Stanley’s Chargers Mock Draft 4.0

With the 2022 NFL Draft ONE WEEK AWAY, this will be my second to the last mock draft. In this Mock I am going to do no trades, and I’m going to pick who I would want to take at that spot if I was the GM. I’m also going to do something a bit different and I’m going to use the PFF, TDN, and PFN mock draft sims to compare who is looking most likely to be there.

I’ll do a final mock draft next Wednesday, the day before the draft, and that draft will be my final prediction of what the team is actually going to do.

Round 1, Pick 17: Jameson Williams - WR - Alabama

Between what the 1st round talent looks like in the Draft this year and what the Chargers lineup looks like, there are so many ways the team could go at 17. I kicked off all 3 of these draft sims and was really surprised that all 3 of them had Jamo available at 17. PFF and TDN both had Jordan Davis and Trevor Penning available, and they are probably players the Chargers would very heavily consider here, though PFN had them off the board. 17 is a bit rich but Zion Johnson is a name that’s been being tied to the Chargers more recently that definitely wouldn’t be a bad choice. But Jamo is the pick. He is my WR1 in this class and provides the Chargers REAL speed that it doesn’t have, without being a straight line, 9 route only guy. He elevates this offense and pairs Justin Herbert with another young stud WR for years to come.

Round 3, pick 79: Dylan Parham - OG - Memphis

An interesting name that was available for all 3 sims at 79 was Coastal Carolina TE Isaiah Likely, who is a very good pass catching TE but might be a bit redundant with Gerald Everett now. Kicking off all 3 sims at the same time like this gives some interesting looks at those “I can’t believe he fell” players. One sim had Leo Chenal still there at 79 which would be a lot of fun. One sim had Travis Jones, a player who’s getting 1st round talk, still there at 79. I went with Dylan Parham however. The Chargers need to add at least 1 player on the offensive line who can start day 1, and after going WR in round 1, Parham is that guy with who is left. You can plug Parham in at RG, put Brendan Jaimes in at LG and kick Matt Feiler back outside to play RT and the starting 5 look better than the 5 that played most of last season.

Round 4, pick 123: John Ridgeway - NT - Arkansas

This is where the 3 sims started to really be all over the place but a player that was there for 2 of them, and had already gone in 1, was a player that I’ve been a fan of since the beginning of this draft process, John Ridgeway. He is a massive human, and he is the pure run stuffing NT to come in and eat blockers in the middle of the defensive line. He has long arms, he’s very strong and uses it well after being a state champion wrestler in high school, and plays with good discipline. He doesn’t offer much as a pass rusher but with the other players the Chargers have on the defensive line, they wouldn’t be expecting Ridgeway to be that guy anyway.

Round 5, pick 160: Hassan Haskins - RB - Michigan

The Chargers need another running back and Haskins is exactly the kind of backup running back you want on your team. He’s great in short yardage, he has 278 snaps of special teams experience, he’s a good pass protector when he stays in to block. He put up a very impressive 27 reps of 225 on bench but due to an ankle injury he didn’t run at the combine or his pro day. Haskins had 20 rushing touchdowns this last season and is very tough to bring down. The best part of a guy like Haskins, is he would make Joshua Kelley pretty expendable.

Round 6, pick 195: Kalon Barnes - CB - Baylor

The Chargers need to add another piece to their CB room and Barnes is a fantastic day 3 value in the 6th round. He has otherworldly speed, posting a 4.23 40 yard dash at the combine, and followed that up with a 40” vertical and 11’1” broad jump at his pro day. He is still raw and could stand to have a great teacher, like Brandon Staley, coach him up to add some more technique and skill to the impressive physical traits he has that you can’t teach. And while he’s developing as a corner, you have a potentially elite gunner on special teams with that speed.

Round 6, pick 214: Jean Delance - OT - Florida

Delance is a potential swing tackle or could kick inside to guard. He’s only 6’4 and a half, but he has insane 36 1/4” arms. All of his college snaps were at RT, and coincidentally that’s where the Chargers are weakest on the offensive line so there’s an outside shot he competes for a starting job. He could stand to get stronger, and his tested numbers don’t show an excellent athlete by any means, but he is technically sound and held his own against very good competition.

Round 7, pick 236: Kyron Johnson - LB/Edge - Kansas

So Johnson is listed as a DE/Edge in a lot of places, but he’s 6’0 231. Over the last 3 seasons he had 1009 snaps as a DE/Edge, and 780 snaps as an off ball LB. But it doesn’t matter where you put him because he is a damn football player. In his career at Kansas he had 8 forced fumbles, 22.5 tackles for a loss and 12.5 sacks to go along with 193 total tackles. He had 600 special teams snaps as well over his career and had insane testing numbers at his pro day clocking a 4.36-4.4 (depending on who you ask) in the 40, to go along with a 39.5” vertical, 10’ broad, and a 6.98 3-cone. Adding that kind of speed and talent to your special teams alone is worth it.

Round 7, pick 254: Juanyeh Thomas - S - Georgia Tech

A theme is developing here on late day 3, solid depth players that can come make a difference on special teams. Thomas is a safety with good size at just shy of 6’1 and 212 pounds. He’s not an outstanding athlete but good enough to not be a liability and is a very solid tackler. Thomas is always looking to make a play, shown by his 5 forced fumbles the last two years. He does have extensive special teams experience including multiple touchdowns as a kick returner.

Round 7, pick 255: Baylon Spector - LB - Clemson

Spector comes in as a poor man’s Kyzir White replacement as a former safety converted to linebacker. He’s got decent size at 6’1 and 244 pounds and tested pretty well. In his 2 years as a starter at linebacker for Clemson he had 15 TFL and 7 sacks and there’s a lot there to work with and should stick in a thin LB on the Chargers.

Round 7, pick 260: Isaiah Weston - WR - Northern Iowa

Weston is exactly the kind of guy you take a flier on at the end of the draft so that you secure him without him having a small bidding war created as a priority undrafted free agent. He is raw and definitely older (he turns 25 at the end of October), but he has really fun measurables. He’s 6’3 1/2” 215 pounds, runs a 4.42, 40” vertical, 11’3” broad jump, and put up 20 reps of 225. That athleticism translated on the field where he averaged 22.6 yards per reception for his career and had 21 touchdowns on only 109 catches. Grab him now and see if he turns into anything fun and if not, he’ll at least be fun in training camp and the pre season.