2024 NFL Draft, Full 3-round mock draft post-Combine: Vikings, Chiefs trade up

5. Los Angeles Chargers: Malik Nabers, WR, LSU

When you look back over the previous regime with the Los Angeles Chargers, there were obviously some great finds by Tom Telesco in the front office when it comes to the draft. At the same time, though, it’s not hard to look at the team’s struggles to get over the hump, even with Justin Herbert, and also point to the decision-making and the process that Telesco deployed while in LA. 

For better or worse, Telesco was all about the size thresholds. If you played Position A and didn’t check boxes X, Y and Z from a size/length perspective, he wasn’t going to draft you. But he also went that route without really enough regard for athleticism. Thus, the Chargers ended up with a lot of large-framed guys, particularly at skill positions, who are poor movers. 

But now Joe Horitz is taking over as the general manager and we’re going to see immediate change from that former philosophy. And there would be no better pick at No. 5 overall to dispatch that archaic line of thinking than selecting LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers. 

Danny Kelly of The Ringer compared Nabers to Ricky Bobby for the simple reason that he wants to go fast. While Nabers didn’t test (or get measured) at the NFL Combine, the tape shows a player who is juiced-up and twitched-up as an athlete, capable of winning deep, winning after the catch, and just routinely making big plays. Putting that type of talent with Herbert in the Bolts’ offense could yield immediate and major dividends.