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5 Takeaways: Daniel Jeremiah Lays Out Bolts 1st-Round Trade Scenario

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We're slowly creeping up on the 2024 NFL Draft.

With that in mind, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah held a two-plus hour conference call Thursday morning to go over numerous draft-related topics.

Here are five Chargers-related takeaways from Jeremiah:

1. Trade down from No. 5?

The Chargers will have quite a bit of options sitting in the No. 5 slot in this year's draft.

And one of them is the possibility of becoming a prime trade target for other teams looking to move up.

Jeremiah said Thursday that he expects the top three quarterbacks — Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels — to go in the first three picks of the draft.

But if another quarterback outside of those three emerges between now and late April, the No. 5 pick could become a popular spot for teams picking after the Bolts.

"I think if you're the Chargers and you want to trade down, you're praying that the fourth quarterback emerges, from now to the draft," Jeremiah said. "I think when it's all said and done, it feels like to me, you're going to have the three quarterbacks go one, two, three.

"Whether that's New England taking one, Washington trading out and somebody coming up, it just feels to me talking to people around the league that that seems to be the expectation," Jeremiah added.

If three quarterbacks do go in the first three picks, there will be a lot of talented and intriguing players at other positions that will be available by the time the Bolts are on the clock.

Still, given the depth at those positions, Jeremiah said a quarterback would likely be the only position teams would move up for.

"If you're looking at who you're going to trade for, because there's those three top receivers I don't know if anybody is coming up for those guys," Jeremiah said. "The tackle depth is really good so even though you got players worthy of trading up for, there's so many of them that that would be the case."

And Jeremiah had a couple names in mind that could build fit that mold and build some buzz.

"I think you're rooting for JJ McCarthy, Bo Nix," Jeremiah said. "You need another quarterback."

There's a lot yet to happen between now and the draft, including the start of the Combine in Indianapolis next week and university pro days, but a fourth quarterback emerging is not out of the question for Jeremiah.

"If another quarterback emerges through the process, then you're looking at that sixth pick with the Giants, the eighth pick with the Falcons, those viewed as quarterback potential teams," Jeremiah said. "Then they would be sitting in a pretty good spot trying to come up, which would be pretty nuts if four of the first five picks were quarterbacks.

Jeremiah added: "I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility."

Take a look back at photos of the Bolt Fam showing out during the 2023 season

2. Analyzing Brock Bowers

Brock Bowers is one of the more popular skill players in this year's draft.

He enters the draft as the clear-cut No. 1 tight end and, for Jeremiah, one of the best overall players.

"When you watch him, he's super easy to grade," Jeremiah said. "He's one of the 10 best players in the draft."

Bowers came in at No. 8 in Jeremiah's first top 50 rankings and is the only tight end in the top half of his list.

The Georgia product has also been a popular pick in the most-recent Chargers mock drafts, whether it's been with the fifth pick or after trading down.

Jeremiah is high on Bowers as a player and broke down just what he brings to the table as the top tight end.

"Plays with tenacity especially with the ball in his hands, that's where he's at his best. In the run game, he can get into guys," Jeremiah said about Bowers. "He's not the tallest or longest guy, so there are times where he's not able to quite do that.

"Everything he does, separate, easy, he can go get it, he can climb the ladder and go up and get the ball," Jeremiah added. "Really the run after the catch stuff is what makes him special.

Bowers' talent is undeniable, but the biggest question when it comes to him is just where he will land in the draft.

Given the position he plays, Jeremiah outlined how it is to project where the tight end will land.

"The challenge is figuring out where he goes in the draft," Jeremiah said. "I think when you look around the league and see these top tight ends that have come on day two or even beyond that, teams are now saying, 'We can find that other tight end. Maybe we don't get the top guy but we can get a really, really good player who might end up being the top guy without having to pay that premium'."

"You're still dependent on the position of the quarterback, depending on what you can get out of him," Jeremiah later added. "That, coupled with the money difference, the savings you get by taking a premium position, it's tough to place him to know how high he's going to go."

3. High-end options at WR

Jeremiah didn't sugarcoat how highly he thinks about this year's group of top receivers in Marvin Harrison, Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze.

"I think if you just look purely off of grade and not positional value, I think you could make the case the highest-graded players in this draft are the three receivers," Jeremiah said.

The three receivers rank in the top seven of his overall prospect list, and he projects all three to be No. 1 options wherever they end up.

"They are outstanding, I think they're all going to be No. 1 guys where they go," Jeremiah added. "You get different flavors."

Harrison sits atop the list for Jeremiah, but Odunze and Nabers don't fall too far behind.

Each of the prospects brings something unique to the table, which is why he ranks them so highly.

