The Chargers struck gold with the selection of Joe Alt with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. But there was a possibility that they were going to go in a different direction, as told by the player who thought he was going to end up in Los Angeles.
Titans‘ JC Latham was a recent guest on the podcast Bussin With The Boys, and he went on to reveal that Jim Harbaugh told him that the Bolts were going to take him with the fifth pick.
“When I met with the Chargers, Harbaugh said we’re taking you,” Latham said. “Harbaugh said we’re taking you. You’re our guy and we want you at right tackle…As soon as I left, Mel Kiper tweeted out that the Chargers said they are taking Latham at five.”
Latham said at that point he wasn’t sure if Harbaugh was joking when he said that they were going to pick him. His agency told him that the word around the Chargers building was that they were going to take him. However, it did not come to fruition.
“When the fifth pick came up, I’m in the green room and 30 cameras came right in front of me,” Latham added. Right in front of my face. Phone is in my lap. And then I realized that this was going to happen, and then they pick Joe Alt.”
It remains to be seen whether the Chargers were targeting Latham with the pick, assuming Alt was not going to be available. Or if Harbaugh was joking all along. Los Angeles did seem to show high interest in Latham, as offensive line coach Mike Devlin worked with the former Alabama product at his pro day.
Nonetheless, the Chargers seemed to get it right by taking Alt, who had a sensational rookie season. Latham dealt with more growing pains than Alt as he transitioned to left tackle in his first year. He is going back to his natural right tackle position, though.