2024 Draft Grades For The Chargers

[21&500]

OG619, Hacksaw and... Tucker Carlson?!?

[La Costa Boy]

Nice write up in The Athletic. They really liked our draft strategy.



Los Angeles Chargers

1/5	Joe Alt	OT1	Notre Dame
2/34	Ladd McConkey	WR9	Georgia
3/69	Junior Colson	LB2	Michigan
4/105	Justin Eboigbe	DT11	Alabama
5/137	Tarheeb Still	CB18	Maryland
5/140	Cam Hart	CB19	Notre Dame
6/181	Kimani Vidal	RB17	Troy
7/225	Brenden Rice	WR32	USC
7/253	Cornelius Johnson	WR35	Michigan

It’s easy to see in retrospect what the Chargers saw before the draft: Finding a promising receiver after the first round is easier than finding a promising offensive tackle there.

Passing on Joe Alt at No. 5 would have gone against what new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh is about.

“Joe Alt was a slam dunk pick,” one exec said. “People wanted to make them pick receivers, but trading back up to get Ladd McConkey, who is maybe the best route runner in the draft, was cool. I think they nailed this first draft, didn’t try to do too much, just did a nice job hitting doubles. They got good players with a path to playing.”

GO DEEPER

Chargers stick to their blueprint by drafting OL Joe Alt

That included third-round pick Junior Colson, a likely first-year starter who played under Harbaugh at Michigan.

“The Chargers in the past seemed to do a pretty good job in the first round, but then would reach more in the mid to later rounds,” an exec said. “Time will tell, but I think (Tarheeb) Still is going to be a good nickel, Cam Hart has a chance to start and the running back (Kimani Vidal) has a chance to be a three-down starter.”

[powderblueboy]

It was a very safe draft, with 3 plus starters and then day 3 is a crap shoot.

Egboigbe, at minimum, will be a useful rotation piece right away: he has NFL power already;

With corners in the 5th round, you never know, but Still likes to tackle and might even be used at free safety

Everyone drafted on defense likes to tackle.

[Formula 21]

I loved Hacksaw. Before the internet, there was the high speed sports wire. And there was no where else to get the sports news of the day that had anywhere near the content. Yep, the bad old days.

[OG619FrightninLightnin]

I loved Hacksaw. Before the internet, there was the high speed sports wire. And there was no where else to get the sports news of the day that had anywhere near the content. Yep, the bad old days.

I called in few times, I remember going off on Natrone Means for holding out. 😀

Hacksaw was giddy when we talked to him in Miami, he might have actually thought we could win.

😆

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Hacksaw and... Tucker Carlson?!?

Deafness, please! I believe this choice spawned the phrase "Lord, take me NOW!"

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

I loved Hacksaw. Before the internet, there was the high speed sports wire. And there was no where else to get the sports news of the day that had anywhere near the content. Yep, the bad old days.

Hacksaw provided news AND non-news! He made things up as he went! If you asked him about the competition in Division II Women's Volleyball, he'd tell you that Akron's Amy Berntwat was the top recruit of the setter class, but had been held back by a bad case of elbow tendinitis.

[LarryAW]

LOL...yep...I think I had the longest hair of any reporter in the newsroom at the time...remember, this WAS the 70's...

I was in the Navy and had very little hair, which is much more than I have now.

[Fouts2herbert]

It was a very safe draft, with 3 plus starters and then day 3 is a crap shoot.

Egboigbe, at minimum, will be a useful rotation piece right away: he has NFL power already;

With corners in the 5th round, you never know, but Still likes to tackle and might even be used at free safety

Everyone drafted on defense likes to tackle.

Justin Egboigbe is one of the guys in this draft class that might've already tapped his potential, but his floor is sufficiently high that might just be a day one starter...I think that by itself makes him a hit in the 4rth round because most of the time you don't expect 4rth rounders to start, at least not right away...as a starter the question remains, is he average by NFL standards or slightly better? we'll see...worst case scenario he'll be a valuable rotational depth piece for the next four years on D-line...

[dmac_bolt]

Justin Egboigbe is one of the guys in this draft class that might've already tapped his potential, but his floor is sufficiently high that might just be a day one starter...I think that by itself makes him a hit in the 4rth round because most of the time you don't expect 4rth rounders to start, at least not right away...as a starter the question remains, is he average by NFL standards or slightly better? we'll see...worst case scenario he'll be a valuable rotational depth piece for the next four years on D-line...

I tend to view any pick Rd4 and beyond that start immediately and hold their own to be a home run. Don’t know the stat, would bet Rd4 starters at all are in the 20% or less hit rate and starting immediately - <10%? Welcome real stats if different than my guesses.

[Fouts2herbert]

I tend to view any pick Rd4 and beyond that start immediately and hold their own to be a home run. Don’t know the stat, would bet Rd4 starters at all are in the 20% or less hit rate and starting immediately - <10%? Welcome real stats if different than my guesses.

to be fair, I'm not sure how he doesn't start day one, statistically he's already the best or second best run defending IDL on the roster alongside Ford...so yeah, I think he'll be a hit...very sound solid draft choice IMO, might not be sexy but there is not much projection here, the guy is solid against the run, that we already know...

[Topcat]

I tend to view any pick Rd4 and beyond that start immediately and hold their own to be a home run. Don’t know the stat, would bet Rd4 starters at all are in the 20% or less hit rate and starting immediately - <10%? Welcome real stats if different than my guesses.

Okay, so using round 4 and afterwards as a yardstick for starters, let's review TT's record...I have highlighted mostly solid starters in blue and spot starters and rotational guys in red. Some of the "solid starters" were starting but were below average quality, like Sam Tevi. And some of the guys in red really excelled at times. DD has been a solid returner. One thing that really stands out to me is that TT really whiffed on his first 3 drafts in round 4 and afterwards. And the only real solid starters in the past 5 years in round 4+ are Gilman and Tranq. And now Tranq is gone. You would expect to hit on a few more of these for starters:

image.png
image.png
image.png