Chargers reinforce trenches, secondary in Chad Reuter’s 3-round mock

Now that the 2022-2023 NFL season has officially come to an end, the 2023 mock drafts have stepped up their game. With mostly one or two-round exercises being published almost daily, we’ve now got our hands on one of the first three-round mock’s by NFL.com’s Chad Reuter.

In this mock, Reuter has the Chargers leaning defense for their first two selections before adding on to the offensive line in round three.

Let’s go ahead and dive right in.

21.) CB Joey Porter, Penn State

With their first-round pick, Reuter has the Chargers reinforcing the secondary with a legacy pick in Penn State cornerback, Joey Porter Jr. The 6’2, 195-pounder is the son of former Pittsburgh Steeler pass rusher Joey Porter and is one of the best overall size/speed/athleticism combinations at his position.

Here’s what Reuter had to say about the pick:

“The son of the former All-Pro edge rusher fills a need for the Chargers, giving them a larger cornerback to complement Asante Samuel Jr. on the outside as J.C. Jackson recovers from his season-ending knee injury.”

As a senior in 2022, Porter notched 11 pass breakups and a fumble recovery with 27 total tackles. He ended his time in Happy Valley with 113 total tackles, one interception, 20 pass breakups, and two tackles for loss along with the fumble recovery.

Porter should see the most success in a defensive scheme that utilizes a lot of press man coverage that would allow him to disrupt receivers at the line before forcing them to make a play around his length and sizable frame.

As Reuter mentioned above, the Chargers could use some help at cornerback should they move on from Bryce Callahan. That potential positional weakness is only made more apparent with the idea that Jackson may not be 100 percent by the start of training camp.

The only chance I see of the Chargers not addressing the secondary somewhat early is if they believe Ja’Sir Taylor can take a big step in his progression between his rookie and sophomore seasons. Otherwise, they’ll have to make sure they’ve got a solid starting three cornerbacks to work with heading into the summer.

54.) DT Bryan Bresee, Clemson

This would be one hell of a pick in the second. However, I’m vehemently surprised Reuter believes the former Clemson standout would somehow fall this far in the draft. There are some injury concerns to keep note of, but this is certainly the only mock I’ve ever seen Bresee taken outside of the first round.

At 6’5 and 300 pounds, Bresee is built to play just about any position he wants to along the defensive line. His athleticism and could allow him to play as a base end in a 4-3, an interior lineman in a 3-4, and even at nose in obvious passing situations. His natural athleticism and elite reaction time at the line of scrimmage will make him a fan favorite of teams who use a penetrating style of play with their defensive linemen.

As a true junior this past season, Bresee totaled just 15 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two pass deflections at the line in 10 games played with seven starts. He ended his time as a Tiger with 51 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, nine sacks, four pass deflections, and a forced fumble.

After playing in 12 games with 10 starts as a true freshman, Bresee was held to just four games played as a sophomore. In all, he played in just 26 games over three seasons at Clemson and will enter the draft as a high-upside, high-risk player should a team decide to use a premium pick for his services.

85.) OT Warren McClendon, Georgia

In the third round, Returer has the Chargers taking a new starting right tackle in Georgia’s McClendon.

At 6’4 and 300 pounds, McClendon isn’t one of the monolithic tackles in this class but he offers a strong body of work that is matched by his notable play strength, especially in his upper body. In his time at Georgia, McClendon has played in 43 total games with 38 total starts, including a pair of national title games over the past two seasons.

Scouts from The Draft Network love McClendon’s strength and agility, but note that he has some inconsistencies in his mechanics that he’ll have to work on in order to see his draft stock rise over the next two months. While there is plenty of power behind his punch, he needs to work on his timing so as to not get taken advantage of by more savvy pass rushers who did their due diligence leading up to the matchup.

McClendon was part of an excellent group of offensive linemen at this year’s Senior Bowl and that right there is reason enough to believe he’s on the radar of Tom Telesco and the scouting department. After seeing how much success they got out of Jamaree Salyer as a rookie, I wouldn’t put it past them to dip right back into the Bulldog offensive line to find another big-time value up front.