The Los Angeles Chargers approached the 2026 NFL Draft from a perspective of serious need. It's not always the best place to be in, but they came away with a solid class nonetheless.
They added a league-ready pass rusher in Akheem Mesidor, a piece to compete for the starting left guard slot in Jake Slaughter, and rotational pieces in Brenen Thompson, Nick Barrett, and Genesis Smith. Overall, it's a strong draft class that will have a chance to play significant roles for Los Angeles over the course of 2026.
Yet there were positions, at least of long-term need, they were unable to fill despite the significant late-round draft capital they came to possess. With Denzel Perryman approaching age 34, inside linebacker was one of these.
Thankfully, the Chargers also had an underrated UDFA class, and Kristopher Knox at Bleacher Report identified Lander Barton out of Utah as one of the league's undrafted free agents that has a serious chance to crack the roster as a rookie.
Although he'll need to compete with Junior Colson for snaps, Barton has the tackling abilities and the productive upside to be a serious contributor for Los Angeles as a rookie.
Lander Barton could be an answer for the Chargers at inside linebacker
Here's what Knox had to say about Barton, who was ranked 10th on Bleacher Report's list of off-ball linebackers in the 2026 NFL Draft:
"The Los Angeles Chargers may have gotten themselves a steal when they signed Barton after the draft. His production speaks for itself, but the 22-year-old has an intriguing amount of NFL upside. With a 6'4⅝", 233-pound frame and room to add more weight, he can be a thumping early-down specialist in the NFL. He also has some tight end experience, though his 4.79 speed may limit him to a couple of specific roles." Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report
In his final season at Utah, Barton amassed 55 total tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss across 13 games. He has some development to undertake in his short-area athleticism, but he has the fundamental tackling abilities to take on rotational duties for the Chargers almost immediately.
His chance for a larger role in the long-term, though, stems purely from Los Angeles' lack of answers at their second inside linebacker spot. It was somewhat surprising that Perryman, who has seen his production dwindle over the past two seasons, was brought back on a one-year, $2.3 million contract for 2026. Although the Chargers have Troy Dye, who's shown a healthy amount of special-teams upside, in the wings, the return of Perryman likely revealed their lack of confidence in Colson's ability to take on a larger snap share.
Colson was selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft and had a productive rookie season before a severe shoulder injury sidelined him for the entirety of his sophomore campaign.
Barton enters the fray as a member of a strong defensive UDFA class that contained Nadame Tucker, Devin Grant, and Avery Smith, among others. He will still need to impress in camp to crack the roster as a rookie.
But if he can, and if he shows enough juice to surpass Colson on the depth chart, he could quickly find himself with more long-term opportunities than most UDFAs could ever dream of.
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