April 25, 2025 • 28 mins
On this episode of Chargers Weekly, Bolts radio play-by-play announcer Matt “Money” Smith and host Chris Hayre recap the latest news involving LA and the entire NFL. Breaking down the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the hosts give their instant reaction to all the top picks from the Jaguars trading up for Travis Hunter to Aston Jeanty going to the Raiders. After the Chargers select UNC running back Omarion Hampton, Smith & Hayre discuss what he adds to the Bolts offense and why he was the best weapon available for Justin Herbert.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Laid fifteen to ten touched up.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Guys, Welcome into a draft day edition of Chargers Weekly,
as always, joined by the Voice of the Chargers, Matt
Muddy Smith. The Bolts have selected Omarion Hampton, number twenty
two overall, and Buddy, we went through a myriad of mocks,
talked to a bunch of analysts from the combine to
you know, present day, and Amarion Hampton was a name
(00:32):
that came up a bunch and now was in powder blue.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, and you know, a lot of it's just how
the board falls. That's why the mock drafts are so hard,
and projecting who they're gonna take is hard, and you
just try to get a group of players that you
think would have a grade, you know, commiserate with the
twenty second pick. And it felt like there were a
lot of those players there. There were a lot of
players that were gone. I think you look at the
anterior interior O line and we talked about Tyler Booker
(00:58):
and Gray's Abel both off the board. Defensive tackle, you know,
the last sort of elite defensive tackle, Walter Nolan, Derek Harmon,
and Kenneth Grant. Harmon was taken two picks before they
went corner. Clearly, you know, you feel bad for the
young man, but there's the red flags that were brought
up prior to the draft on Will Johnson certainly showed
(01:18):
themselves and look, it's he's probably going to go very
early in the second but first round picks, you never
want to swing and miss. You want to at least
hit a double. And I think if you have a
concern medically, that's where you know. So now that's a
blue chip players that's sliding down and I think, you know,
just to pull the curtain back a little bit where
with all the media and we're all just kind of
chatting and trying to figure out what they're going to do.
(01:39):
And you know, there was a lot of talk about Hampton, Golden,
Jehad Campbell's kind of where and Will Johnson before we
knew about you know that the medicals were clearly that serious.
That's kind of where we were at and we figured
it would be one of those four players and Hampton
was probably near the top of that list. And it's interesting,
(02:03):
you know, you read the reports from Ian Rappaport, it
was the Eagles that were trying to trade up the
twenty two to get Jahad Campbell, and that just kind
of speaks to the value of what the Chargers were
able to secure with Hampton at twenty two, I think,
a legitimate first round grade blue chip player in this draft.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
And they end up getting Campbell at thirty one. Did
the Eagles do it anyway? They didn't have to do
it now they moved up, gave up a fifth. Yeah.
So we were in the press room and talking about
a lot of the different scenarios. I would have been
fine with Matthew Golden, you know, just because it's another
weapon in the passing game for Justin Herbert. We talked
about the defensive tackle death. But the thing about Amar
(02:40):
and Hampton is and I think coach Harball said he's
a four down player. He doesn't have to leave the field.
The compliment to Naji Harris. Both of those guys don't
miss football games. And you know, I loved JK. Dobbins
and what he brought to this team last year. But
to know you have two running backs who have been
as durable as they've been in their careers, obviously Nause
(03:03):
at Alabama in Pittsburgh and now a Marion coming from
Chapel Hill to LA. I mean that's I think that's
a big deal, and it's really coach Harball and Greg
Roman putting their stamp on this team. This is how
we're gonna play.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I looked at the box score from the Texans Chargers
playoff game, and obviously it was lad one hundred ninety
seven yards. Nobody else really did much of anything in
the passing game, but the running game, eighteen carries for
fifty yards two point nine a pop. And obviously it's
not just the running backs, it's not just the offensive line.
But to know that you can have two of those
(03:36):
guys getting back to that situation, let's say next year
on a wildcard round, and knowing you have a guy
like Najie Harrison and Marion Hampton that can help carry
the load and maybe take a little bit off of
Justin Herbert Shoulders. I think that's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Well, I'm gonna kind of jump off something you said
there right away, you know, early, and that's durability. And
just think back to last year and where we were
when this new coaching staff came in and Greg Roman
is doing his presser and Coach Harbu's doing his presser,
and we had a group of players come through and
do their pressers, and they all had a very sort
(04:08):
of common explanation for the foundation of what we should expect,
and that was a physical football team. That this is
a team that's going to bring it, that's going to
make you feel it, and you're going to be feeling
it for the rest of the week. And I think
it didn't quite materialize. And if you were to point
as to why it didn't materialize, we start in training camp.
(04:28):
Gus Edwards gets hurt. Right, So Edwards is never right
pretty much the whole season. You know, he came back
for that one game and it's like I feel great,
and it's it's like, well, yeah, but you've been out
part of training camp first half of the season, like
it's understandable, like you know you're not right. And then
Jk's having a great season and what happens in that
month that he goes away and even when he came
(04:49):
back into that, he's just not the same guy. So
to me, you go out and get Nagie Harris because
not because he's the most explosive back or because he's
a guy that's a home run hit, No because he
can be there because you know when you break camp,
he's gonna be there. And if you want to handle
the ball thirty times, it's gonna take it thirty times.
And if that's for three point nine yards per carry,
we'll take it because we can run play action and
(05:11):
Justin Herbert's incredible and that's gonna work. And then you
go in and you take a mari And Hampton who
last year, these last two years at North Carolina two
hundred and fifty three carries in twenty twenty three, two
hundred and eighty one carries last year and receptions twenty
nine and thirty eight. So you're talking about a lot
three hundred and nineteen plays from scrimmage from Marion Hampton
(05:34):
in North Carolina. And one of the things that was
said about Hampton coming into the draft through the draft
process was the guy will come out of a game
and it looks like there's not a beat a sweat
on his body, just like he takes a pounding and
it's nothing. And so that was sort of one of
the things that was listed as a strength when you
(05:56):
went through his draft profile is just durability, no matter
how many carries they gave him, it's still totally fine
with it. So I think there is something to what
you said there at the start about the identity of
this team, the type of team that they want to
put together, and that's sort of Amarian Hampton fits right
in with that and explosiveness. This don't be fooled by
(06:20):
the size. Yeah, he's two hundred and twenty one pounds
and six foot, but this dude's got juice. I mean,
freaking legit home run hitting sixty yard runs. If he
gets to that second level type of.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Juice, the balance, the vision and that came up. We
did a zoom with Amarion just before this and then
set in on Joe and Jim's presser and the fact
that Drake May was his quarterback a couple of years ago.
