ln the fourth and final installment of "Crossfire" hosted by Chargers team reporter Chris Hayre, The Athletic's Dane Brugler and staff writer for The Ringer, Ben Solak put their focus on the Chargers first-round pick. The two draft analysts debate if the Bolts should move or stay at pick 17, who the Bolts will take at 17 and the team's biggest needs plus more.
Take a look at the debate from episode four below:
Stick and pick at 17 or trade down?
Dane Brugler: Trade
"Gotta leave those phone lines open right? I tell you what, if they get the right offer I'm always in favor of moving around being a little creative with what they want to do. The chance to move back a little bit, maybe recoup that second-round pick which we know they don't have anymore. Getting another day two pick in this draft it sounds pretty appealing to me. Yes, you are trading away from the top 20…but I think even if you are moving back seven, eight spots I still think you could feel good about who's going to be left for you at that point, being able to pick again on day two is very appealing…."
Ben Solak: Stick
"I think it makes sense to stay at that position when you know that you're going to get a nice range for it. I think the end of the tackle class could be there, I think the thickness of the corner class could be there, the thickness of the wide receiver class could be there and those are all positions that make sense for the Chargers to hit. It's nice to stay and hang around right? You do keep the phone lines open, that's good business but Telesco usually sticks to his guns, makes first round picks and heck, he's made some good ones…"
Biggest need to fill for the Bolts?
Brugler: Right tackle
"I think I'm gonna go on the other side of the ball and go look at the offensive line. We know what an impact Rashawn Slater made last year at left tackle, let's run it back and get another right tackle and what's the most important part of your team, it's the quarterback. Let's do whatever we can to keep him upright to make sure he's playing at his best, staying healthy and I think adding a right tackle, a young player you can develop would go a long way to solidifying that offensive line and really the ripple effect for what that means for the rest of your offense…investing in the left side worked out really well last year, let's try to do it on the right side this year and you've got these book-end tackles for the foreseeable future with your young quarterback."
Solak: Run defense
"…I think linebacker's a spot where you could see an addition. Taking a linebacker in the first round can be tricky it's not something that's done often and that player really has to have a strong skill set, think about what Micah Parsons was for the Cowboys as a top 15 pick last year. But, if you really believe in the coverage ability of a guy like [Utah linebacker] Devin Lloyd who's got that height, he's got that length, he's got that range to him. If he's available at 17 it makes a lot of sense because that middle linebacker position is really key to running what Staley wants to run on defense and the Chargers need more bodies there, I think they need a star player there."
Top 10 prospect that could potentially slide to the Chargers?
Brugler: Jordan Davis
"I think I'm going to go defense for this one. Jordan Davis from Georgia is so interesting, 6'6'', 340 pounds, a guy who is pound-for-pound maybe the best athlete in this draft. Guys like that just should be able to run in the four-sevens [40-yard dash time] shouldn't be able to move like Jordan Davis moves, but he's still a nose tackle and a lot of teams will be maybe not on board with drafting a player like that in a top 15 pick. If he were to slip there to 17, Jordan Davis is going to make you think about it because of what he brings to your defense. Add him to the rotation he's going to be a shutdown run defender, a dominate level run defender…"
Solak: Chris Olave
"Dane said he wants to protect the quarterback, I want to spoil the quarterback. Chris Olave, wide receiver out of Ohio State there's a lot of guys who deserve to go early in this receiver class. Garrett Wilson his teammate at Ohio State, Jameson Williams out of Alabama, Drake London out of USC but if you look at the way the Chargers are built in that receiving core Keenan Allen, Mike Williams so good in the short areas, so good in the contested catch..but it felt like the thing this team needed last year was speed. It felt like you had Justin Herbert with the 65-yard arm and you were trying to find ways to really stretch the field out, not just regular stretch it, really stretch it out with the Ferrari that you've got at quarterback and that extra speed element at receiver could really help them do so."
