The 2023 NFL season is officially in the books and LA Chargers fans had to watch the Kansas City Chiefs win yet another Super Bowl. As painful as it is to watch the Chiefs win three in the last five years, Chargers fans can at least rest easy knowing that the Bolts have the right pieces in place to be the next version of the Chiefs.
Just because the Chargers have the right pieces does not mean they are guaranteed a run to the Super Bowl. The new regime in Los Angeles needs to instil a culture change and that starts this offseason with free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft.
With a new GM in Joe Hortiz, fans are hopeful that the team will do something it never did under Tom Telesco: trade down in the NFL Draft. In theory, the Chargers could trade down with a quarterback-hungry team for more draft capital and still land a top-tier prospect in the first round.
That is exactly the thought exercise we went through in our latest Chargers mock draft, which was done on Pro Football Focus' mock draft simulator.
Chargers trade fifth pick to Atlanta Falcons for eighth pick, 74th pick, future third-round pick
The Falcons are a team that might look to trade up for a quarterback and the Chargers are in a very important spot with the fifth overall pick. With the quarterback-hungry New York Giants picking sixth, the fifth overall pick becomes the spot to jump to if the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders aren't interested in trading down.
Thus, the Chargers can pick up some draft capital for moving back three spots in the draft. As far as the NFL draft trade value chart is concerned, the Chargers ever-so-slightly get the better end of this deal, which is common for the team trading down.
This might not seem like enough, but the Buffalo Bills traded two second-round picks to move up five spots to select Josh Allen back in 2018. It seems fair that the Falcons would have to trade two third-round picks for just three spots.
If the Chargers can milk more out of the Falcons then great, but in this exercise they pick up another top-75 pick. With the trade explained, let's dive into the actual selections.
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