The production is the exact same, if not better, without
Drake May, and it's just a testament to I think
(06:52):
the work ethic that Omarian possesses. Joe talked about it,
Omarion said, Hey, the consistency in my game, how I
attack practice, how I come in each and every day,
that's what you're going to get in Los Angeles. So
I thought that that was pretty impressive to look at.
He averaged five point nine per Carrie in twenty twenty
(07:13):
three with Drake mayanders center fifteen hundred yards. The very
next year fifteen touchdowns, again five point nine per Carrie,
sixteen hundred yards when he was the focal point of
the offense. So you know that Amarion Hampton is the
player that you have to stop when you go down
to Chapel Hill, and he was still able to put
up this production.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, it's you know, when you go through all the
different if you're as big of a draft junkie as
there's a lot of people that listen to Chargers Weekly
happen to be, you've probably been through all the draft guys.
But when you go through him, like I wanted to
pull up Danes, our friend Dane Brugler over at the Beast,
and you know, I think rush for one hundred more
yards in ten of twelve games. So you're talking about
(07:52):
you know what George he said about the type of
player tet right, he's a there, everyday player. North Carolina
single season record over two thousand all purpose yards. And
you know, and then when you go through strength, well,
first of all, six foot two hundred twenty one pounds
four four six forty at that size, and then you
(08:13):
look at the explosive numbers thirty eight inch vert and
just over a ten foot almost an eleven foot broad jump.
So that's the explosiveness, right. That's a guy that's when
he's ready to hit the gas man. He's gonna hit
the gas he's got that going. You go through strengths,
kind of talk about the physical traits, run strength. You
talked about the lower half and just breaking freaking tackles.
(08:34):
That's what your lower half does. And then just the
initial burst for a guy that's that big to get
into the second level. Only two drops on eighty career targets.
Ge Orgie's talked about that had one drop pass last year,
So now you're talking about a three down back and
good in pass protection. So workhorse twenty five or more
(08:55):
touches in eight of twelve games, Like that's best of that.
You know, the best ability is availability and it's something
that they struggled with last year and they're not going
to struggle with it if his past is any indicator.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
And you you actually asked Joe about just the depth
and the running backs because we've talked about it the
last several months how many really exceptional running backs there are.
But when you list off all those things from past
protection to be able to catch the ball out of
the backfield, you know, there's a lot of people on
on X were like, well, why did we get Justin
Herbert a weapon? I argue that this is a weapon
for Juge Herbert. It's a huge weapon for him because
(09:29):
he can catch the ball out of the backfield. You know,
you chew clock with guys like Harris and Hampton. You
have big playability with Hampton, and you're also past protecting
for Justin Herbert. So that's why Lamari and Hampton went
twenty two overall. What would you say to fans who
were upset that they didn't get a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I just to me, you know it was gonna be
Matthew Golden pretty much, right. I just think he's a
better player than Matthew gold and I do. I mean,
and look, Golden's a very polarizing wide receiver. There's people
that really like him, think he's the number one wide
receiver in this class. I like to book a better
than Golden. If he was on the board, I think
it would have been a very interesting conversation. But the
(10:12):
fact that he was already gone, I think made it
a little bit easier. Like for you know, our friend
Daniel Jeremiah, who I call the games with, has him
as his thirteenth ranked player in this draft, Hampton thirteenth,
Amar and Hampton like, you're you're not talking, You're and
you're picking at twenty two and that's where that value
(10:32):
comes in. So I think for people that wanted to
my receiver, it's like, well, and he's got you know,
in you know, just a full disclosure, he's got Matthew
Golden at fourteen, so you're still getting value there. But
to me, I just I don't know Matthew Golden's four
two nine. It's just I don't.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
I didn't say. I'm not trying to knock the guy.
He's a great receiver and I expect him to be
a really great player, but I'm just measuring him against
Amari and Hampton, and I'd rather have Hampton. I just
felt a lot better about what I saw from him,
and not like on some sort of top shelf evaluator.
But it's just there's certain players that jump off the screen,
and Hampton's one of them. And I think there's a
(11:11):
reason why some teams, you know, and this was widely reported,
there were teams that had Hampton over Gent just because
of the size, you know, because he's not a He's
a six foot two hundred and twenty pound guy that
still breaking tackles, still has wiggles, still catches the ball
out of the backfield, incredible in pass protection. So I
(11:33):
think that's to me, it's I think I think of
all the possibilities as I look at like when it's
hard to kind of measure what went after them. So
Golden's the pick. Right after they select right Donovan Jackson,
who's going to be kicking side to guard for Minnesota.
Then you got Jackson, Dark, James Pierce the edge, Malachi
(11:54):
starts the safety, ty Leek Williams, who's the defensive tackle
that Detroit took it at twenty eight. And then you've
got another tackle the corner, Hairston is certainly impressive, and
then Jehad Campbell, who the Eagles took Josh sam as
the tackle. So like when you look what's behind him,
it's like, yeah, none of those not one of those
players made more sense than Amari and Hampton at twenty two,
(12:14):
Not one of the players that got selected after them,
would I say, yes, I'd rather have that guy than
the one they took. And I would be very surprised
if any Charger fan would say I wish we would
have taken any of those like to me, unless they're
just big Matthew Golden fans and wanted that white out.
They can get a white out in the second, they
get a white out in the third. It's and I
(12:36):
know I'm rambling here, Chris, but like, the one thing
I would also say is we're gonna have wide receivers
in every single draft. Man. It is the most popular
position that kids are playing right now. And you saw
that last year with lad being the ninth taken. So
this may have been a little bit of a down
year for a wide receiver. Next year, we're probably gonna
have six or seven wide receivers go in the first
(12:57):
forty picks. That's just the way this thing's gonna shake out.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It reminds me of a few years ago when Jehan
went eight and then the Lions scooped up Gibbs a
few picks later, pretty early, and that was really the consensus.
Talking to guys like DJ and Dane that you know,
Genty was the number one guy, but it seemed like
Amaran in the eyes of many, was the one A.
