First round, No. 28 overall: Dalton Risner, OL, Kansas State
Dalton Risner is a trendy pick for the Chargers and this will not be the last time you see his name mentioned in the same sentence with the team.
He is a tremendous prospect who can conceivably play at any position along the offensive line. Tom Telesco likes versatility, and Risner fits the bill.
The most impressive part of Risner’s game is his power and ability to basically bully defenders. It will be interesting to see if he can do that at the professional level, but in college, no one got anywhere but trying to push him backward, he’s simply too strong.
In the running game, he will open up lanes and be a guy that running backs can run behind on consecutive downs as he wins with regularity. His footwork needs to improve and quick players on the edge (Von Miller for instance) could give him a lot of trouble. That might make him better suited to play guard, where he would have the potential to thrive.
At the same time, if the Chargers chose to play him at right tackle, he would be an instant upgrade over Sam Tevi, capable of starting from day one. Tevi was abused against New England and it would be a lot harder for teams to do that to Risner.
The main reason this pick makes sense is due to the fact that it would give the team much more flexibility within the offensive line. If Risner is still on the board at No. 28, the pick would be hard to argue against.