Chargers mock draft: Bolts snag three day-one starters in first three rounds

Chargers select RB Trey Benson with the 72nd overall pick

Both Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley are free agents after the 2023 season and neither player has done enough to warrant being re-signed in the offseason. Thus, the Chargers are going to have to rebuild the running back room and that will include the 2024 NFL Draft.

There is a blueprint for the Chargers to craft a decent enough running back room that can produce as a committee. The team can draft a running back in the mid-rounds, sign a cheap veteran like D'Onta Foreman, and give Isaiah Spiller a bigger role in year three. It may not have a standout star in 2024, but that strategy could work nicely.

There are several intriguing mid-round running backs that the Chargers could explore with Trey Benson being arguably the most exciting. If Jim Harbaugh is hired then Michigan's Blake Corum might be the pick, but if not, the team may favor Benson.

Benson has done nothing but produce at the collegiate level. Benson, who is on the bigger side, has averaged 6.11 yards per carry over his last two seasons with 23 combined rushing touchdowns in 26 games. He has added 371 receiving yards with a receiving touchdown to that total as well.

There are other directions the Chargers could go in the third round but running back seems more likely. Some fans want to see the team take a center in the first three rounds but nobody outside the building knows the full extent of Corey Linsley's medical issue, so to speculate about it is unfair.

Wide receiver is certainly a compelling need but that feels like something the team will address in round four or five while still putting faith into Quentin Johnston. Los Angeles isn't going to draft an offensive tackle early to pay Pipkins $8.75 million to go to the bench, and the team can fill out its interior defensive line depth in the later rounds.