(13:20):
And to see Genty go to the Raiders, which would
be fun. You see him twice a year now, but
he play heck of a player. But sixteen picks later,
to get Hampton in the Division two, I just think
that's a win for the Chargers. You want to get
blue chip type players. I think Lamarin Hampton is a
blue chip type running back, and to get them in
(13:41):
the back half of the first round, I think is
a big deal too. You know, we talked about defensive
tackle and some of the defensive players in this draft,
it seems like they're going to be set up for
success in rounds two and three, just based on the
depth in this class defense.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean, I'll just start before we go to
defensive tackles just to pick up on your I'm gonna
pull that off because it's distracting me to stick with
your wide receiver point right. So, like I'm looking at
all of Lance's grades and Luther Burden's still on the board. Now,
he won't be there at fifty five, but you know
he's got Burden rated above Golden and McMillan and Igbucas.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I think he said it's his favorite guy in the draft.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So like, I'll buy up all the Jack Besh stock
you're selling. Like if he's at fifty five, man, if
somehow if he makes it down there, great, Let's go
Jayden Higgins to be that true ex Trey Harris to
be that X. Like I think one of those two
guys could be there at fifty five. Jalen Royal's out
of Utah State. I'm just going like, I like Jalen Nowell.
I know that that he's more of a slot out
(14:46):
of Iowa State, But a lot of people say, dude,
that's the better receiver ahead of Higgins. So you've got
like Kyle Williams. People love Tory Horton in the third
round out of Colorado State if he's not dealing with
the injury. You know, So there's I love Ilick, I
said Tesla at Arkansas, Like, dude, there's still players. It's
not like it was a one receiver draft and you
had to take Matthew Golden and you were going to
(15:07):
get shut out at that position. But to me, like
the thing that I would be more conscious of is
what I said earlier, and that's for those that wanted
that pass catcher. Just think back to last year and
Lad McConkie's the ninth receiver taken and that's the production
(15:27):
they got because of it. And then I'm not knocking
all the players ahead of them. I mean, look what
Brian Thomas Junior did, What Malik Neighbors did, What Roma
Dunes they did, Malik or Marvin Harrison Junior, Like, that's
last year's wide receiver class year before you know, the
Chargers take Q look at Zay Flowers, look at Jordan
Addison like there's gonna be more wide receivers. Don't freak
out about that.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
And tight end. I think we appropriately poured water on
the Colson Loveland and Tyler Warren who rejections At that point,
Loveland goes before Tyler Warren number ten, which I thought
was a little rising to the bear, especially when you
have Cole Comet there. Tyler Warren goes to the Colts.
I think that's a really nice fit. But you were
talking about Taylor, Yeah, we talk about I mean at
(16:09):
twenty two, I was like, I can see it. There's
teams that have a first round great on Mason Taylor
and think he could end up being the best of
the bunch. He's just a little bit more raw than
those other two. But you know, I've said it on
here multiple times. My favorite guy's Harold Fan and I
don't think he'd be there at eighty six. I think
they would have to take him at fifty five. And
whether or not that's in the cards, and how he
(16:30):
measures up against some of the against some of the
Trench players that they might be looking at some of
those defensive tackles, and we can get into that sort
of stuff as we project what we might see tomorrow.
It just feels like there's been a lot of heat.
It's funny.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
There's a couple players that I felt like we got
some heat on him man, Like just yesterday Tyler Booker, Man,
all of a sudden, the heat came back. That was
someone we were talking about. And I remember coming out
of the combine after I had a miserable combine and
taking some incoming from people about oh yeah, Tyler Booker.
Sure at twenty two look at that guy testing and
it's like, yeah, I don't really care about the testing
(17:03):
for a guard man. I'm just watching the Alabama tape
and it's like, Holy Cole, this guy just wreck shop.
And sure enough, he goes at twelve. Gray's Abel goes
at eighteen, and I think that in Harold Fannin's in
that category. To me of Booker is everybody was talking
about him before the draft. Look at all this production,
(17:23):
look at the A and M game, look at the
Penn State game. And then Combine shows up and it's like, oh,
measurables aren't as great. He doesn't have the same explosiveness.
Is he really is good of an athlete? Is Ferguson?
And then now I'm hearing from people like, oh yeah, dude,
everyone's in on Fannin fan and it's just it's funny
how it works, man. It's a complete circle. Like they
(17:44):
you go through all these iterations of Shoulder's going to
go at three, Oh no, should Here's not His floor
is twenty one. He's not getting past the Steelers. The
draft is weird, man. Every team's got a different method
of measuring players and grading players, and this is how
it comes out.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Mason Taylor, you have to trade ap to get him?
At this point? Yeah, would you trade him to get him?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
No? I wouldn't just because of guys like Fannin, and
I think at this point it's still gonna cost a
little bit too much. He's going to go on the
first five picks of the second round. I'm I believe that.
I think there's enough heat and teams that I've heard
are super high on him that I'd be really surprised
if he isn't one. I should probably check myself before
I say that to see best available and where let's yeah,
(18:26):
see it's funny, man, I got a Royo. I mean
I'm like, maybe he doesn't. I'm looking at I'm looking
at Darius Alexander like Azaraku. I thought the Chargers could
have taken it twenty two. Mike Green's obviously got the
off field stuff that caused him to slide, but man,
he's a heck of a pass rusher, so those must
be some serious issues when teams started digging into that
em and Warry the safety that a lot of people
(18:47):
compared to Derwin. You know his how big he is,
his explosiveness. So, man, Trey Amos the quarter, the corner,
who'd be really good in the Charger system. I mean,
there's so if I just go down right, what are
we at thirty two, so we'd be thirty three picks
down if I go down to the thirty third player
(19:09):
and start looking at who's available thirty three and in
from this ESPN list, I love Nick gorton the edge.
I love Benjamin Morrison at the corner. I love Jalen Royals,
the wide receiver. Jack Besh. I just talked about give
me all the Jack Besh stock, like all the This
is just the top thirty two of guys that are
(19:30):
still on the board, savaian A. I might have said
that wrong. But the tackle from Arizona that might kick
inside to guard, that's a possibility. Quinn. You know, obviously
they're not going to take any of the running backs.
Joe told us that. He said, I'll give you a
little hint. We're not going to take a running back.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Which may work to their advantage now because we could
see a run in the second and third round on
a lot of these running backs, which I think will
help the Chargers kind of push up some talent that
you know they could potentially draft.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, I mean, there's dude, there are so there are
so many defensive players left. Like if I just go
into defensive tackle here and who's left and could be
there at fifty five. Alexander out of Toledo had a
great Senior Bowl, Shamar Turner out of a and m
Omar Norman lot the pass rush specialist out of Tennessee.
I love Alfred Collins. He is a freaking monster of
(20:19):
a human being, six six, three hundred and thirty two
pounds and athletic. He's still there. I like ty Robinson,
He's probably more of a third rounder, you know how
much I love Pigeese, Probably more of a fourth rounder.
That's just your defensive tackles. You go through the edge.
