After months of speculation around who the LA Chargers were going to draft with the 17th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the team went with someone who was not a likely target until recently for the fan base.
The Bolts selected Boston College guard Zion Johnson, marking two consecutive years that the team has taken offensive line help for Justin Herbert. Somewhere Philip Rivers has to be shaking his head after rarely receiving such help from the Bolts.
Fans mostly seemed to love the Johnson selection and it is hard not to. Just like every selection, though, there are pros and cons of the Chargers taking Johnson at 17. In this case the pros heavily outweigh the cons, but there are still some cons worth touching on.
Pros of the Chargers drafting Zion Johnson:
1 The Chargers got the best guard in the draft
Zion Johnson may not have been the first guard taken in the 2022 NFL Draft but he was widely considered to be the best guard heading into the draft. Johnson is as pro-ready as a guard can be and he should instantly be above-average at the NFL level.
It is always a good thing if a team can land the best player at a given position and it's even more exciting when said player is going to help protect the center of the franchise, Justin Herbert.
2. Offensive line versatility
Tom Telesco said in a post-first-round press conference that the team views Zion Johnson as a right guard and Matt Feiler as a left guard. This was a bit surprising as it seemed that the team was priming Johnson to play left guard next to Rashawn Slater with Matt Feiler at right tackle and Oday Aboushi (who would have to be re-signed) at right guard.
That might not be the exact vision that Tom Telesco outlined but that does not mean the team will refrain from bringing in Aboushi. Either way, the Chargers have legitimate options on the offensive line to produce the best all-around unit, whether that includes Johnson at left guard and Feiler at right tackle, or Trey Pipkins at right tackle.
This versatility would not have been the same if…
3. The Chargers took him over Trevor Penning
Trevor Penning is an intriguing right tackle prospect who has a high ceiling in the NFL. However, he is an unfinished product and is going to take time to develop. With the Chargers going all-in on contending, a developmental right tackle was not a great fit.
Johnson is undoubtedly going to be better than Penning right away and as mentioned, gives the team versatility. Drafting Penning would have been the opposite as the Bolts would have pigeonholed themselves into playing Penning at right tackle and re-signing Aboushi.
Cons of the LA Chargers drafting Zion Johnson:
1. Trent McDuffie is on the Kansas City Chiefs
When the Chargers were officially on the clock with the 17th overall pick there were three potential choices that seemed to make sense. Penning was the option fans didn't want to see with Trent McDuffie and Zion Johnson being the other options.
Personally, I really did believe that it was going to be McDuffie with Brandon Staley’s defensive vision in mind. That being said, as long as it was Johnson or McDuffie, it was a good pick.
The one bad part about not going McDuffie is that it opened the door for the Kansas City Chiefs to trade up to the 21st overall pick to take him. It is a shame that McDuffie is in division as he is a really good football player who will help shore up a hole in the Chiefs’ secondary.
2. The Chargers maybe could've moved down and still gotten Johnson
This is really nit-picking (showing how good the Johnson pick was for the Bolts). The only small drawback about Johnson at 17 is that the tram theoretically could have moved down some spot, picked up a third-round pick and still gotten Johnson.
That being said, it is unclear what teams would have even wanted to move up at 17 and the Chargers could have actually tried to move up for all we know.
There were so many trades in this first round and it would have been nice to see the Chargers jump in that action, but at the end of the day, it's hard to not like Johnson at 17.