LA Chargers NFL Draft: 6 late-round prospects team will regret passing on

LA Chargers would have liked CB Kary Vincent Jr. (Selected Round 7, 237th overall by the Denver Broncos)

In the seventh round of the draft, the Denver Broncos may have gotten one of the draft’s biggest steals to add to an already stacked cornerback room in Kary Vincent Jr.

Vincent’s size and playing profile limit him to primarily being a slot corner, but that is something that the Chargers may need soon as Chris Harris Jr. continues to age and moves into a contract year.

Despite his size, Vincent has the tools that it takes to be an exceptional slot corner. He’s literally a track star, having won two state titles in the 200-meter dash at his high school in Houston. Even in college, Vincent was a part of the LSU track team, where he was an integral part of the 4×100-meter relay team that won multiple SEC titles.

Beyond that athleticism, Vincent played against the toughest competition in his time at LSU, and while his performance was not always the best, he showed clear improvement in his time there.

He needs more time to transition from athlete to football player, but reports from scouts say that he puts forth the effort and is a smart player. Such a profile sounds exactly like what Tom Telesco usually loves in a player, but he let Vincent pass several times en route to his selection with the 237th pick.

LA Chargers could have used S James Wiggins (Selected Round 7, 243 overall by the Arizona Cardinals)

In the seventh round, the Chargers favored previous special teams production at the safety position when they selected Mark Webb, despite the fact that their only depth safety, Alohi Gilman, was clearly brought in to have the same type of role.

Instead, or perhaps, in addition, the Chargers could have looked for a safety with more potential to see the field sooner in James Wiggins, who was expected to go in the fifth round by NFL.com.

Wiggins is primarily a free safety by trade, and he has near-elite physical traits for that position, scoring a 9.78 RAS score by his pro day testing.

In 2018, Wiggins had his best season by far. He used his athleticism and range to become a ball-hawk on the field, where he had four interceptions and five other passes defended.

Even though Wiggins is primarily known as a rangy free safety, he plays with excellent pad level and is known to deliver strong blows from time to time.

Despite all of this, Wiggins fell to the seventh round in the NFL Draft, being selected after every one of the nine Chargers picks. The reason for that is primarily that Wiggins suffered a torn ACL that caused him to miss the 2019 season, and he looked like he lost some explosiveness in 2020.

Some athletes need a full year to get back to full speed after a torn ACL, and Wiggins’ pro day numbers show that he is about back to that level. In the seventh round, it is worth it to take a shot on a high-level athlete with elite range, and that is what the Chargers missed out on in James Wiggins.