"With Marvin, you get the big power forward who's got some really good quickness for a big guy, really tracks the ball really well," Jeremiah said. "Odunze is going to be close to 220 pounds, I think you're going to see him run in the low 4.44s. He's got unbelievable tracking skills to go up and get it, combat catches, physical.

Jeremiah added: "And then Nabers is just like a stick of dynamite. He's super, super explosive. Just get the ball in his hands and let him go. I think there's more to him in terms of a route runner, I think he'll get more opportunities to show that at the next level, but he is ultra, ultra explosive."

The Chargers Impact Fund hosted a special Bolts Book Club event in celebration of Black History Month, in a continued effort to bring provide the youth in our community with an opportunity to promote literacy skill development and foster an affinity for the arts. Over 40 youth athletes from the Snoop Youth Football League visited the home of the Los Angeles Chargers, SoFi Stadium, to join former All-Pro special teamer and Chargers Legend Kassim Osgood for a read-along session of Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes, who also holds the title of former Chargers offensive lineman. The group also toured the acclaimed Kinsey African American Art and History Collection exhibit at SoFi Stadium, which itself features artwork crafted by Barnes.

At the conclusion of the event, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Chargers Impact Fund gifted each the 40-plus youth athletes an Amazon Kindle, enhancing the accessibility of literature as the students continue on their reading journeys, providing books and learning enhancement materials at their fingertips. Since the inception of the Bolts Book Club in 2020, the Chargers have donated over 12,000 books to youth throughout Southern California, inspiring literary development for our next generation.

4. Deep OT class

One of the deeper position groups in this year's draft, aside from quarterbacks and receivers, is offensive tackles.

It's a talented class all throughout but especially at the top. Jeremiah has seven offensive tackles ranked in his top 20, including four in the first 13.

And Jeremiah said Thursday those four are without question the best of the best of the bunch.

"They're all different flavors, they're all talented," Jeremiah said. "When you look at that top group of guys, I would say you're talking about [Joe] Alt, [Olu] Fashanu, [Taliese] Fuaga and [JC] Latham. Those are pretty unanimous, whatever order you have them are the top four guys."

At the top of Jeremiah's list is Alt, who is also a commonly picked player in early Chargers mock drafts.

Alt was No. 9 on Jeremiah's overall list.

[Alt] is the cleanest of the bunch, he's huge, he's long," Jeremiah said. "He just keeps getting better, he doesn't get beat. He's not the most dynamic athlete, he's not an elite bender, but he doesn't get beat. He plays with outstanding awareness, and he can move people in the run game."

And with Fashanu, his traits and possible versatility on both sides of the line is what makes him one of the top prospects in the draft.

"Massive, got the ideal frame, ideal length," Jeremiah said. "The Ohio State game was kind of the one that people will point to where he got into some trouble, his eyes were kind of in the wrong place, he gave up his chest and got bulled, moved around a bit.

"As a whole, I think his tape is pretty solid and he'd be plug and play, he can play on the left, he can play on the right," Jeremiah added.

Both Alt and Fashanu made names for themselves at left tackle, but Fuaga's play at right tackle is why Jeremiah believes he is a Day 1 player wherever he lands.

"Fuaga is a really, really clean player for me," Jeremiah said. "He's played on the right side, I don't see why you'd want to move him. I think he's plug and play as a right tackle, he can play guard if you needed him to.

"Just really consistent, quick feet, really explosive and dynamic when he gets into guys," Jeremiah added. "He's got some nasty to him, plays with good temperament. That to me is like the plug and play, he's got a home at right tackle and off you go."

And rounding out the talented group was Latham, whom he has going 14th in his latest mock draft.

"[Latham] was a big time recruit. He's got a lot in his body," Jeremiah said. "He's huge, 330-plus pounds, he's got torque and power especially in the run game. He can anchor all day long."

5. The Harbaugh Effect

Michigan has 18 players headed to the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, a new single-school record for any college program.

New Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, who spent the past nine seasons at Michigan, obviously played a key role in that figure.

Jeremiah said Thursday that Michigan's quality and depth will be on full display next week in Indianapolis.

"I don't think we're going to have a zillion first round picks for Michigan this year, but you mentioned the raw number of guys and there's so many of them," Jeremiah said. "When you go through and look at them, there's things you can start with when you're doing the evaluation like, 'They're probably going to be tough, they're all tough, they're smart.'
"It's nice as a scout when you can put those things to bed in the evaluation and focus on the tape and what you see," Jeremiah continued. "It's almost become kind of a given that if you get a Michigan guy, you're going to get somebody who's been well-coached, can take hard coaching, he's smart and he's tough. Now, let's go about figuring out if he can play.

"That's something that they developed there, they've developed in that toughness, they've developed in that kind of smart football player with a good knowledge of the game," Jeremiah added.

Expect Harbaugh to mold the Chargers with that same philosophy, which also includes drafting players who fit that mindset, too.

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