And like I said, I thought that that that that
Campbell could have been a possibility at twenty two as Iraku,
(20:41):
like I mentioned Skorton, I mean, man, what I'm getting
at here is I'm giving all these people a big
freaking name. Salad is there's a lot of really good
players left that they're going to be able to choose
from tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Any surprises in the first round.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yes, I think. I still think Tyler Booker was a prize,
even though I was seemingly a lot higher on him
than some other people. But at twelve that seemed incredibly rich.
I was surprised Kenneth Grant went that high at thirteen.
I thought he'd be available at twenty two. I wasn't
surprised by Loveland over Warren. I had heard that there
were at least ten or twelve teams that had him
(21:17):
rated higher. Because it's just a taste of what kind
of you know, what type of tight end do you prefer?
Us happy to see t mac go in the top
tends hearn it. I mean, like I thought that was
all bs the stuff that was coming out on him.
He's such a talented kid, and you know, we have
a little more insight to his makeup than others because
of what he did at Servite and how he got
(21:38):
that program relevant again in the.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
True but two survey guys going into the top ten
of the NFL drafts, with Mason Graham going five overall.
I thought that that was the most interesting, obviously interesting
trade of the night, to have the Cleveland Browns trade
out Gladstone putting his stamp down in Duval, getting Travis
Hunter and the Browns seemingly you know, you see Jimmy
(22:00):
Haslin with with Dion and at the Colorado Pro Day
and you're like, Okay, Travis Hunter to Cleveland makes too
much sense. Uh, Jacksonville gimmet off if they couldn't refuse.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I mean, that is that's a huge that. I mean,
you're really sticking your neck out on that one. I mean,
he's widely considered, almost unanimous, the best player in the draft,
a unicorn like we've never seen, like a legitimate number
one receiver and number one corner and wants to play both.
(22:29):
And you're just gonna take a couple extra picks. We're
just gonna take a few extra draft picks instead of
drafting this guy. Well, you better turn those draft picks
into something special. And I think they got a good
start in Mason Graham, for sure. He's a You put
Mason Graham on the same line as Miles Garrett and
that's that's gonna be a load. I mean, you know,
as we look at the Division two, man, they got
some good players. Ashton Genty is incredible. I don't you know.
(22:52):
I think you throw the world general the word generational
around a lot, but I do think it's applicable to Genty.
He's that good of a player. And man, the Broncos
just an already incredibly scary defense gets the number one corner. Yeah,
the secondary is ridiculous with Baron on that, on that
in that secondary with with Certan, it's it's it's a
(23:13):
tough division, man, and it got tougher today with those
two picks.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
For sure, Will Johnson we briefly touched on him. It's
a it's a bummer. But do you think that he's
the type of player if he does slide let's say.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Into the second fifty five? Yeah, I don't know. Yeah,
you can take the swing there, Like that's just the
thing first round picks, that's what you're graded on, really,
you know, and you never and you just you don't
want to miss. You want to take the surest thing
possible with the highest upside possible. And Hampton certainly fits
into that. And that's where the medical just is like, yeah, second,
(23:48):
we'll do it in the second. First is you know,
it's a little bit too concerning in the first, and
so he'll probably go early in the second. Especially, like
you said, if Cleveland they're talking about trade Newsome, they
could have got the corner and Hunter along with the
wide receivers, So like I could see them using one
of their two picks on Johnson and just saying, yeah,
we had him graded out higher as a corner than
(24:08):
Travis Hunter, and that's what we use this pick on
and we feel great about it.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Final thing for me is just thinking about some of
the veterans' names that we've heard in terms of maybe
trade talks, Mark Andrews, George Pickens, jyr Alexander. You've heard
a lot of veterans' names. Do you think that we'll
see any maybe veteran movement on Days two and three,
you know, maybe fourth round picks or third round picks
(24:33):
kind of.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
With the Chargers. I mean, I guess I think Newsom
would make sense if the Browns, and I would imagine
they'll get a lot of traffic for him. Not sure
what they want because they've already got a ton of picks,
So I think Newsom would make sense. Tight end, I
don't think as much because I believe they feel really
good about you know, and I think it's more of, Hey,
we can take a Mitchell Evans who was hurt out
(24:55):
of Notre Dame in the fourth round. Maybe if he
slides that far, you can take Fan in and ease
him in and you know, and or you can take
Ferguson and ease him in or gunner Helm in the
fourth round or something like. There's really good tight ends.
It's a really good tight end draft, and so I
think you can have patience with him by having concland
so I don't see who knows, but I don't necessarily
(25:16):
see a trade for one of the tight ends, you know,
for Goddard or Andrews. I think Newsom is the one
that probably would make the most sense out of out
of all of those, just because you look at Corner
and as much faith as I have in Tarheb and
cam Hart, you know, you bring in Jackson and Saint
(25:37):
just and I'm sure they feel great about that, but yeah,
it'd be nice to have like a guy you feel like, yeah,
we're throw this guy out there on the island and
feel really good about it. And I think you'd feel
that way with Newsom.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, it's been a fun night. Amari and Hampton is
a Los Angeles charger.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Again.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
We went through so many different mock drafts, from Colson
Loveland to Amari and Hampton to countless defensive tackles. I
think that they got to write I do think they
got to write a twenty.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Two money Yeah, if I if I know, I have
no question. I think that that was the best player
on the board that they could have taken. And I'm
hoping that Charger fans are excited about it because he's
a weapon. He's one of the best offensive weapons in
this draft. Like I said thirteen for DJ on his
top one fifty. If I had to project tomorrow, I
(26:23):
you know, I hate doing it, but whatever, man, it's
not I'm not Joe Ortiz or Check Shugar. I can
I can say, you know, need versus best player available.
I think we If I had to guess, I think they.
I think you get out of rounds two and three,
probably with trenches. I think it's probably trenches. I think
(26:44):
it's a d tackle and maybe an interior lineman. An
interior line I could see. I could kind of see
that being the case. Let me just make sure that
I feel yeah, like I like I talked about Ratledge
asier one of those guys, and then I think defensive tackle,
Like to me, that just screams detackle at fifty five
(27:07):
unless there's a run on these guys. So that's kind
of what I would envision. You get that offensive weapon
in the first and beef up the lines in the
second and third.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, especially losing Poona Ford. And you know, I wouldn't
count out of edge either. You know, I think a
good coach could be something in rounds two and three
as well. Sure, a lot of needs on the team,
but I think that they've covered a lot of things
up in free agency this year, and then, hey, free
agency is not over either. After the draft, who knows
if some some veterans, maybe in the wide receivers room, Yeah,
gets scooped up as well.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah. Hey, look, they want to play physical football, so
that's the identity of this team, and they're off to
a good start. With a six foot two and twenty
one pound back, It's gonna be a real hammer out there.
