Chargers land Tua in USA Today’s latest first-round mock

In his latest first-round mock draft, Dour Farrar over at USA Today’s Touchdown Wire has the Chargers selecting Tua Tagovailoa without having to trade up from the sixth-overall pick.

This mock got a little crazy, starting with the Miami Dolphins trading all the way up to the first pick with the Cincinnati Bengals to grab Joe Burrow. With the second pick, Washington surprised everyone by selecting Ohio State’s Jeffrey Okudah and passing on his teammate Chase Young. Young is then selected by the Detroit Lions at #3 with Isaiah Simmons going to the Giants at #4 and the Bengals committing to Justin Herbert over the lefty from Alabama.

By all means, the first five picks of this mock draft are utterly insane, no matter if Farrar makes sense in justifying each of his picks, but we did just seen Clellin Ferrell and Daniel Jones go in the top-6 of last year’s draft so there’s truly a chance for anything.

For those curious, here is Farrar’s entire explanation for the Tua pick:

“All indications point to Tagovailoa entering the draft with a clean bill of health, though worldly concerns obviously prevent him from working out for teams in person. If he is healthy, Tagovailoa would present an interesting move forward from the Philip Rivers era. Yes, Tyrod Taylor is a decent starter with experience in head coach Anthony Lynn’s offense from their time in Buffalo. But Taylor doesn’t have Tagovailoa’s accuracy or anticipation, nor his ability to carve up blitzes or throw deep with efficiency (he was 19 of 39 with nine touchdowns and no interceptions on passes of 20 air yards or more last season, per Pro Football Focus). Taylor is a great placeholder; Tagovailoa is a future franchise quarterback. The Chargers should be happy to spot the difference here.”

I have to agree with Farrar here. I believe in Tyrod to lead this team. But only as a placeholder, as he stated above. Taylor isn’t going to turn the ball over but he’s not going to take the top off a defense. Tua gives the Chargers the best option in getting back to being a successful, vertical offense.