him at 6 because this great talent will not last beyond that....so Bowers is great for teams with huge national fanbase but not for a team like Chargers that a small amount of fans care about???

[SAY OW 55]

Nabers to the Chargers sounds like a Slam Dunk. Time for the Chargers to put the smackdown on the Chiefs.

[SAY OW 55]

The Chargers are in a great spot.

You can either get Marvin Harrison Jr.

Or you can get Malike Nabers the guy many say is the best receiver prospect in the draft.

Either way they are getting a tremendous player.

[Topcat]

The Chargers are in a great spot.

You can either get Marvin Harrison Jr.

Or you can get Malike Nabers the guy many say is the best receiver prospect in the draft.

Either way they are getting a tremendous player.

I'm still a bit gunshy about picking Nabers after that gun incident, AND the repeated reports of him jawing at opposing players...if we go wideout @#5, better the safer choices of MHJ and Odunze...

[Formula 21]

The Chargers are in a great spot.

You can either get Marvin Harrison Jr.

Or you can get Malike Nabers the guy many say is the best receiver prospect in the draft.

Either way they are getting a tremendous player.

[Formula 21]

The Chargers are in a great spot.

You can either get Marvin Harrison Jr.

Or you can get Malike Nabers the guy many say is the best receiver prospect in the draft.

Either way they are getting a tremendous player.

I wonder if Hortiz saw this coming when he let both KA and MWill go?

It’s brilliant, brilliant I tell you.

[SAY OW 55]

I'm still a bit gunshy about picking Nabers after that gun incident, AND the repeated reports of him jawing at opposing players...if we go wideout @#5, better the safer choices of MHJ and Odunze...

It’s the Tyreke Hill effect great player. But there is baggage. You gotta figure out how you handle that.

[SAY OW 55]

Nabers has more juice than Harrison. He can go get any ball you throw his way.

But Harrison is the more polished prospect.

[Formula 21]

The Bolts have had some great receivers in their history. Time to continue that tradition.

[Formula 21]

Nabers has more juice than Harrison. He can go get any ball you throw his way.

But Harrison is the more polished prospect.

It’s true. Do you want Mr. Consistent or Mr. Excitement?

[CanadianBoltFan]

Harrison and Bowers have universally been best 2 players in country for 2 years in a row based on game play..... like Bosa was..... yet about a month or so before draft, people start dreaming up stuff trying to play down those players as ho hum..... because they do everything so well, they are boring and maybe not as good as belived.... so they start promoting others as better to get more ratings and interest..... lol some may be muddying the pool just hoping those 2 drop lower so they can get them.... lol

Real football people know that MHJ and Bowers are elite generational talents.....who produce at that level..... these 2 are cant miss!..... that is who you take top 5....

I find it interesting that almost all the Sirius NFL "experts" want chargers to take one of the 3 WR's or an OT.... and say that 5 is far too high to take Bowers, but they also say NY Giants should grab him at 6 because this great talent will not last beyond that....so Bowers is great for teams with huge national fanbase but not for a team like Chargers that a small amount of fans care about???

What are you talking about? Real football people??

The whole interesting thing about this annual article which The Athletic puts out very year is that they talk to "real football people"...actual NFL scouts and actual NFL WR coaches gave their opinions for that article. These are the professionls who do this for a living and know their shit, thse are the opinions that count.

Somehting I found interesting is that some of thse NFL WR coaches have questions about Harrison's actual speed. Maybe that is one reason Nabers has closed the gap and is 1B now. Harrison refused to run at all in the entire pre draft process. Why was that? Was it just because he is cocky and thinks he is above that or is it because he didnt want his time out there with Nabers and Odunze, who mannned up and ran and did drills?