Los Angeles Chargers Draft: Mock has Jamal Adams falling to Bolts
By Travis Wakeman
Have you read a mock draft during this draft season that doesn’t have the Los Angeles Chargers selecting a safety in the first round? There aren’t many out there, and the latest from NFL.com is no different.
In his mock draft 4.0, Chad Reuter has the Chargers coveted safety Jamal Adams with the No. 7 overall pick. In talking about the draft with Chargers fans this offseason, many of them prefer Adams over Malik Hooker, so I can’t envision too many complaints about this idea.
It wasn’t long ago that the secondary of the Chargers was a huge weakness. By drafting a guy like Hooker, the team could have one of the best secondaries in the league when you factor in Casey Hayward and Jason Verrett.
Adams may not have the ball skills that Hooker possesses, but he’s not far off either. The major difference between the two safeties is that Hooker misses too many tackles and Adams is a thumper in the backfield.
Adams embraces making big hits and can do so up near the line of scrimmage as well as he can in the secondary. Dwight Lowery didn’t necessarily play badly for the Chargers last season, but Adams would be a massive upgrade.
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Almost certainly, either Adams or Hooker will be on the board when the Chargers go on the clock, perhaps both of them will. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Chargers don’t select one of these guys to perhaps begin that next step to fielding one of the league’s best secondaries.
Interestingly, Reuter doesn’t have Hooker being selected until No. 17 overall by the Washington Redskins in his mock. That could be due to the fact that the teams in between Nos. 7 and 17 don’t necessarily need a safety, or it could be that there is that much of a disparity between the talent of Adams and Hooker, according to draft experts.
Chargers fans, which one of these guys do you want to see the team select? Or would you prefer they go with another player? Let us know in the comments section below.