FanPost

Chargers Draft Review: Picks 5-8


Yesterday I went through the Chargers first four picks, and here I will go in depth on 4 of the Bolts’ day three picks, with an overall grade for how the Chargers fared in the draft as a whole.

5th Round (175th Overall): Jatavis Brown, OLB, Akron

This may be the Chargers’ best value pick of the draft. Brown is an extremely athletic defender with excellent speed and strength (ran a 4.42 40 at his pro day and benched 225 pounds 33 times according to ESPN). While he is slightly undersized in terms of height at just under 5’11", Brown has solid size weighing in at 227 pounds. Many scouts believe Brown fits best as a Will linebacker, however, I think the Chargers believe Brown can be a Kam Chancellor/Mark Barron type player who is fast enough to cover receivers and physical enough to be a force in the run game. At Akron, Brown played more of a linebacker role, leading the team with 116 tackles, including 20 TFL and 12 sacks (gozips.com). Thanks to his excellent season, Brown earned MAC defensive player of the year award. Though Brown was extremely successful in this role at Akron, due to his underrated athleticism I believe he will most likely compete for a starting spot at safety. Unfortunately for current strong safety Jahleel Addae, Brown is a very similar player except he has significantly higher upside and athleticism. Due to his fantastic instincts and sideline to sideline speed, Brown will be able to immediately contribute in the run game from the onset of his career. Brown is too small to compete at a linebacker spot—especially with Te’o and Perryman as established starters with Joshua Perry providing competition—preventing him from having as much of a role as a pass rusher compared to his experience at Akron. Additionally, Brown has shown a tendency of being nullified by bigger blockers, further preventing him from providing as much value at linebacker. As a result, I believe he will slide in behind Addae as a backup strong safety early in his career while he develops his coverage skills that were not often utilized at Akron. He will be able to immediately contribute in the run game, however, helping to improve the Chargers 27th ranked run defense in yards per game. As Brown develops the ability to be an effective cover safety, he will eventually replace the somewhat limited Addae. For the short term, I expect Brown to be a solid contributor on running downs and on special teams. My Grade: A

6th Round (179 Overall): Drew Kaser, P, Texas A&M

After breaking Shane Lechler’s school record in 2013 with a 47.4 yard per punt average, Kaser proved he has a booming leg (NFL.com). Finishing his career with a 46.2 gross average on his punts, Kaser nearly broke the SEC career record, further illustrating his elite leg strength that will translate immediately to the NFL (NFL.com). Last year the Chargers ranked 30th in the league in net punting at 38.8 yards per punt, and finished last in the league with a measly 15 punts downed inside the 20. Mike Scifres had been a fantastic Charger throughout his career, but it was apparent that his time as a good to above average punter had come to a close at 35 years old. Scifres has since been released, all but assuring Kaser will enter training camp as the starting punter for the Chargers. With elite leg strength illustrated by his record breaking punting average, Kaser should provide an immediate upgrade over the aging Scifres. One weakness Kaser has is his lack of awareness for situational punting through his tendency to outkick his coverage. Additionally, Kaser did not have a fantastic ratio of punts inside the 20 (21 punts inside the 20 in 2015, according to NFL.com) perhaps pointing to a sometimes unneeded tendency to rely too much on strength over accuracy. However, with all this being said, Kaser should be a slight upgrade on Scifres immediately before eventually developing into a solid starter at the NFL level as he gains better kicking awareness in finesse situations. Kaser was a solid pick at a position that had become a hole in an important yet underrated facet of the game, especially with a defense that struggled in 2015. My Grade: B+

