By Cameron Buford, whatsgoodinsports.com
In his tenth season as general manager for the Los Angeles Chargers, I’m confident that head coach Brandon Staley wants to impact the league more than being known as the most aggressive coach around. Having shown tendencies to go for the first down in short-yardage situations garnered attention. This first off-season without having to onboard an entire coaching staff has given the front office a chance to focus on bringing in players that fit their system in free agency and this upcoming National Football League draft.
Having already addressed their need to improve their run defense with the addition of Khalil Mack, they addressed their need for a lockdown cornerback by signing JC Jackson. The Chargers have an opportunity to address some vital needs along with adding depth to the team in this week’s draft.
“A little bit like free agency, you can only bring in what’s going to be available — the same thing with the draft, you can only draft what’s available,” Telesco said about targeting offensive lineman in this draft. “We certainly aren’t going to force anything,” he added.
They are going into the draft with ten picks. If they make all ten picks, it will be the most in a single draft since making 11 selections in the 2004 draft. GM Tom Telesco doesn’t typically move around in the draft. The last time they drafted at 17, they drafted Derwin James out of Florida State, who surprisingly fell right into their laps. James also became the first Charger in history to be named a first-team (safety) and second-team (defensive back) All-Pro by The Associated Press in the same season.
“I don’t know exactly who will go in front of us. I don’t know, if we trade back, exactly who will go and who we would miss on,” Telesco said about trading back in the draft. “You just make educated decisions and try not to overthink it. At least, that’s been my philosophy on that,” he added.
Among the positions I feel the Chargers need the most attention in this upcoming draft is the offensive guard or tackle to improve their protection and run game consistency. Additionally, they need to identify a running back that will offer some production in “must-have” situations. By strangely not resigning Kyzir White, who led them in tackles last season, leaves a void at their linebacker position. Lastly, they need to find an aggressive ballhawk to line-up next to All-Pro Safety Derwin James to limit the deep ball, simultaneously allowing James the field to roam a bit more.
“Running backs have value in this league. You need them and you need good ones. You need guys that can do a lot of different things,” Telesco shared his thought on the running back position. “It’s a difficult position to play, but just the way college football is, there are a lot of running backs that come out every year,” he mentioned.
Pro Football Talk has the Chargers drafting Washington cornerback, Trent McDuffie, to give them a fierce trio of defensive backs for Staley to play around with. NFL.com has them taking Northern Iowa OT- Trevor Penning, yet CBS Sports has the Chargers drafting Texas A&M Aggie Kenyon Green. This data shows with you that the projections are all over the place.
I like the pick of the offensive tackle with that initial pick; just as important they need to spend some equity on a running back in the third or fourth round. Kindly share your thoughts on the Charger’s Draft this off-season; you can reach out to me using Twitter @whatsgoodnsport or email me at voiceofthefans@outlook.com. I also encourage you to forward any suggestions on what topics or angles you would like to discuss about this version of the Los Angeles Chargers.
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