Chargers Rumor Mill: Day 2 whispers

Quick thoughts on Mike Williams: Fine player. Good player, even. But it feels like a bit of a reach due to the depth of the class. Sorta feels like Gordon all over again where you can do better in the 1st while getting the same position with better value later. That said, staying at 7 felt like the team was in no mans land. I also think play-makers win games and that is what Williams can be. He's proven it against the best teams at the biggest moments.

As for why he was the pick? The team doesn't trust Keenan Allen to be healthy. At all. That's fair. 4 of his last 5 seasons have come to an end due to injury. So you're looking at a roster with Williams as the best receiver. Go back to last year and what did the team struggle with? Not only getting open but contested catches and tipped passes. 2 things Williams excels at. When a defender is on his hip, Wililams is most comfortable. He thrives in contested situations. In that regard, the pick makes sense. We'll talk about him more next week.

In yesterday's rumor post, I mentioned a "mystery player." It was Garrett Bolles. Up until mid morning yesterday, that was the pick. They were going to bring him in and he was going to play right tackle. But then I was told the general manager had a change of heart. Apparently Bolles is a complete knucklehead and a headcase, for lack of a better term. I guess he's in to a bunch of weird stuff, even gang stuff. I don't know. It's complicated and that made them sour on Bolles yesterday morning.

I would rather reach for a receiver who can score touchdowns and have a bigger impact, personally. I worked with Duke Manyweather for Bleacher Report this past season and he consults with teams in the NFL on offensive line and has coached the position in college. He said Bolles technique and mechanics concern him. He mentioned his hands were often off target and it allowed defenders to get in his frame. He also mentioned Bolles will struggle early due to playing with poor pad level. Manyweather believes Bolles has top 20 traits but has a ways to go and will need some seasoning to iron things out.

As for today. It'll be fun. Going into yesterday the initial plan was doubling down on offensive line. Expect an offensive lineman with the first pick. This is going to surprise you but the Chargers are thinking about trading up in the 2nd round. The target would be Forrest Lamp. Lamp is a hell of a player. I had him as the 5th best player in the draft. He really is that good. So getting him at this point of the draft is incredible value. The worry is the Seahawks are going to take him and that's where the thought process to trade up is coming from.

Some people are saying the Packers, at 33, are going to take a guard but I'm told they're all in on Joe Mixon. They want to keep moving back and collecting picks hoping to "weather the storm" and hope he "gets lost in the shuffle" as they acquire multiple picks.

The Vikings are rumored to be wanting jump up from 48 as well. So the Chargers might be outbid by them or another team. Going off the draft trade value chart the Chargers can trade up by giving up their 4th. A better deal would be if they swapped their 4th with another late round pick of the Packers. Again, the deal might not go through just because of a richer offer from another team. But trading up is a very real and strong option.

If the team decides to stay put and Lamp goes earlier, OG Dan Feeney from Indiana is the top target. Coincidentally, I have Feeney 1 spot below Williams on my top 100. Feeney is a good, safe 2nd round pick that should be able to contribute right away. Feeney is a good competitor that is a very good athlete. The goal is to protect the QB and over the last 3 years Feeney allowed only 2 sacks. He's not a mauler but he sticks on guys in the run game.

I have Feeney as the #3 guard behind Lamp and Western Michigan's Taylor Moton, who our Michael Peterson wrote about last month. Moton is also a target as is Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu in the 2nd. These seem to be the pool of players we can expect to be a Charger tonight.

As for some of "my guys", there is legit interest in Budda Baker. I wonder if the NFL is leery of his size and he keeps falling. That'd be awesome. I'm trying to see what the interest in Alabama's tackle Cam Robinson is as well as Michigan State's Malik Mcdowell, who we all know I love. I'll try to check back in before the draft to see if there's any new nuggets I can share.

UPDATE - There have been some rumors swirling on twitter that the Chargers are interested in Notre Dame QB Deshone Kizer. Those who are reporting that are puppets. I have not heard his name at all. I would be very surprised if Kizer was the pick at 38. This is just an attempt for teams to trade up in front of them and push the players the team is targeting down.

Expect a lineman and a safety to be the picks today.

How would you feel about the targets listed? Is there anyone else you think the Chargers should keep an eye on?