LA Chargers: A mock draft typical of Tom Telesco
By Tyler Gallagher
Round 6, Pick 166: Levonta Taylor, cornerback, Florida State
In the sixth round, Telesco goes……with a player with potential.
The sixth round is typically not a promising round, but Telesco has found some borderline starters in this range, including Sam Tevi, Derek Watt, and Darius Philon.
Levonta Taylor has the makings of a borderline starter, possibly from the offset of his career. Taylor is fast, fluid, and sticks to his assignment like glue. For this reason, he was rarely targeted in college, to the point that it is actually hard to find tape of Taylor in action with the ball in the air.
Unfortunately, a major limitation could make Taylor’s ceiling that of a borderline starter. By NFL standards Taylor is small, even for a slot cornerback.
Taylor is listed at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds by ESPN. His struggles against larger receivers in college suggest that this is rather generous.
Taylor is certainly a promising player, but his upside is short of elite. With a sixth-round pick, a borderline starter is certainly a fine acquisition.
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Round 7, Pick 197: A.J. Dillon, running back, Boston College
In the seventh round, Telesco goes……with a useful role player with high college production.
The seventh round has been relatively generous for the Chargers in recent years. The past three drafts have included Isaac Rochell, Justin Jackson, and Cortez Broughton. While it is questionable if any player can be an every-down starter in the NFL, each clearly has a place and value on any NFL team.
At six feet and 250 pounds, Dillon is a bowling ball of a halfback. In his three years at Boston College, he was a reliable and consistent source of offense, averaging nearly 5.0 yards per carry each year and over 1,000 yards per season.
In Dillon, the Chargers would get a player immediately capable of churning out short yardage while being a contributor on special teams. This player would perfectly round out the type of class that Telesco would love to have.