Chargers Betting on Late Round Draft Gems, Could Look To Trade Down

Head Coach Brandon Staley is excited to see how the draft board opens up once the second and third round rolls around.

The Los Angeles Chargers seem to be fully shifting their attention to the upcoming 2023 draft. Free agency took care of their immediate needs, depending on who you ask, and they were still able to hold on to a decent amount of cap space so they could bring in some fresh, young legs.

Fans have been head over heels for Bijan Robinson out of Texas. Nobody is too sure what will happen with Austin Ekeler but he seems to be a prime candidate to replace if a trade goes through.

However, Robinson is easily one of the top RB's in his class and there is no way he does not go in the first round. Luckily for the Chargers, they own the 21st pick in the first round and have been heavily linked to the 21-year-old star.

But what if LA opted to trade that pick and start selecting players a little later? It seems as though Brandon Staley, head coach of the Bolts, was certainly alluding to this in his press conference Monday.

keepin' our options open

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) March 27, 2023

"This draft, to me, where we're picking is wide open," said Staley. "Certainly with where the quarterbacks are going and how many will go, will certainly push everybody back a bit. Kind of like last year, the board opened up for us at 17. But hopefully we're picking in the late 20's for aa long time, in the 30's, we just want the board to open up because it creates more options."

"I think this draft, sort of later in the first round or early second round, there will be a lot of good players to draft. I know Tom and I feel that way about this draft."

(Via Chargers Twitter)

This will definitely change up things for the mock drafts moving forward and as April gets closer, we'll see if anything changes as far where the Chargers will be picking.