It's impossible to have a perfect NFL Draft record but there's still a standard NFL teams must strive toward. For many years, the LA Chargers fell well short of that standard, resulting in unbalanced rosters and losing seasons.
The draft has gone better under GM Joe Hortiz but even he hasn't been perfect. As is the case with every team in the league, there is at least one selection each year that we can point to as a blunder that cost the team.
Some are better than others, but the Chargers have some truly baffling draft picks from the 2020s. Let's dive into the worst one from each class.
The worst Chargers draft pick from every draft since 2020:
2020: Kenneth Murray, 23rd overall
The Kenneth Murray selection isn't just the worst of the 2020 NFL Draft, it might be the worst of the entire decade for the Chargers. There are some bad picks in here, but it doesn't get much worse than drafting draft capital to get back into the first round only to take a linebacker who was terrible.
Trading up for a linebacker is already a risky move given the draft capital it takes and the positional value of linebackers. Murray had to become a Pro Bowl-caliber linebacker and leader of the defense for that trade to be justified.
He never blossomed into that, and couldn't even become a serviceable starter for the Chargers. The Chargers tried everything they could to make it work with Murray, including playing him on the edge, but nothing worked. Ultimately, the Chargers would have been much better off keeping the second and third-round pick for more depth.
In fact, the entire 2020 draft class outside of Justin Herbert is pretty bad looking back. Just imagine if the Dolphins took Herbert instead of Tua Tagovailoa.
2021: Tre' McKitty, 97th overall
Hindsight is always 20/20, but even we saw this coming back in 2021. Just days after the 2021 NFL Draft, we penned how the Chargers should have taken offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz with the 97th pick instead of Tre' McKitty.
Meinerz is a two-time All-Pro while McKitty isn't even in the league. It's quite remarkable how many of the Chargers' offensive line issues would have been solved with just one different selection in a draft five years ago.
McKitty came into the league as a raw pass-catcher who, on paper, could provide above-average blocking right away as a rookie. There was just one problem: his blocking didn't translate to the NFL. Thus, the Chargers had a tight end with no hands who also couldn't block. What a great pick.
2022: JT Woods, 79th overall
The 2022 NFL Draft is another disaster from former GM Tom Telesco. Special teams player Deane Leonard is the only person from the 2022 NFL Draft class still on the team and first-round pick Zion Johnson was legitimately awful for three years before turning in a serviceable 2025 campaign.
Still, as frustrating as Johnson was, it was a well-respected pick at the time. He was the best guard prospect on the board and the Chargers needed guard help. Sure, we here at Bolt Beat were on the record in preferring Trent McDuffie, but that's neither here nor there.
Instead, the truly bad pick came in the third round with JT Woods. The Chargers didn't have a second-round pick thanks to the Khalil Mack trade and really needed to land an impact player with their only other top-100 pick. So what did the Chargers do? Took a prospect who was clearly green in what was clearly a reach even at the time.
Woods never panned out for the Chargers and hasn't played in the NFL since 2023.
2023: Quentin Johnston, 21st overall
Yes, Quentin Johnston has looked better the last two seasons and recovered from what was a disastrous rookie season. But just because Johnston saved himself from being an all-time bust doesn't make this pick a good one.
The Chargers thought they were getting a future No. 1 wideout in Johnston and instead got someone who is best as a third option in certain spots. Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison have had more success as pros and the Chargers were also one pick away from Jaxon Smith-Njigba being on the board.
Johnston has salvaged his career, sure, but the Chargers still took the wrong guy.
2024: Junior Colson, 69th overall
There's still time for Junior Colson to turn it around with the Chargers. However, the former Michigan Wolverine has done absolutely nothing in his two-year NFL career to give fans any confidence whatsoever that he can turn it around.
Colson has battled various injuries in his career that have both limited his time on the field and his production while healthy. As a result, the Chargers were essentially forced to re-sign Denzel Perryman this offseason as Colson can't be trusted to play a more prominent role on defense.
Colson no longer has his former college defensive coordinator calling plays as he is truly entering a now-or-never moment on the Bolts. The Chargers never could have predicted the injuries, but it is a shame that a pick so close to Jim Harbaugh hasn't worked out thus far.
2025: Kyle Kennard, 125th overall
This entry deserves an asterisk as there is still so much that can happen. The story of the 2025 draft class cannot be written after just one season, and Kennard's place on this list does not mean he won't break out for the Chargers in the future.
Heck, Kennard was one of our favorite picks in the 2025 NFL Draft because of his resume coming into the league. His ceiling may have been capped but he had a high enough floor to get excited about him as an instant difference-maker.
Kennard made no impact at all in his rookie season and is entering his sophomore year as one of the most overlooked players on the roster. With more opportunity in the edge rusher room perhaps Kennard can blossom into someone Chargers fans can't afford to forget.
But until something like that happens, he has to make this list as the worst pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. We still have hope.