It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
It'll be fun to watch, all right, guys. We will
be back over the weekend with a couple of virtual
pods recapping days two and three. Uh for money, I'm
Chris has been Charges weekly. Omarion Hampton is an LA
Charger Street Street
Laid fifteen to ten touched up.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Guys, Welcome into a draft day edition of Chargers Weekly,
as always, joined by the Voice of the Chargers, Matt
Muddy Smith. The Bolts have selected Omarion Hampton, number twenty
two overall, and Buddy, we went through a myriad of mocks,
talked to a bunch of analysts from the combine to
you know, present day, and Amarion Hampton was a name
(00:32):
that came up a bunch and now was in powder blue.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, and you know, a lot of it's just how
the board falls. That's why the mock drafts are so hard,
and projecting who they're gonna take is hard, and you
just try to get a group of players that you
think would have a grade, you know, commiserate with the
twenty second pick. And it felt like there were a
lot of those players there. There were a lot of
players that were gone. I think you look at the
anterior interior O line and we talked about Tyler Booker
(00:58):
and Gray's Abel both off the board. Defensive tackle, you know,
the last sort of elite defensive tackle, Walter Nolan, Derek Harmon,
and Kenneth Grant. Harmon was taken two picks before they
went corner. Clearly, you know, you feel bad for the
young man, but there's the red flags that were brought
up prior to the draft on Will Johnson certainly showed
(01:18):
themselves and look, it's he's probably going to go very
early in the second but first round picks, you never
want to swing and miss. You want to at least
hit a double. And I think if you have a
concern medically, that's where you know. So now that's a
blue chip players that's sliding down and I think, you know,
just to pull the curtain back a little bit where
with all the media and we're all just kind of
chatting and trying to figure out what they're going to do.
(01:39):
And you know, there was a lot of talk about Hampton, Golden,
Jehad Campbell's kind of where and Will Johnson before we
knew about you know that the medicals were clearly that serious.
That's kind of where we were at and we figured
it would be one of those four players and Hampton
was probably near the top of that list. And it's interesting,
(02:03):
you know, you read the reports from Ian Rappaport, it
was the Eagles that were trying to trade up the
twenty two to get Jahad Campbell, and that just kind
of speaks to the value of what the Chargers were
able to secure with Hampton at twenty two, I think,
a legitimate first round grade blue chip player in this draft.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
And they end up getting Campbell at thirty one. Did
the Eagles do it anyway? They didn't have to do
it now they moved up, gave up a fifth. Yeah.
So we were in the press room and talking about
a lot of the different scenarios. I would have been
fine with Matthew Golden, you know, just because it's another
weapon in the passing game for Justin Herbert. We talked
about the defensive tackle death. But the thing about Amar
(02:40):
and Hampton is and I think coach Harball said he's
a four down player. He doesn't have to leave the field.
The compliment to Naji Harris. Both of those guys don't
miss football games. And you know, I loved JK. Dobbins
and what he brought to this team last year. But
to know you have two running backs who have been
as durable as they've been in their careers, obviously Nause
(03:03):
at Alabama in Pittsburgh and now a Marion coming from
Chapel Hill to LA. I mean that's I think that's
a big deal, and it's really coach Harball and Greg
Roman putting their stamp on this team. This is how
we're gonna play.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I looked at the box score from the Texans Chargers
playoff game, and obviously it was lad one hundred ninety
seven yards. Nobody else really did much of anything in
the passing game, but the running game, eighteen carries for
fifty yards two point nine a pop. And obviously it's
not just the running backs, it's not just the offensive line.
But to know that you can have two of those
(03:36):
guys getting back to that situation, let's say next year
on a wildcard round, and knowing you have a guy
like Najie Harrison and Marion Hampton that can help carry
the load and maybe take a little bit off of
Justin Herbert Shoulders. I think that's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Well, I'm gonna kind of jump off something you said
there right away, you know, early, and that's durability. And
just think back to last year and where we were
when this new coaching staff came in and Greg Roman
is doing his presser and Coach Harbu's doing his presser,
and we had a group of players come through and
do their pressers, and they all had a very sort
(04:08):
of common explanation for the foundation of what we should expect,
and that was a physical football team. That this is
a team that's going to bring it, that's going to
make you feel it, and you're going to be feeling
it for the rest of the week. And I think
it didn't quite materialize. And if you were to point
as to why it didn't materialize, we start in training camp.
(04:28):
Gus Edwards gets hurt. Right, So Edwards is never right
pretty much the whole season. You know, he came back
for that one game and it's like I feel great,
and it's it's like, well, yeah, but you've been out
part of training camp first half of the season, like
it's understandable, like you know you're not right. And then
Jk's having a great season and what happens in that
month that he goes away and even when he came
(04:49):
back into that, he's just not the same guy. So
to me, you go out and get Nagie Harris because
not because he's the most explosive back or because he's
a guy that's a home run hit, No because he
can be there because you know when you break camp,
he's gonna be there. And if you want to handle
the ball thirty times, it's gonna take it thirty times.
And if that's for three point nine yards per carry,
we'll take it because we can run play action and
(05:11):
Justin Herbert's incredible and that's gonna work. And then you
go in and you take a mari And Hampton who
last year, these last two years at North Carolina two
hundred and fifty three carries in twenty twenty three, two
hundred and eighty one carries last year and receptions twenty
nine and thirty eight. So you're talking about a lot
three hundred and nineteen plays from scrimmage from Marion Hampton
(05:34):
in North Carolina. And one of the things that was
said about Hampton coming into the draft through the draft
process was the guy will come out of a game
and it looks like there's not a beat a sweat
on his body, just like he takes a pounding and
it's nothing. And so that was sort of one of
the things that was listed as a strength when you
(05:56):
went through his draft profile is just durability, no matter
how many carries they gave him, it's still totally fine
with it. So I think there is something to what
you said there at the start about the identity of
this team, the type of team that they want to
put together, and that's sort of Amarian Hampton fits right
in with that and explosiveness. This don't be fooled by
(06:20):
the size. Yeah, he's two hundred and twenty one pounds
and six foot, but this dude's got juice. I mean,
freaking legit home run hitting sixty yard runs. If he
gets to that second level type of.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Juice, the balance, the vision and that came up. We
did a zoom with Amarion just before this and then
set in on Joe and Jim's presser and the fact
that Drake May was his quarterback a couple of years ago.
The production is the exact same, if not better, without
Drake May, and it's just a testament to I think
(06:52):
the work ethic that Omarian possesses. Joe talked about it,
Omarion said, Hey, the consistency in my game, how I
attack practice, how I come in each and every day,
that's what you're going to get in Los Angeles. So
I thought that that was pretty impressive to look at.
