The LA Chargers have had the fifth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft for three months now (longer than the team has had its current head coach and general manager) and there is still no consensus on what the team is going to do with the selection.
There has been a lot of debate around whether or not the Chargers will stay put to draft a franchise receiver or if the team will trade back to a quarterback-hungry team later in the first round. GM Joe Hortiz has seemingly teased what the team will do but that is not enough to come to a conclusion.
This speculation has only grown as the draft has gone closer. In classic NFL fashion, a massive curveball has been thrown right before the draft as it now appears the Chargers could make a shocking move that absolutely nobody saw coming.
The Chargers could draft tackle JC Latham with the fifth pick. As silly as it sounds, there is now smoke around this happening. And where there is smoke, there is fire.
JC Latham is now the favorite to go 5th overall on Draft Kings. 👀 pic.twitter.com/0DHcfqas0r
— Guilty As Charged Podcast (@GACPodcast17) April 25, 2024
Door opens for Chargers to make egregious draft mistake with JC Latham
Draft analyst and Chargers color commentator Daniel Jeremiah mocked Latham to the Chargers at five, adding to this conversation. Jeremiah has been wrong about the Chargers' first-round pick in each of the last five years, but coupled with the odds shift there is real smoke around Latham.
Granted, just because the odds changed right before the draft does not guarantee that the Chargers will take Latham. In fact, there is not a single prospect that is even favored below even odds, so that indicates that there really is no concrete idea out there about what the Chargers will do.
That being said, Latham went from being a massive longshot to being the favorite overnight. That doesn't just happen by accident. Additionally, it is also important to remember that the Chargers were in a similar position last year when Quentin Johnston was the marginal favorite. He, of course, was the selection.
To make matters even worse, several prominent analysts have now mocked Latham to the Chargers with the fifth pick. This is not a random rumor. This is real.
Field Yates, Albert Breer, and Peter Schrager have all jumped on the JC Latham at 5 train now too. pic.twitter.com/cmmHPPBgWN
— Guilty As Charged Podcast (@GACPodcast17) April 25, 2024
The Chargers drafting Latham with the fifth overall mistake would be an egregious mistake. Latham is not even the best tackle in this class and even if the Chargers took the best tackle (Joe Alt) it would not make sense.
The only logic for the Chargers taking Latham over Alt would be that Latham has a more natural fit as a right tackle. But if the team was really in love with Latham that much, it would benefit from just trading down and taking him at 11.
Ultimately, the best path forward for the Chargers is to take a wide receiver that can change the entire dynamic of the offense. Both Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers would do that. Taking a tackle at five without trading down is already a tall order; taking a tackle that is projected to go outside the top 10 would be a grave mistake.