Grading New Chargers Regime's First NFL Draft Class

Los Angeles may have struck gold here.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Chargers have made it through their first draft under new general manager Joe Hortiz and head coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers drafted nine players in total during all seven rounds.

• 1st round — Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame

• 2nd round — Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia

• 3rd round — Junior Colson, LB, Michigan

• 4th round — Justin Eboigbe, DL, Alabama

• 5th round — Tarheeb Still, DB, Maryland

• 5th round — Cam Hart, DB, Notre Dame

• 6th round — Kimani Vidal, RB, Troy

• 7th round — Brenden Rice, WR, USC

• 7th round — Cornelius Johnson, WR, Michigan

Grade: A-

The Chargers came into this draft with three primary needs — offensive line, wide receiver and cornerback — and addressed all three of them. They began by taking offensive tackle Joe Alt with the No. 5 overall pick, who was their top player on the board. Alt will join Rashawn Slater to give the Chargers a formidable tackle duo.

While some were hopeful the Chargers would take LSU's Malik Nabers to address the receiver position right away, it was smart for the Chargers to take Alt. Not only did they consider him the best tackle at a position that can be hard to find quality players at, but there ended up being run-on tackles throughout the first round. Had the Chargers waited, they might have had to reach on a tackle in the second round, and surely would not have landed a player as good as Alt.

The Bolts quickly addressed their other biggest need by taking McConkey immediately in the second round. With the departures of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, the Chargers were in desperate need of more weapons for quarterback Justin Herbert.

They hope to have found that with McConkey. In addition, the Chargers brought in two more receivers in the seventh round by drafting Rice and Johnson. Rice shockingly fell to the seventh round, and the Chargers look to have a steal in him. Meanwhile, Johnson is a former Harbaugh player at Michigan, which should give him familiarity with the new system.

Though the Chargers did not address defensive back until the fifth row when they drafted Still and Hart, they managed to pull in two quality players at the position. They also added another former Harbaugh and Jesse Minter player in Colson, who looks to bring a great linebacker presence to the defense.

Ultimately, the Chargers capitalized on their draft by landing quality players who fit what they wanted to do as a team, addressed positions of need and managed to still follow their plan of taking the best player available. This draft grade improves or goes down depending on how these picks end up faring in the NFL.

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