Heading into 2026, the Los Angeles Chargers have set themselves up with one of the deepest tight end rooms in the NFL.
After an emergent rookie season from pass-catching tight end Oronde Gadsden II, the Chargers brought in Charlie Kolar and David Njoku in free agency to round out the room. Kolar is one of the league's best blocking tight ends, and he could easily take on the starting role in Mike McDaniel's outside zone-centered scheme. Njoku took on more of a blocking role with the Cleveland Browns last season, but he presents a perfect middle ground between the dynamic Gadsden and the staunch Kolar.
In short, Los Angeles doesn't have much room to complain about their weapons at tight end.
But one emerging star at the position— Colston Loveland of the Chicago Bears— recently teased a draft scenario that may have always been too good to be true. When asked in his appearance on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast about what team he thought was going to take him in the 2025 NFL Draft, Loveland answered with complete confidence.
He thought he would be going to the Chargers.
"I think Chargers... That was the only visit I had and coach [Jim] Harbaugh really told me, 'If you're there, we'll grab you." Colston Loveland via the Bussin' With The Boys podcast.
Colston Loveland to the Chargers was always a dream too good to be true
If the draft was conducted in a vacuum, Loveland would've been the perfect selection for Los Angeles in 2025. Although he dealt with injuries during his senior season under Harbaugh at Michigan, he was still one of college's most dynamic pass-catching tight ends, posting 56 receptions for 582 yards and five touchdowns across 10 games.
At nearly 6'6" and 248 lbs, Loveland had the talent to be an immediately elite pass-catcher at the NFL level, complementing a short-yardage offense with his possession skill-set and opening up the possibility for explosive plays with his large strides downfield.
Any team in the NFL would've been luck to have him, assuming they had a need at tight end.
The Chargers certainly did that offseason, exiting 2024 with Will Dissly as their leading receiver in the tight end room. Loveland, from the start of the pre-draft process, was mocked as a real option for Los Angeles at 22nd overall, including in Lance Zierlein's Mock Draft 3.0 for NFL.com.
It was never out of the realm of possibility for Loveland to go inside the top-10, and the Bears' selection of him at 10th overall made perfect sense. But it's hard not to imagine what he could've been within the Los Angeles offense— especially now that McDaniel is at the helm.
Things worked out swimmingly for both parties. Loveland had an excellent rookie season in Chicago, posting 713 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 58 receptions. The Chargers, for their part, landed Omarion Hampton at 22nd overall— and the second-year back is primed for a major step forward in McDaniel's run game.
But Loveland's admission is a reminder of what could've been in the 2025 NFL Draft. While it's not an immediately painful memory to recall, it's certainly an intriguing 'what-if' scenario.
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