The Chargers' Draft

When I'm not thinking about the draft class of the Minnesota Vikings I find myself thinking about the one put together by the Los Angeles Chargers. It sure is a struggle to refer to them as the "Los Angeles" Chargers. At about the time that I finally get used to calling the Rams the Los Angeles Rams I get another shot of this relocation nonsense with the Chargers. And now the Raiders are on deck. Ridiculous. Enough of that, back to the Chargers draft. It's their first three picks that have me so smitten. I can't believe that they were able to select offensive linemen Forrest Lamp and Dan Feeney. They did so after they had already seelcted receiver Mike Williams. The real surprise, for me, was that Lamp was still available on the second day of the draft.

Western Kentucky offensive lineman Forrest Lamp was my favorite player in the draft. My appreciation for Lamp was due in equal parts to his football talent and the Vikings glaring needs on the offensive line. If they had that first round pick that they traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sam Bradford, Lamp was my pick for them. He played left tackle in college but nearly every talking head in the business had him pegged as an interior lineman at the next level. His play at left tackle against the NFL-like Alabama defense convinced me that he could handle the position in the NFL. No matter where he was best suited on the line the Vikings could use him there. I pushed aside dreams of Lamp in Minnesota because he was never going to make out of the first round let alone to the 16th pick of the second round. Most draft analysts considered Lamp and Indiana's Dan Feeney the top interior line prospects in the draft. It wasn't a strong offensive line draft class but they were two of the best. They are also two of the most ready to play immediately. The Chargers are a talented football team. As with the Vikings, their offensive line held them back considerably last season. It would do so again if something wasn't done. This team could contend for the division, the conference, and perhaps a game better this year. 35-year old quarterback Philip Rivers has to be kept safe and upright for that to happen. The middle of the Chargers offensive line got a lot better and Rivers a lot safer with Lamp and Feeney.

If the Chargers had added only Forrest Lamp and Dan Feeney in the first two days of the draft the they'd be improved. They added arguably the best receiver in the draft before they even got to those linemen. The thing that Clemson's Mike Williams does best is be 6'4". He has excellent size and he uses that size well. He's ready and able to go up with NFL corners and come down with the ball right now. There aren't a lot of rookie receivers that enter the league already possessing that ability. The crazy thing about the Chargers adding Williams is that they now have six receivers on the roster that are 6'2" or taller. Those six are topped by proven playmakers Keenan Allen, Dontrelle Inman, and Tyrell Williams, and now Mike Williams. Add in little-guy Travis Benjamin and this team has a lot of pass-catchers that can keep defenders and defensive coaches up at night.

The 2017 NFL Draft was nearly a month ago and Philip Rivers is probably still smiling over the players that his team added in the first three rounds of the draft.

While Mike Williams, Forrest Lamp, and Dan Feeney are the main reason I keep coming back to the Chargers draft it hardly stopped there. In nearly every mock draft that popped into my head I had the Chargers taking a safety (usually Ohio State's Malik Hooker) with the seventh pick of the draft. They didn't touch the safety position until the third day and they took two. Miami's Rayshawn Jenkins in the fourth and Iowa's Desmond King in the fifth. Both should compete for playing time early. King also adds terrific punt return ability. The Chargers added an intriguing developmental offensive tackle in Utah's Sam Tevi in the sixth round and Notre Dame defensive tackle Isaac Rochell in the seventh.

I really like the Chargers draft, especially those interior offensive linemen. Hopefully, writing about this draft gets it out of my head and I can get back to only thinking about the Vikings' draft.