LA Chargers: Grading the 2020 NFL Draft after one season

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports – LA Chargers

The LA Chargers’ had some huge rookie performances and some minuscule rookie performances.

It is crazy to think that the 2020 NFL regular season is in the books. It feels like yesterday that we were all talking about who the LA Chargers should take in the 2020 NFL Draft and what kind of season was possible with Tyrod Taylor under center.

Little did we know that Taylor would only start one game with the Bolts, the Chargers would get elite quarterback play instead and the team still would have a losing record. Back in August, I predicted the team to go 7-9 because of the quarterback play. If you read me the stats at the quarterback position, I would have predicted that they went at least 11-5.

The team very well could have if they would have come away with different results in some key games, which led to the recent firing of Antony Lynn. Lynn — a great player’s coach and motivator — lacked the decision-making ability that makes a truly good head coach.

Thus, the 2020 rookies will head into their sophomore seasons under a different system and the 2021 rookies will be selected with the opinion of the new head coach in mind.

A lot can change and these rookies may blossom into legitimate contributors as early as next season, but with one full season in the books, it now feels appropriate to retroactively grade the LA Chargers’ 2020 draft class and include who the team may have been better off picking.

This article can age very poorly if any of these players exceed expectations in 2021, but let’s take a crack at it anyway.