With retirement shaking up their plans, experts debate the Chargers' first-round draft strategy. Will they target center or bolster the pass rush?
It's been about a month since I did my last Mock Draft Roundup, and a fair amount has changed since then. Not only do we have a bunch of new mock drafts to go through, the Los Angeles Chargers offseason plans seem to be progressing in a particular direction.
Bradley Bozeman was probably not coming back to the Chargers next season, and replacing him was likely going to be high up on the team's offseason priority list, but he eliminated at least one backup plan from the team's quiver when he announced his retirement yesterday.
Will that make the Chargers consider taking a center with their 1st round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, or will they fill that specific position through free agency (or trade)? I guess we'll find out.
Let's find out what the experts think...
Mel Kiper (February 24): Olaivavega Ioane, G, Penn State (Previously: Peter Woods, DT, Clemson)
Daniel Jeremiah (February 17): Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon (Previously: Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech)
Jumping in here real quick to talk about DJ's pick here. His first mock draft came out right when the Teair Tart re-signing was announced, and he added a note in about how it didn't make much sense anymore.
Now, given a second chance, his selection doesn't seem to make any more sense. Mike McDaniel's offenses of the past don't show a history of playing multiple TE sets. In fact, that only reason Darren Waller didn't dominate the TE stats for the Dolphins last season was because he couldn't stay healthy.
DJ even goes on to say that Sadiq would be a good addition to the receiving group of Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Tre Harris and Oronde Gadsden II. If those five players were to be on the field at the same time, there would be zero running backs playing for the Chargers.
Gadsden was an absolute home run pick in the 5th round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Why would the team want to use a 1st round pick a year later on the same position?
Eric Froton (February 23): Olaivavega Ioane, OG, Penn State
Matt Maiocco (February 23): Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech
Dalton Wasserman (February 23): Akheem Mesidor, EDGE, Miami
Gennaro Filice (February 20): T.J. Parker, EDGE, Clemson
Yahoo Sports staff (February 19): Olaivavega Ioane, OG, Penn State
The Athletic staff (February 19): Keldric Faulk, EDGE, Auburn
Charles Davis (February 19): Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee
Walter Football (February 23): Olaivavega Ioane, OG, Penn State
Tom Fornelli (February 18): Peter Woods, DL, Clemson
I went with a few different mock draft sources this time because most of the ones I relied on a few weeks ago haven't updated their mocks. Still, you can see a pattern emerging....or maybe one disappearing.
Last week, with few exceptions, there was a consensus that the Chargers would be picking Ola Ioane, the guard from Penn State. This time, the results are a lot more varied.
You can see people starting to get concerned about what might happen to the team's Edge Rusher depth chart if Odafe Oweh and Khalil Mack both leave in free agency.
Ola Ioane is the most common name from the outlets I selected above, but the NFL Mock Draft Database website has a "consensus mock draft" that is meant to squish all of the mock draft selections into an average.
The consensus pick for the Chargers at #22? Caleb Banks, a defensive lineman out of Florida. However, with just 7% consensus, no team has a less predictable outcome heading into the NFL Scouting Combine.