BFTB Roundtable: Favorite third-round prospects

Moving right along in this series, we’ve got our favorite prospects we expect to come off the board in the third round of this year’s draft.

Once again, these are not the players we believe the Chargers SHOULD pick in the third round, but just our personal favorites.

Let’s jump in!

Matthew Stanley: EDGE Josh Paschal, Kentucky - I’m going to cheat a bit here, because he’s getting a lot of buzz and will likely go in round two now, but Josh Paschal is one of my favorite players in the draft. He’s a three-year captain (first three-year captain in Kentucky history), he has good production, he’s a cancer survivor, and he wins in ways that we constantly see guys like Jerry Tillery and Kenneth Murray fail (like shedding blocks and play awareness). If he’s still there, by some miracle, in round three, I’ll pay some shady entity in Vegas to forge the pick before Tom can make the wrong choice.

Garrett Sisti: IDL Phidarian Mathis, Alabama - Back-to-back Crimson Tide selections here. Mathis has the technique, frame, size and pass rushing capabilities to help the Chargers on the interior. He has some real three-down capabilities because he’s a stout run defender and can get after the quarterback. He would add some flexibility to the Charger defensive line with possibilities of playing anywhere from a one-technique to a 4i.

Michael Peterson: LB Leo Chenal, Wisconsin - I’ve been a massive fan of Chenal and I’ve definitely let you all know it in recent weeks. The Chargers have a very uncertain linebacker group heading into the 2022 season and they’re missing an “alpha” at the position. Enter Chenal, a massive 260-pound pile of brawn that can bring the physicality like you’ve never seen. He posted over 20 tackles for loss and did most of his disrupting between the tackles. If that doesn’t scream a player that the Chargers need to add to their defense, then I’m not sure what does.