Chiefs-Ravens trade hints at why Chargers need to take tackle in Round 1
The Chiefs had a void to fill at left tackle after parting ways with Eric Fisher last month. Kansas City made their move to address the position, trading for Orlando Brown Jr. with the Ravens on Friday.
The Chiefs had been pegged as a team that could take a tackle in the back end of the first-round in this year’s draft.
However, the aggressiveness to trade for the Pro Bowler could possibly indicate that the team believes there will be a run on tackles before then and the majority of the top options will be off the board by the time they’re on the clock at No. 31 overall.
This is significant to a team like Los Angeles who many have slotted to select a tackle in Round 1, but other positions like cornerback and wide receiver have also been mocked to them, with their lineman coming in Round 2.
Sitting with the No. 13 overall pick, the team is in a prime position to possibly trade up for Penei Sewell or Rashawn Slater. Or they could stand pat and take Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw, Texas’ Samuel Cosmi or Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins.
If L.A. takes another position and waits until the second-round to draft one, they’re likely left with Michigan’s Jalen Mayfield, Northern Iowa’s Spencer Brown, BYU’s Brady Christensen and Cincinnati’s James Hudson – all of whom likely need a year to sit before starting.
The league has been put on notice that high-end tackles don’t grow on tress, especially for the Chargers who have banked on mid- late-round tackles.
However, the fact that none of them have panned out should be a learning lesson to general manager Tom Telesco that he should not wait to pull the trigger, especially when you need to put quarterback Justin Herbert in position for long-term success.
Like I’ve said throughout this process, Los Angeles needs to draft the team’s left tackle of the future with their first pick now that they have their franchise signal-caller, even if that means being aggressive to get them, just like Kansas City.
