LA Chargers: What it would take to draft Penei Sewell
By Jason Reed
The dream first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft for the LA Chargers is offensive tackle, Penei Sewell.
The LA Chargers are once again going to find themselves at the top of the NFL Draft order. If the season were to end today the Chargers would have the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, actually getting one pick worse than their sixth overall pick in 2020.
The Chargers have several needs and there are plenty of different directions the team can go. The team can use its first-round pick to replace Melvin Ingram, who is not returning this season. Tom Telesco could also use the first-round pick on an offensive lineman or even a cornerback if he wants to get frisky.
Of the offensive linemen in the draft it does not get much better than Penei Sewell. Justin Herbert’s former teammate at Oregon is widely considered the best offensive line talent of the bunch and would be the first necessary step in building an elite offensive line in LA.
Don’t take my word for it. Our very own Steven Haglund holds Sewell in a very high regard. I have come to learn that if Stephen loves someone in the draft then they are probably going to be pretty good.
Top 5 non-QB prospects over the last five years imo:1. Penei Sewell2. Myles Garrett3. Chase Young4. Quenton Nelson5. Nick Bosa
— Steven Haglund (@StevenIHaglund) December 3, 2020
Quenton Nelson is the only other offensive lineman on Steven’s top five and he was an All-Pro in his first two years in the league. So yeah. Sewell is a beast.
The problem is that it is very unlikely that Sewell falls to the Chargers’ spot in the order. As it stands, the Bengals have the third overall pick in the draft and would be absolutely foolish to not pick Sewell.
There is the possibility of trading up, but the Chargers would have to either trade with the Bengals are trade to number two, which is not happening. The Bengals would not pass up Sewell and the Jaguars/Jets are not going to trade back when they need a quarterback.
Instead, here is the most likely path to the LA Chargers getting Penei Sewell.