LA Chargers: 5 draft targets to watch in the National Championship
By Jason Reed
The LA Chargers get one last in-game scouting chance during the National Championship game.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes are squaring off on Monday night in the National Championship game. For Alabama, this is the fifth time in the last six years that they will be playing in the big game. For Ohio State, this is the first time that the Buckeyes made it to the championship since 2014 — the first year the playoff was implemented.
It is a compelling match up to wrap up what was a really compelling 2020 college football season. Some of the best draft prospects are going to be playing in this game, with plenty of NFL scouts watching with a keen eye.
The same can be said for the LA Chargers. While the team is likely not going to get a chance to draft the likes of Patrick Surtain, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith, they have potential targets up and down the draft board playing in this game.
Here are the five players (in order from least important to most important) I would pay close attention to as a Charger fan tuning into this one.
5. Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama
Alex Leatherwood is probably the best offensive line prospect for the Alabama Crimson Tide but he checks in fifth on this must-watch list. While Leatherwood is a fine prospect that will likely go in the first round, I am not in love with the idea of him on the Bolts.
Leatherwood is one of those in-between prospects that typically does not do well on the Chargers (Forrest Lamp). He has been a fine starting tackle at the collegiate level but projects to be more of a guard-type offensive lineman in the NFL.
This could be spun positively in the sense that Leatherwood is versatile and can play anywhere on the offensive line. However, knowing the Chargers, he will get pigeonholed at guard, will not get the proper development and will never be the prospect that he could be.
Leatherwood projects to be a late first-round pick and it would be a bit of a reach for the Chargers to take him at 13. However, I would not completely rule out him slipping to the second, as that is exactly what happened to Lamp three years ago.