He averaged five point nine per Carrie in twenty twenty
(07:13):
three with Drake mayanders center fifteen hundred yards. The very
next year fifteen touchdowns, again five point nine per Carrie,
sixteen hundred yards when he was the focal point of
the offense. So you know that Amarion Hampton is the
player that you have to stop when you go down
to Chapel Hill, and he was still able to put
up this production.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, it's you know, when you go through all the
different if you're as big of a draft junkie as
there's a lot of people that listen to Chargers Weekly
happen to be, you've probably been through all the draft guys.
But when you go through him, like I wanted to
pull up Danes, our friend Dane Brugler over at the Beast,
and you know, I think rush for one hundred more
yards in ten of twelve games. So you're talking about
(07:52):
you know what George he said about the type of
player tet right, he's a there, everyday player. North Carolina
single season record over two thousand all purpose yards. And
you know, and then when you go through strength, well,
first of all, six foot two hundred twenty one pounds
four four six forty at that size, and then you
(08:13):
look at the explosive numbers thirty eight inch vert and
just over a ten foot almost an eleven foot broad jump.
So that's the explosiveness, right. That's a guy that's when
he's ready to hit the gas man. He's gonna hit
the gas he's got that going. You go through strengths,
kind of talk about the physical traits, run strength. You
talked about the lower half and just breaking freaking tackles.
(08:34):
That's what your lower half does. And then just the
initial burst for a guy that's that big to get
into the second level. Only two drops on eighty career targets.
Ge Orgie's talked about that had one drop pass last year,
So now you're talking about a three down back and
good in pass protection. So workhorse twenty five or more
(08:55):
touches in eight of twelve games, Like that's best of that.
You know, the best ability is availability and it's something
that they struggled with last year and they're not going
to struggle with it if his past is any indicator.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
And you you actually asked Joe about just the depth
and the running backs because we've talked about it the
last several months how many really exceptional running backs there are.
But when you list off all those things from past
protection to be able to catch the ball out of
the backfield, you know, there's a lot of people on
on X were like, well, why did we get Justin
Herbert a weapon? I argue that this is a weapon
for Juge Herbert. It's a huge weapon for him because
(09:29):
he can catch the ball out of the backfield. You know,
you chew clock with guys like Harris and Hampton. You
have big playability with Hampton, and you're also past protecting
for Justin Herbert. So that's why Lamari and Hampton went
twenty two overall. What would you say to fans who
were upset that they didn't get a wide receiver.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I just to me, you know it was gonna be
Matthew Golden pretty much, right. I just think he's a
better player than Matthew gold and I do. I mean,
and look, Golden's a very polarizing wide receiver. There's people
that really like him, think he's the number one wide
receiver in this class. I like to book a better
than Golden. If he was on the board, I think
it would have been a very interesting conversation. But the
(10:12):
fact that he was already gone, I think made it
a little bit easier. Like for you know, our friend
Daniel Jeremiah, who I call the games with, has him
as his thirteenth ranked player in this draft, Hampton thirteenth,
Amar and Hampton like, you're you're not talking, You're and
you're picking at twenty two and that's where that value
(10:32):
comes in. So I think for people that wanted to
my receiver, it's like, well, and he's got you know,
in you know, just a full disclosure, he's got Matthew
Golden at fourteen, so you're still getting value there. But
to me, I just I don't know Matthew Golden's four
two nine. It's just I don't.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
I didn't say. I'm not trying to knock the guy.
He's a great receiver and I expect him to be
a really great player, but I'm just measuring him against
Amari and Hampton, and I'd rather have Hampton. I just
felt a lot better about what I saw from him,
and not like on some sort of top shelf evaluator.
But it's just there's certain players that jump off the screen,
and Hampton's one of them. And I think there's a
(11:11):
reason why some teams, you know, and this was widely reported,
there were teams that had Hampton over Gent just because
of the size, you know, because he's not a He's
a six foot two hundred and twenty pound guy that
still breaking tackles, still has wiggles, still catches the ball
out of the backfield, incredible in pass protection. So I
(11:33):
think that's to me, it's I think I think of
all the possibilities as I look at like when it's
hard to kind of measure what went after them. So
Golden's the pick. Right after they select right Donovan Jackson,
who's going to be kicking side to guard for Minnesota.
Then you got Jackson, Dark, James Pierce the edge, Malachi
(11:54):
starts the safety, ty Leek Williams, who's the defensive tackle
that Detroit took it at twenty eight. And then you've
got another tackle the corner, Hairston is certainly impressive, and
then Jehad Campbell, who the Eagles took Josh sam as
the tackle. So like when you look what's behind him,
it's like, yeah, none of those not one of those
players made more sense than Amari and Hampton at twenty two,
(12:14):
Not one of the players that got selected after them,
would I say, yes, I'd rather have that guy than
the one they took. And I would be very surprised
if any Charger fan would say I wish we would
have taken any of those like to me, unless they're
just big Matthew Golden fans and wanted that white out.
They can get a white out in the second, they
get a white out in the third. It's and I
(12:36):
know I'm rambling here, Chris, but like, the one thing
I would also say is we're gonna have wide receivers
in every single draft. Man. It is the most popular
position that kids are playing right now. And you saw
that last year with lad being the ninth taken. So
this may have been a little bit of a down
year for a wide receiver. Next year, we're probably gonna
have six or seven wide receivers go in the first
(12:57):
forty picks. That's just the way this thing's gonna shake out.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It reminds me of a few years ago when Jehan
went eight and then the Lions scooped up Gibbs a
few picks later, pretty early, and that was really the consensus.
Talking to guys like DJ and Dane that you know,
Genty was the number one guy, but it seemed like
Amaran in the eyes of many, was the one A.
(13:20):
And to see Genty go to the Raiders, which would
be fun. You see him twice a year now, but
he play heck of a player. But sixteen picks later,
to get Hampton in the Division two, I just think
that's a win for the Chargers. You want to get
blue chip type players. I think Lamarin Hampton is a
blue chip type running back, and to get them in
(13:41):
the back half of the first round, I think is
a big deal too. You know, we talked about defensive
tackle and some of the defensive players in this draft,
it seems like they're going to be set up for
success in rounds two and three, just based on the
depth in this class defense.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean, I'll just start before we go to
defensive tackles just to pick up on your I'm gonna
pull that off because it's distracting me to stick with
your wide receiver point right. So, like I'm looking at
all of Lance's grades and Luther Burden's still on the board. Now,
he won't be there at fifty five, but you know
he's got Burden rated above Golden and McMillan and Igbucas.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I think he said it's his favorite guy in the draft.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So like, I'll buy up all the Jack Besh stock
you're selling. Like if he's at fifty five, man, if
somehow if he makes it down there, great, Let's go
Jayden Higgins to be that true ex Trey Harris to
be that X. Like I think one of those two
guys could be there at fifty five. Jalen Royal's out
of Utah State. I'm just going like, I like Jalen Nowell.
