The 2023 NFL Draft is getting closer and fans might be getting a better idea of what the LA Chargers are going to do in the draft. Tom Telesco and Brandon Staley have left breadcrumbs surrounding a potential trade down while Staley may have hinted at what the team is doing in round one.
While it may not have worked historically in most cases, this is a loaded tight-end class and Kellen Moore's offense revolved around using two tight ends in Dallas. Even with Donald Parham back, this could mean that the Chargers are looking to take one of the top-end tight ends in round one.
If that is the case it will obviously change the rest of the draft order entirely. With that in mind, we hopped on the NFL Mock Draft Database mock draft simulator to outline what the draft class could look like with a first-round tight end.
Oh, and of course, we had to include a trade down.
Chargers trade pick 21 to Cowboys for pick 26 and 90.
In this Chargers mock draft Bijan Robinson was still on the board at 21. While many Chargers fans would want the team to take him, that is not the M-O of this mock. Dallas, however, does want to take him and trades up five spots to make sure they can do just that.
With the 26th pick, the Chargers select Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia
Personally, I would love to see Dalton Kincaid in powder blue if he was the first-round tight end selected by the Bolts. But with how this team operates, Darnell Washington seems like he could be the most likely selection.
The Chargers' blocking in the tight end room was horrible last season and Washington would instantly fix that. Of the first-round tight ends he is easily the best blocker and the mots physical.
While he is not as refined as a pass-catcher, he is still talented in that regard and would have a year to work into being the main TE option with Gerald Everett having one more year under contract. He gets the buffer of having Everett and Parham to lean on while adding a much-needed blocking tenacity in the room.
Oh, and he comes from Georgia, which is perhaps the program that Brandon Staley values the most in the draft.