2023 draft picks Chargers already regret making (and who they should’ve picked)

Chargers should have drafted Ivan Pace Jr. over Max Duggan

And here it comes full circle. The Chargers could have gotten a better receiver in the first round, could have actually filled a legitimate need in the third round and could have still gotten a promising tight end in round seven.

Instead, the Chargers wasted a pick on Max Duggan essentially knowing that he was not going to make the 53-man roster. The Chargers liked Duggan enough that they wanted to secure him and keep him from signing somewhere else as a UDFA. In reality, the Chargers could have kept UDFA Ivan Pace Jr. from signing with the Minnesota Vikings.

Pace has been one of the best rookies in the entire league this season as he is putting together a very impactful season for the Vikings. He leads all undrafted rookies in playing time and has legitimately been a difference-maker. Pace has been better than the guy who Minnesota let walk, Eric Kendricks, who is now on the Chargers.

Sure, it is really hard to find an impactful UDFA like Pace and hindsight is always 20/20 but he was a prospect who was brought up as a potential target for the Chargers here on Bolt Beat before the draft.

Even if the Chargers didn't take Pace, taking Duggan still made absolutely no sense. Seventh-round picks are hardly very impactful but taking someone who would be a third-string quarterback at best is only setting yourself up to fail every single time.