The LA Chargers' season ended much sooner than any fan was hoping for as the Chargers fell to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18 to miss the playoffs. While it was extremely painful to watch and every fan would rather see the Chargers in the playoffs, the one silver lining is that the Chargers have a higher pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Bolts have the 17th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and that puts them in range to land a true difference-maker in the first round. While you can land a blue-chipper at any point in the draft, there does seem to be a tier to the first 20 or so prospects and then it drops off in the late first round.
Let's not forget that the last time that the Chargers had the 17th overall pick in the NFL Draft they landed a future All-Pro who would be one of the best in the league at his position...
last time we picked at 17 ?
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 13, 2022
We the Chargers draft order being set, we bring you the first LA Chargers mock draft of the offseason.
As always, we will be using The Draft Network's Mock Draft Machine to make a selection in every single round for the Chargers. For the time being, we ruled out any trades as we just want to see what the draft could look like at 17.
There are a couple of things to note before we dive into the mock draft. First, the Chargers are projected to have four compensatory picks in the draft. Those picks have not been set in stone yet and while The Draft Network does add them, they could be a few spots higher or lower. Second, free agency could change what positions and when the team drafts them. We will break that down as we go along. And third, the draft big board now compared to April is going to be much different and will continue to change. Prospects that we like in the mid-rounds might end up moving up the draft board in the process.
Without further ado, the LA Chargers are on the clock with the 17th overall pick in our first Chargers mock draft.