The Los Angeles Chargers need to grab a starting-caliber offensive guard in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Free agency has essentially come to an end. If the season started right now, the Chargers would have Trevor Penning and Cole Strange in their starting guard spots. It's clear that Mike McDaniel believes in his ability to continue developing Strange. But considering how the offensive line suffered last season as a result of sub-par guard play, starting both is frankly not a viable option.
In most other drafts, the most logical path would be to leverage first-round draft capital in order to ensure Los Angeles gets one of the top guards in the class. But this class has only one guard with a real first-round grade: Olaivavega Ioane out of Penn State.
Early on in the mock draft cycle, almost every analyst had Ioane slated for the Chargers at 22nd overall. If you found a mock draft that had them slated to grab a defensive player, it was a point of intrigue. But as teams' needs have crystallized, it's seeming more and more like there will be a team who nabs Ioane before Los Angeles is even on the board.
In the Chargers' latest mock draft tracker posted by their official website, only three of the eleven selected mock drafts have the team grabbing Ioane in the first round. This is, of course, simply a sample of analysts' thoughts on how the draft could break.
But across the draft community, it's more and more becoming the dominant thought that Ioane will be taken earlier in the first round. The Chargers must seriously begin considering other options as a result.
The Chargers need to accept that Olaivavega Ioane may not be available at 22nd overall
Ioane would be the ideal selection for Los Angeles, and it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that he falls to 22. But teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and even the New York Jets have serious needs along the offensive line.
Trading up is likely not an option. The Chargers have just five selections in this year's draft. They have too many needs on their roster to sacrifice any excess draft capital to address one position.
If they stay put, perhaps grabbing a defensive player could be their best move. Across the mock draft tracker, analysts have them grabbing edge rushers like T.J. Parker out of Clemson, Cashius Howell out of Texas A&M, and Keldric Faulk out of Auburn. Selecting a guard such as Emmanuel Pregnon out of Oregon (which three of the selected mock drafts have as a possibility) is viable. But it would frankly be a reach to take Pregnon at the end of the first round.
Not all hope is lost. There are plenty of guards in this class to be gotten in the second round, many of whom could easily compete with Strange and Penning for a starting spot.
But it's seeming more and more likely that Ioane will be off the board when the Chargers select. Fans must soon become comfortable with that reality.