The 2020 NFL Scouting Combine is officially in the books. How will it affect the Chargers’ draft plans?
Below is our latest four-round projection.
Round 1, No. 6, QB Jordan Love, Utah State
Oregon’s Justin Herbert has been in this position quite a bit throughout the pre-draft process, but a slight curveball has been thrown.
Love has been getting a lot of buzz as a top-10 selection after a strong performance at the Scouting Combine where he displayed his athleticism in the agility testing and arm talent in the on-field drills.
The Bakersfield native is arguably the biggest wild card among all quarterbacks. Even though he’s an extremely talented player, he struggled with turnovers in 2019, throwing 17 on the season.
The reason for the handful of interceptions could’ve been due to losing his head coach and all but one of his starters.
But a year prior to that, he threw 32 touchdowns and only six interceptions, which has had many believing that they could get the 2018 version with Love with some polish and surrounding him with play-makers, which the Chargers have.
The bottom line is that there’s no denying that when Love met with Los Angeles he had to explain the costly mistakes this past season when put on the whiteboard.
However, if the coaching staff feels like they can get the most out of him, they’d be getting the ideal signal-caller for their system, one who is competitive, has the arm to get the ball to all levels of the field and the mobility to be a threat with his legs.
If L.A. felt like Love was their guy, he would benefit from being able to sit behind Tyrod Taylor in Year 1. Coach Anthony Lynn, who maximized Taylor’s potential when they were in Buffalo together, would be able to do the same for Love.
Round 2, No. 37, OT Ezra Cleveland, Boise State
It’s no secret that the Chargers will be looking to upgrade the offensive line. Luckily, there will be a few plug-and-play caliber tackles outside of the first-round. Among them is one of the combine winners, who raised some eyebrows with his testing and on-field drills.
Cleveland ran a 4.93 40, while also posting the best 3-cone (7.26) and shuttle (4.46) of any offensive lineman in attendance. On the field, he showed smooth movement skills and solid flexion. For reference, his short shuttle time puts him in territory with NFL tackles like Anthony Castonzo (4.40) and Taylor Lewan (4.49).
The 6-foot-6 and 311 pounder started all Boise State’s 40 games since redshirting as a freshman. Cleveland needs to improve his play strength in the run game, but his balanced athleticism and loose movement skills allow him to stymie different types of rushers off the edge.
In his rookie season, he would be capable of filling in an immediate void at right tackle or left tackle (if Russell Okung is released).
Round 3, No. 71, CB A.J. Green, Oklahoma State
Drafting an outside corner to compliment Casey Hayward is something the Chargers will most likely look to accomplish early on in the draft, specifically one who fits well into defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s scheme and meets the thresholds.
Insert Green.
Green, the 6-foot-1 and 202 pounder played primarily on the outside in Oklahoma State’s defense where he was used both in zone and man coverage. The Texas native played in 48 games, starting 39 of them.
Green has the length to disrupt receivers, the turn-and-run ability to stay on the hip of the wideout along with adequate eye discipline and closing speed to make plays on the football.
In four seasons for the Cowboys, Green amassed 147 tackles, 21 passes defensed and six interceptions.
Round 4, No. 102, WR John Hightower, Boise State
The Chargers were unable to get the most out of Travis Benjamin along with the players behind him on the depth chart that were trying to fill in the role as WR3. Therefore, they will be looking to fill that void this offseason and luckily, this year’s class has a handful of options.
Hightower has the skillset that Los Angeles will fall in love with, especially his speed. While at Hinds Community College in Mississippi, he competed and earned sixth-place in the 400-meter hurdle and in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) outdoor nationals in 2016.
On the football field, the athleticism and track-like speed is evident, but he also possesses the separation skills, refined route running, ball skills and jumping ability to high point the football. Often used on sweep plays, Hightower is a threat to break off for a huge play.
In two seasons for the Broncos, Hightower amassed 82 receptions, 1,447 receiving yards (17.6 yards per catch) and 14 touchdowns. On the ground, he posted 24 rushes for 317 yards and two touchdowns.