I know that that he's more of a slot out
(14:46):
of Iowa State, But a lot of people say, dude,
that's the better receiver ahead of Higgins. So you've got
like Kyle Williams. People love Tory Horton in the third
round out of Colorado State if he's not dealing with
the injury. You know, So there's I love Ilick, I
said Tesla at Arkansas, Like, dude, there's still players. It's
not like it was a one receiver draft and you
had to take Matthew Golden and you were going to
(15:07):
get shut out at that position. But to me, like
the thing that I would be more conscious of is
what I said earlier, and that's for those that wanted
that pass catcher. Just think back to last year and
Lad McConkie's the ninth receiver taken and that's the production
(15:27):
they got because of it. And then I'm not knocking
all the players ahead of them. I mean, look what
Brian Thomas Junior did, What Malik Neighbors did, What Roma
Dunes they did, Malik or Marvin Harrison Junior, Like, that's
last year's wide receiver class year before you know, the
Chargers take Q look at Zay Flowers, look at Jordan
Addison like there's gonna be more wide receivers. Don't freak
out about that.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
And tight end. I think we appropriately poured water on
the Colson Loveland and Tyler Warren who rejections At that point,
Loveland goes before Tyler Warren number ten, which I thought
was a little rising to the bear, especially when you
have Cole Comet there. Tyler Warren goes to the Colts.
I think that's a really nice fit. But you were
talking about Taylor, Yeah, we talk about I mean at
(16:09):
twenty two, I was like, I can see it. There's
teams that have a first round great on Mason Taylor
and think he could end up being the best of
the bunch. He's just a little bit more raw than
those other two. But you know, I've said it on
here multiple times. My favorite guy's Harold Fan and I
don't think he'd be there at eighty six. I think
they would have to take him at fifty five. And
whether or not that's in the cards, and how he
(16:30):
measures up against some of the against some of the
Trench players that they might be looking at some of
those defensive tackles, and we can get into that sort
of stuff as we project what we might see tomorrow.
It just feels like there's been a lot of heat.
It's funny.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
There's a couple players that I felt like we got
some heat on him man, Like just yesterday Tyler Booker, Man,
all of a sudden, the heat came back. That was
someone we were talking about. And I remember coming out
of the combine after I had a miserable combine and
taking some incoming from people about oh yeah, Tyler Booker.
Sure at twenty two look at that guy testing and
it's like, yeah, I don't really care about the testing
(17:03):
for a guard man. I'm just watching the Alabama tape
and it's like, Holy Cole, this guy just wreck shop.
And sure enough, he goes at twelve. Gray's Abel goes
at eighteen, and I think that in Harold Fannin's in
that category. To me of Booker is everybody was talking
about him before the draft. Look at all this production,
(17:23):
look at the A and M game, look at the
Penn State game. And then Combine shows up and it's like, oh,
measurables aren't as great. He doesn't have the same explosiveness.
Is he really is good of an athlete? Is Ferguson?
And then now I'm hearing from people like, oh yeah, dude,
everyone's in on Fannin fan and it's just it's funny
how it works, man. It's a complete circle. Like they
(17:44):
you go through all these iterations of Shoulder's going to
go at three, Oh no, should Here's not His floor
is twenty one. He's not getting past the Steelers. The
draft is weird, man. Every team's got a different method
of measuring players and grading players, and this is how
it comes out.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Mason Taylor, you have to trade ap to get him?
At this point? Yeah, would you trade him to get him?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
No? I wouldn't just because of guys like Fannin, and
I think at this point it's still gonna cost a
little bit too much. He's going to go on the
first five picks of the second round. I'm I believe that.
I think there's enough heat and teams that I've heard
are super high on him that I'd be really surprised
if he isn't one. I should probably check myself before
I say that to see best available and where let's yeah,
(18:26):
see it's funny, man, I got a Royo. I mean
I'm like, maybe he doesn't. I'm looking at I'm looking
at Darius Alexander like Azaraku. I thought the Chargers could
have taken it twenty two. Mike Green's obviously got the
off field stuff that caused him to slide, but man,
he's a heck of a pass rusher, so those must
be some serious issues when teams started digging into that
em and Warry the safety that a lot of people
(18:47):
compared to Derwin. You know his how big he is,
his explosiveness. So, man, Trey Amos the quarter, the corner,
who'd be really good in the Charger system. I mean,
there's so if I just go down right, what are
we at thirty two, so we'd be thirty three picks
down if I go down to the thirty third player
(19:09):
and start looking at who's available thirty three and in
from this ESPN list, I love Nick gorton the edge.
I love Benjamin Morrison at the corner. I love Jalen Royals,
the wide receiver. Jack Besh. I just talked about give
me all the Jack Besh stock, like all the This
is just the top thirty two of guys that are
(19:30):
still on the board, savaian A. I might have said
that wrong. But the tackle from Arizona that might kick
inside to guard, that's a possibility. Quinn. You know, obviously
they're not going to take any of the running backs.
Joe told us that. He said, I'll give you a
little hint. We're not going to take a running back.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Which may work to their advantage now because we could
see a run in the second and third round on
a lot of these running backs, which I think will
help the Chargers kind of push up some talent that
you know they could potentially draft.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, I mean, there's dude, there are so there are
so many defensive players left. Like if I just go
into defensive tackle here and who's left and could be
there at fifty five. Alexander out of Toledo had a
great Senior Bowl, Shamar Turner out of a and m
Omar Norman lot the pass rush specialist out of Tennessee.
I love Alfred Collins. He is a freaking monster of
(20:19):
a human being, six six, three hundred and thirty two
pounds and athletic. He's still there. I like ty Robinson,
He's probably more of a third rounder, you know how
much I love Pigeese, Probably more of a fourth rounder.
That's just your defensive tackles. You go through the edge.
And like I said, I thought that that that that
Campbell could have been a possibility at twenty two as Iraku,
(20:41):
like I mentioned Skorton, I mean, man, what I'm getting
at here is I'm giving all these people a big
freaking name. Salad is there's a lot of really good
players left that they're going to be able to choose
from tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Any surprises in the first round.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yes, I think. I still think Tyler Booker was a prize,
even though I was seemingly a lot higher on him
than some other people. But at twelve that seemed incredibly rich.
