{"id":859820,"date":"2026-04-07T23:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859820\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:20:16","slug":"nfl-mock-draft-has-chargers-making-colossal-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859820\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Mock Draft Has Chargers Making Colossal Mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few would complain if the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> used a first-round pick on an offensive lineman to help out Justin Herbert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Chargers\u2019 shortcomings around Herbert have been a topic of discussion since the day he entered the league and have yet to cease under Jim Harbaugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, grabbing a starting-caliber player in the first round this year to pair with new starting center Tyler Biadasz<\/a> would end up as one of the most well-reviewed happenings of this year\u2019s draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s especially the case, considering the bonus it would provide to the Mike McDaniel’s arrival. He\u2019s overhauling the scheme, which has been reflected in every single move with the offensive line so far. A first-round rookie means he had input there, too, and thinks he\u2019s putting the offense in the best possible place to succeed before the season starts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But if the Chargers are going to take offensive line Round 1, they need to avoid a few landmines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NFL mock draft has Chargers taking a gamble\"Clemson<\/p>\n

Blake Miller | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Chargers don\u2019t avoid one of those landmines in a new mock draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Said mock draft comes from ESPN\u2019s Peter Schrager<\/a>, who has the Chargers taking Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller:<\/p>\n

\u201cMiller started every single game over his four years with Clemson (54 starts). And for an offensive line that was ravaged by injuries last season, taking the quintessential iron man of this tackle class at No. 22 makes sense. Miller could provide depth behind Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, and even slide inside to guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

One can see the problem just by reading the description.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Chargers could use better swing offensive tackle depth, or at least more of it. Trey Pipkins is one of the better guys in the league at that, as is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But taking a tackle Round 1 on a roster that already has Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater seems like a waste of resources. Sliding a tackle into a guard spot isn\u2019t this cut and dry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this mock scenario, the Chargers could easily just take someone like Emmanuel Pregnon, a proven guard who can start right away, and call it a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who knows? This sort of thing could work. Miller is likely to be a fine pro. But it reeks of taking an unnecessary risk, which is the sort of thing the Chargers shouldn\u2019t be doing in front of Herbert right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign Up For the Chargers Daily Digest – OnSI\u2019s Free Los Angeles Chargers Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few would complain if the Los Angeles Chargers used a first-round pick on an offensive lineman to help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,2444,2443,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-859820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangeleschargers","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116365991193302086","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}