6th Round (198 Overall): Derek Watt, FB, Wisconsin

This pick does not appear to have much purpose by casual viewers, but I think it signals a change in philosophy by Coach McCoy. Ken Whisenhunt is a far more run oriented play caller than previous offensive coordinator Frank Reich. A much larger emphasis is going to be placed on the running game, and thanks to the notorious struggles in 2015 to the tune of the second fewest rushing yards in the league according to ESPN, I believe the Chargers are going to begin utilizing the fullback far more in their play calling under Whisenhunt. According to SportingCharts, David Johnson played a mere 18.9% of total offensive snaps in 2015, including a vast majority of these at tight end. In 2013 when Whisenhunt was previously the offensive coordinator for the Chargers, LeRon McClain and John Phillips split time at fullback playing 371 of 1110 total snaps between the two, approximately 33% of the time (sportingcharts.com). These two players were used almost exclusively on running plays, illustrating a far larger emphasis on using an extra blocker in the backfield. In 2015, David Johnson was the only player on the roster utilized at fullback despite being utilized primarily as a tight end. Now that the Chargers have selected Watt, I expect the fullback to make a resurgence. Watt helped block for Melvin Gordon at Wisconsin and will continue to build the partnership in San Diego. Watt’s toughness runs in the family (J.J. Watt is his brother...enough said) and this attitude is carried out in his blocking. Despite his athletic limitations, Watt never shirks a challenge even though he is slightly undersized for a FB at 236 pounds. He will need to add strength and weight in order to be an effective lead blocker in the NFL, though his attitude is never to be questioned. Watt also provides value in the passing game as a solid route runner and blocker in pass protection. Despite Watt’s potential to develop into a solid NFL fullback, I question this pick due to Whisenhunt’s flight risk in the short term. The NFL has become a shotgun-oriented passing league where fullbacks are largely unused. Whisenhunt obviously intends to utilize the FB position far more than Reich, however, if/when Whisenhunt leaves San Diego Watt will be relegated to only a few sub packages on offense and special teams. For this reason, using a draft pick on a FB who may not even be used in his current position in a couple years probably was not the best value choice by Tom Telesco. My Grade: C-

7th Round (224 Overall): Donavon Clark, OG, Michigan State

Clark is an athletically limited interior offensive lineman that has experience in a zone blocking scheme at Michigan State. Clark is likely nothing more than a flier who will have a chance to stick in training camp as a backup or practice squad member. Clark’s size and strength are his two biggest strengths, though his athletic ability limits him to an interior line spot. Clark’s biggest weakness that can significantly hinder his effectiveness in the NFL is a narrow stance that is terrible for keeping balance against the strong bull rushers Clark will be facing at guard in the NFL. He has a good football IQ that gives him a chance to make the roster, but it is unlikely Clark will ever be able to alter his stance this late in his development in order to become a starting caliber lineman in the NFL. For a 7th round pick, Clark is not the worst pick as a guard with rotation potential has value, though taking a player with more upside potential such as Stephen Weatherly at OLB or Charone Peake at WR, who was rated as a fourth round pick by ESPN, have higher ceilings and could have provided immediate depth at important positions. My Grade: C+.

Overall Draft Grade:

After adding eight new players to the roster, the Chargers gained quality talent at a number of positions including multiple players who will compete for a starting spot right away. Obviously, being the number three overall pick, Bosa will likely be a huge factor in defining the success of this draft. I believe Bosa was the best player in the draft and will continue his incredible success at Ohio State into his time with the Chargers. Hunter Henry will provide depth right away at a shallow tight end spot that is currently manned by an aging 36 year old Antonio Gates. If healthy, Tuerk has the ability to step in and immediately replace Chris Watt at center while Jatavis Brown has the potential to be an excellent starter at strong safety if he is able to develop his coverage abilities. Derek Watt and Drew Kaser will also be immediate starters at their respective positions while Joshua Perry is a high character player that at the very least will be a fantastic competitor at ILB and on special teams. Overall, the Chargers likely added four immediate starters to their 2016 roster in addition to a couple other prospects who have the potential to become very good players at the next level. My Total Grade: B+

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This FanPost was written by a member of the Bolts From The Blue community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bolts From The Blue editors or SB Nation.