I was surprised Kenneth Grant went that high at thirteen.
I thought he'd be available at twenty two. I wasn't
surprised by Loveland over Warren. I had heard that there
were at least ten or twelve teams that had him
(21:17):
rated higher. Because it's just a taste of what kind
of you know, what type of tight end do you prefer?
Us happy to see t mac go in the top
tends hearn it. I mean, like I thought that was
all bs the stuff that was coming out on him.
He's such a talented kid, and you know, we have
a little more insight to his makeup than others because
of what he did at Servite and how he got
(21:38):
that program relevant again in the.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
True but two survey guys going into the top ten
of the NFL drafts, with Mason Graham going five overall.
I thought that that was the most interesting, obviously interesting
trade of the night, to have the Cleveland Browns trade
out Gladstone putting his stamp down in Duval, getting Travis
Hunter and the Browns seemingly you know, you see Jimmy
(22:00):
Haslin with with Dion and at the Colorado Pro Day
and you're like, Okay, Travis Hunter to Cleveland makes too
much sense. Uh, Jacksonville gimmet off if they couldn't refuse.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I mean, that is that's a huge that. I mean,
you're really sticking your neck out on that one. I mean,
he's widely considered, almost unanimous, the best player in the draft,
a unicorn like we've never seen, like a legitimate number
one receiver and number one corner and wants to play both.
(22:29):
And you're just gonna take a couple extra picks. We're
just gonna take a few extra draft picks instead of
drafting this guy. Well, you better turn those draft picks
into something special. And I think they got a good
start in Mason Graham, for sure. He's a You put
Mason Graham on the same line as Miles Garrett and
that's that's gonna be a load. I mean, you know,
as we look at the Division two, man, they got
some good players. Ashton Genty is incredible. I don't you know.
(22:52):
I think you throw the world general the word generational
around a lot, but I do think it's applicable to Genty.
He's that good of a player. And man, the Broncos
just an already incredibly scary defense gets the number one corner. Yeah,
the secondary is ridiculous with Baron on that, on that
in that secondary with with Certan, it's it's it's a
(23:13):
tough division, man, and it got tougher today with those
two picks.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
For sure, Will Johnson we briefly touched on him. It's
a it's a bummer. But do you think that he's
the type of player if he does slide let's say.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Into the second fifty five? Yeah, I don't know. Yeah,
you can take the swing there, Like that's just the
thing first round picks, that's what you're graded on, really,
you know, and you never and you just you don't
want to miss. You want to take the surest thing
possible with the highest upside possible. And Hampton certainly fits
into that. And that's where the medical just is like, yeah, second,
(23:48):
we'll do it in the second. First is you know,
it's a little bit too concerning in the first, and
so he'll probably go early in the second. Especially, like
you said, if Cleveland they're talking about trade Newsome, they
could have got the corner and Hunter along with the
wide receivers, So like I could see them using one
of their two picks on Johnson and just saying, yeah,
we had him graded out higher as a corner than
(24:08):
Travis Hunter, and that's what we use this pick on
and we feel great about it.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Final thing for me is just thinking about some of
the veterans' names that we've heard in terms of maybe
trade talks, Mark Andrews, George Pickens, jyr Alexander. You've heard
a lot of veterans' names. Do you think that we'll
see any maybe veteran movement on Days two and three,
you know, maybe fourth round picks or third round picks
(24:33):
kind of.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
With the Chargers. I mean, I guess I think Newsom
would make sense if the Browns, and I would imagine
they'll get a lot of traffic for him. Not sure
what they want because they've already got a ton of picks,
So I think Newsom would make sense. Tight end, I
don't think as much because I believe they feel really
good about you know, and I think it's more of, Hey,
we can take a Mitchell Evans who was hurt out
(24:55):
of Notre Dame in the fourth round. Maybe if he
slides that far, you can take Fan in and ease
him in and you know, and or you can take
Ferguson and ease him in or gunner Helm in the
fourth round or something like. There's really good tight ends.
It's a really good tight end draft, and so I
think you can have patience with him by having concland
so I don't see who knows, but I don't necessarily
(25:16):
see a trade for one of the tight ends, you know,
for Goddard or Andrews. I think Newsom is the one
that probably would make the most sense out of out
of all of those, just because you look at Corner
and as much faith as I have in Tarheb and
cam Hart, you know, you bring in Jackson and Saint
(25:37):
just and I'm sure they feel great about that, but yeah,
it'd be nice to have like a guy you feel like, yeah,
we're throw this guy out there on the island and
feel really good about it. And I think you'd feel
that way with Newsom.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, it's been a fun night. Amari and Hampton is
a Los Angeles charger.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Again.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
We went through so many different mock drafts, from Colson
Loveland to Amari and Hampton to countless defensive tackles. I
think that they got to write I do think they
got to write a twenty.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Two money Yeah, if I if I know, I have
no question. I think that that was the best player
on the board that they could have taken. And I'm
hoping that Charger fans are excited about it because he's
a weapon. He's one of the best offensive weapons in
this draft. Like I said thirteen for DJ on his
top one fifty. If I had to project tomorrow, I
(26:23):
you know, I hate doing it, but whatever, man, it's
not I'm not Joe Ortiz or Check Shugar. I can
I can say, you know, need versus best player available.
I think we If I had to guess, I think they.
I think you get out of rounds two and three,
probably with trenches. I think it's probably trenches. I think
(26:44):
it's a d tackle and maybe an interior lineman. An
interior line I could see. I could kind of see
that being the case. Let me just make sure that
I feel yeah, like I like I talked about Ratledge
asier one of those guys, and then I think defensive tackle,
Like to me, that just screams detackle at fifty five
(27:07):
unless there's a run on these guys. So that's kind
of what I would envision. You get that offensive weapon
in the first and beef up the lines in the
second and third.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, especially losing Poona Ford. And you know, I wouldn't
count out of edge either. You know, I think a
good coach could be something in rounds two and three
as well. Sure, a lot of needs on the team,
but I think that they've covered a lot of things
up in free agency this year, and then, hey, free
agency is not over either. After the draft, who knows
if some some veterans, maybe in the wide receivers room, Yeah,
gets scooped up as well.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah. Hey, look, they want to play physical football, so
that's the identity of this team, and they're off to
a good start. With a six foot two and twenty
one pound back, It's gonna be a real hammer out there.
It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
It'll be fun to watch, all right, guys. We will
be back over the weekend with a couple of virtual
pods recapping days two and three. Uh for money, I'm
Chris has been Charges weekly. Omarion Hampton is an LA
Charger Street Street
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