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Offensive line is clearly the San Diego Chargers’ biggest need heading into the NFL Draft. However, they might not be in position to address it early in the draft and have plenty of other needs as well.
The Chargers are in a tough spot picking 11th overall. With such a huge demand for left tackles, Luke Joeckel, Eric Fisher and Lane Johnson will likely be gone by then, while they pick at a spot that could be too high to draft a guard. Chance Warmack and Jonathan Cooper could be worth it considering their talent, but it’s also understandable if the Bolts pass on the two. If the Chargers take a guard at 11, it’d be the highest a guard was taken in the draft since 1997. Guards aren’t considered high value positions in football.
Obviously, it’d be great for the Chargers to address the offensive line with their first-round pick, but they need a player who both fills a need and provides good value. San Diego has plenty of holes and can’t go wrong drafting the top available player at any position of need. The Chargers could instead address the defensive line, linebacker, cornerback or wide receiver position in the first round, but that would leave a huge hole at offensive line heading into Day 2 of the draft. Luckily, this year’s draft is very deep at offensive line so the Chargers could find help later.
In the second round, two players that make sense for the Chargers are Kyle Long and Terron Armstead. Both have the size, athleticism and mobility that could be attractive to the Bolts as they transition to the zone blocking scheme. Also, their ability to play either guard or tackle at the next level would be invaluable to a team that has so many question marks along the offensive line.
Kevin Chan is a San Diego Chargers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
