LA Chargers mock draft: Bolts reinvent defense for Brandon Staley

With the 77th overall pick, the LA Chargers select Tommy Tremble, TE, Notre Dame

You can kiss Tommy Tremble goodbye if the LA Chargers take a receiver at 13. That pushes back the picks for tackle and corner. The team would then have to take Tremble with pick 97 and there are two problems with that: he 90% won’t be on the board by then and the Chargers would then get an edge rusher in the fourth round, which is not ideal.

This is the latest the Chargers can wait for Tremble and while I am not a huge fan of taking a tight end this early I understand why the team would do it. The team needs a long-term replacement for Hunter Henry and that is exactly what Tremble would be.

He is very capable in the passing game and is a solid blocker as well. That is huge, as the Chargers do not really have any great blocking tight ends with the departure of Henry and Virgil Green.

With the 92nd overall pick, the LA Chargers select Quincy Roche, OLB, Miami

Trade: The LA Chargers trade the 97th and 159th pick to the Cleveland Browns for the 92nd pick.

So we cheated the system a bit on the mock draft machine but that is okay. Quincy Roche went 93rd overall to the Buffalo Bills, so what we did after seeing that was trade up with the Cleveland Browns, in theory, to ensure that the Chargers get Roche.

This is a fair price to move up five spots in the late third round.

There is a line drawn in the sand after Roche. The edge prospects simply are not as exciting and Roche would fit perfectly in this defense. Roche does not have all of the coverage skills that are sometimes needed as an outside linebacker but he is productive both against the run and in the pass rush as well.

It is still unclear whether or not the Chargers will commit to a 3-4 defense and we will most likely know our answer based on who the team picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. Roche is a starting-caliber outside linebacker and would give the team its two starters outside with Roche and Nwosu.