The Los Angeles Chargers' selection of Akheem Mesidor in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft is still more than defensible.
With Khalil Mack entering his age-36 season, the Chargers needed a long-term answer to pair with Tuli Tuipulotu off the edge. But in the short-term, Mesidor also provides a polish and an athleticism that make him a perfect complement to both of the team's primary edge rushers. Last season, Jesse Minter was able to play Odafe Oweh off of that pairing in order to create advantageous pressure situations, and Mesidor's ability to line up on the inside theoretically allows Chris O'Leary to do the same.
It's not reasonable to expect immediate, high-level production out of Mesidor. But it is reasonable to expect him to be maximized within the context of the Chargers' pass-rush scheme.
Almost nothing went right for O'Leary in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, and we should expect major adjustments heading into Week 2. If you're going to spend a first-round selection on an older defender like Mesidor, he needs to be a major part of those plans.
Akheem Mesidor needs to have a larger role in the Chargers' pass rush in Week 2
Needless to say, the Chargers need to win this matchup against Las Vegas. Entering their gauntlet of Weeks 3 through 10 with an 0-2 record—against two sub-par teams, at that—would be beyond disastrous.
And as much of their success this season is going to rely on the cohesion of the Chargers offense under Mike McDaniel's scheme, a win in Week 2 starts on the defensive side of the ball, and specifically with the pass rush. Los Angeles posted just eight total pressures against Arizona: their lowest total since Week 11 of last season against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mack and Tuipulotu were barely making a dent in the Cardinals' protection, and Mesidor posted just one pressure on 22 pass rush snaps.
That's a reasonable workload for him to see on a week-to-week basis. But O'Leary clearly wasn't able to maximize his pairing with Mack and Tuipulotu in the same way that Minter was able to with Oweh last season. Mesidor saw just one interior snap over the course of the game. Tuipulotu saw zero.
With the Cardinals starting their third-string right guard, that seems like a missed opportunity to exploit a weakness in Arizona's protection.
Thankfully, the landscape remains relatively the same against the Raiders. As good as Las Vegas' tackles were in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins, both left guard Spencer Burford and right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson were relative weak links in their pass protection. Using all three of Mesidor, Tuipulotu, and Mack on the field on occasion could load the Raiders' protection scheme with more than it can truly handle.
At the very least, the Chargers selected Mesidor in the first round because they felt he was ready for immediate NFL action. It's time for them to give him the chance to prove that in Week 2, especially when pass-rush pressure will be an absolute key to coming away with a victory.
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