PFF Podcast hosts pick Tristan Wirfs for the Chargers

For the sake of changing things up, Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus decided to make one of their latest mock drafts a team effort. The two hosts of the PFF podcast went back-and-forth through the first round of the draft, taking turns making picks for all 32 clubs.

As you guys may have noticed from past PFF mocks, their exercises have fairly different results compared to most mock drafts done by those from ESPN, NFL Network, and CBS Sports. Since PFF is all about their grades, they stick almost exclusively to the numbers when it comes to pairing prospects with teams. Of course they still take positional need into consideration, but you’ll likely notice a consensus third-round guy from NFL Network get taken in the late first round for PFF. But the variance in everyone’s talent evaluation is part of the beauty that is the NFL Draft. At any rate, let’s hurry up and get into the prospect picked for the Chargers.

It was Sam Monson’s turn to make a pick at #6 and he decided to forego the quarterback need for another, almost equally, important one: offensive tackle. Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs was the Bolts’ selection in the first and I won’t argue with another Hawkeye on the team.

Per Sam Monson: “This is the first pick of the draft where I think the team that’s on the clock is in a tricky situation. The Chargers can’t (or shouldn’t) love Justin Herbert enough to take him here, and a player like Isaiah Simmons is a touch redundant in their defense. But they still have holes on the offensive line, so they try and solve their left tackle situation with Tristan Wirfs. Few players have had the kind of Combine performance that Wirfs did. He also showed a steady improvement in PFF grade in college, culminating in an overall mark of 91.8 last season for the Hawkeyes.”

It’s already been documented that Wirfs has met with the Chargers, joining Mekhi Becton, Justin Herbert, and Jordan Love as some of the top guys in the draft to speak with L.A.

In my personal opinion, I think it’s really coming down to either quarterback or offensive tackle for the Chargers at #6. Barring a surprise pick of Isaiah Simmons, I think we can all predict one of those two positions being taken.