Chiefs and the AFC West:
A Look at the Chargers Draft Picks
· by Paul Pulley
The 2018 Los Angeles Chargers Draft Selections
Without wanting to dive into an in-depth review of the Chargers 2018 draft. I wanted to give an overview of the players the Chiefs could be facing for the next several years
Round 1, pick 17- Derwin James, the 6-foot-2 and 215 lb. safety from Florida State. Running a 4.47 – 40 as a strong safety, this kid will be a pain for the Chiefs for years to come. James could end up as the starter from day one, and at the least, will make Jahleel Addae expendable after 2018.
Round 2, pick 48- Uchenna Nwosa, the 6-foot-2 and 251 lb. OLB from USC. A good OLB prospect but may have been a bit of a reach this early. Nwosa ran a 4.65 – 40 at the combine, but will need to add strength to hold up against the run. He does play well when dropping into coverage. If Nwosa works out, he could be seen as an eventual replacement for Melvin Ingram.
Round 3, pick 84- Justin Jones, defensive tackle from NC St. At 6-foot-3 and 309 lbs. Jones came from a very good DL at North Carolina St., which may have made him look better than he actually is. Considered a day 3 pick by most, Jones will need to work hard to find playing time in the Chargers DT rotation.
Round 4, pick 119- Kyzir White was listed as a safety at the 6-foot-2 and 218 lb. and ran a 4.69 – 40 at his pro day and was asked to work out as a linebacker, but I don’t know by whom. With the Chargers moving on from Tre Boston, who had a breakout year in 2017, I would assume Los Angeles will be looking to play White as a safety.
Round 5, pick 155- Scott Quessenberry, a 6-foot-4 and 310 lb. Center from UCLA. This is what the Chargers must have considered BPA. While a decent offensive lineman, having played both center and guard, the Charger’s interior line is in pretty good shape. I believe Quessenberry will be a depth player and possible replacement for C Mike Pouncey down the road.
Round 6, pick 191- Dylan Cantrell, WR from Texas Tech. Running a 4.59 – 40, at 6-foot-3 and 226 lbs., Cantrell has good body control and very good ball skills. While not a number 1 receiver, he could be a very good 2nd or 3rd receiver for the Chargers for some time. He will likely need to earn a spot on special teams to start his career.
Round 7, pick 251- Justin Jackson, at 6-foot-0 and 199 lbs. and running a 4.52 – 40 at the combine, this running back could be the steal of the draft for Los Angeles. Extremely prolific runner with over 6500 yards in high school and becoming only the 9th player in NCAA history to rush for over 1000 yards all four years collegiately at Northwestern. Jackson finished his college career with more than 1100 carries for over 5400 yards.
Roster Numbers and Projections
James, jersey # 33, one of the very best DB’s in this years draft, will most likely start and be a pain in the Chiefs side for years.
White, jersey # 44, another large safety, will probably see playing time in subsets and on special teams.
Nwosa, jersey # 58, could push for playing time behind Emanuel, whose sack production is almost nonexistent.
Jones, jersey # 91, will need to work hard to earn playing time. We might see him on some of the special teams squads and he could work into the DL rotation later in the season.
Quessenberry, jersey # 61, is interior line depth and possible replacement for Mike Pouncey in 2019.
Cantrell, jersey # 84, will be at least 4th on the depth chart. He will need to find is way onto the special teams to secure a spot on the 53.
Jackson, jersey # 32, I would expect to start the season as the primary backup to Melvin Gordon.
Los Angeles Chargers Cap Situation
The Chargers had just over $2.6M cap carryover from 2017, giving them a 2018 salary cap of ~$179.8M. The Chargers had approximately $12.4M of cap space prior to the draft. The effective cap hit to the top 51 for the 2018 draft class will be approximately $2.4M, leaving Los Angeles with roughly $10M of cap space after the draftees are signed.
For 2019, the Chargers 7 draft selections from 2018 will have a combined cap hit of almost $7.5M, leaving Los Angeles very tight against the cap unless some tough off season cuts happen early next year. The Chargers exercised Melvin Gordon’s 5th year option for 2019, but as a running back, his cap hit will only be about $5.6M. An interesting note is 2019 is the final year of Philip Rivers current contract. Rivers will be 38 years old at the end of the 2019 season, so I think we can expect the Chargers to draft a QB early next year.
The Los Angeles Chargers look to be the one team capable of usurping the Chiefs as AFC West Champions in 2018.
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