3 ruinous moves Chargers must avoid with the 21st overall pick
By Jason Reed
2. Drafting an interior defensive lineman
It doesn't seem like the LA Chargers would actually make this mistake of drafting someone to "shore up the run defense" in the 2023 NFL Draft. Sure, the team could do that later in the draft but with how the organization operates and based on what Brandon Staley values, it does not seem fully likely that they will do this.
That being said, it has not stopped draft experts from mocking interior defensive linemen so that the Chargers can improve against the run. ESPN's Todd McShay just mocked Calijah Kancey to the Bolts at 21. Have to stop the run, right?
Anyone who watches Chargers football and understands what this team is trying to accomplish knows that Staley's defensive philosophy is built around giving a little bit against the run in order to stop the pass.
Does that mean that Staley and the Chargers want to rank among the worst teams in the league against the run? Not at all. But it obviously is not a priority and the hope is that it would extend to the 2023 NFL Draft.
But at the end of the day, anything can happen and Telesco has drafted an interior defensive lineman in the first round of the draft before.