4 devastating draft mistakes that continue to haunt the Chargers

Trading up for Kenneth Murray

Tom Telesco made the most impactful selection that he would ever make in 2020 when the Chargers drafted Justin Herbert with the sixth overall pick. There is no denying (obviously) that this was a franchise-altering pick, but it was not one that Telesco had to work that hard for.

It was clear heading into the draft that the Chargers were just going to take whichever quarterback the Miami Dolphins didn't take. If the Dolphins took Herbert then the Chargers would have wound up with Tua Tagovailoa and Telesco would have been fired alongside Anthony Lynn after the 2020 season.

Herbert bought Telesco a few more years as the GM and Kenneth Murray is his longest-lasting draft mistake that is still impacting the Chargers. Los Angeles traded a second and third-round pick to move up to take a linebacker that never quite panned out for the Bolts.

Now the Chargers are left with a massive hole at the linebacker position because Murray was unable to produce. If the Chargers would have traded up and selected a better linebacker then they could have used their fifth-year option to keep them on the roster.

The other alternative was better, though: not trading up! The Chargers could have theoretically drafted two players who could have been better than Murray over the last four years. Sure, they would be free agents this year, but at least the Chargers would be in a position where they could get compensatory picks if those two players signed for enough. Murray definitely won't.

But then again, knowing Telesco's draft history, he probably would have just butchered the second and third-round pick regardless.