3 ruinous moves Chargers must avoid with the 21st overall pick
By Jason Reed
The LA Chargers have the 21st overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and there is a wide array of directions that the team could go in. Some of these paths are better than others but for the most part, the Bolts have several solid options in front of them.
That being said, there is also the contrary as well. For every solid path the Chargers can take in the draft there is a scary path that can ruin the rest of the draft class. One ruinous mistake in round one can make the rest of the draft suffer. Just look at the team's decision to trade up for Kenneth Murray in the 2020 NFL Draft.
There are some obvious moves that the Bolts must avoid making with the 21st pick if they want any chance of having a solid draft class.
3 ruinous moves Chargers must avoid with the 21st overall pick:
3. Passing on Bijan Robinson if he falls
This checks in at no. 3 on the list because there is no guarantee that Bijan Robinson even falls to the Chargers to begin with. The RB1 in the 2023 NFL Draft is extremely appealing and there is a good chance that some team ahead of the Chargers buys into him even if conventional draft wisdom says first-round running backs are bad.
If Robinson does somehow fall to the Chargers it would be a massive mistake to allow his slide to continue by selecting someone else. It does not matter if the Chargers figure out the situation with Austin Ekeler and know that he is going to return in 2023. Robinson is too good to pass up.
Luckily, Tom Telesco has historically taken the best player available in the first round even if it is not a direct need for the team. With that in mind, the odds of the Chargers passing on Robinson after 20 other teams pass on him seems pretty slim. It does not change the fact that it would be a ruinous mistake, though.