(CBSLA)- The Los Angeles Chargers made six selections in the 2020 NFL Draft over the course of the weekend. Their biggest moves came during Thursday's first round when they selected their quarterback of the future in Justin Herbert and traded back into the first round to snag Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray.
Head coach Anthony Lynn praised Herbert's abilities and his college production, though he did say that missing OTAs could have an effect on how early the QB sees the field.
"I'll tell you especially the quarterback position, that could have a huge impact on those guys, not getting those reps," said Lynn in a video conference. "I don't care how smart you are until you get out there and get those reps especially with a new offense and maybe doing things differently than you've done in the past like playing underneath he center, that's going to be hard if we don't have camps."
Still, selecting the QB sixth overall, there's an expectation that he will start at some point in the 2020 season. As for Murray, Lynn was particularly impressed by what he saw in the pre-draft interview process.
"But this man's intangibles, his presence when he walks into a room – he's just a natural-born leader and I love that he's passionate about this game," said to the team website. "It just comes through in the interview process that I had with him."
The first round picks weren't all the team did in the draft however. They selected running back John Kelley from UCLA (4th round), wide receiver Jon Reed from Virginia (5th round), safety Alohi Gilman from Notre Dame (6th round), and Ohio State wide receiver K.J. Hill (7th round). The team's performance over the weekend drew pretty good reviews from across the draft expert spectrum.
The team ranks 20th on that chart compiled by Twitter user Rene Brugner, but that's mainly due to two C's and a C- from three of the experts. Every other expert gave them at least a B- or above, with Chad Reuter of NFL.com and Luke Easterling of The Draft Wire giving the team A's.
While draft grades are an exercise in futility this soon after the draft, it's an interesting insight into how the experts believe the team did.
In addition to the draftees, the team added a full class of 19 undrafted free agents this weekend as well.
- LB Asmar Bilal - Notre Dame
- RB Darius Bradwell - Tulane
- CB John Brannon - Western Carolina
- LB Cole Christiansen - Army
- WR Jeff Cotton - Idaho
- G Joshua Dunlop - Texas—San Antonio
- NT Breiden Fehoko - Louisiana State
- LB Romeo Finley - Miami
- DE Joe Gaziano - Northwestern
- G Nate Gilliam - Wake Forest
- FB Bobby Holly - Louisiana Tech
- DE Jesse Lemonier - Liberty
- CB Kevin McGill - Eastern Michigan
- FB Gabe Nabers - Florida State
- TE Jared Rice - Fresno State
- T Ryan Roberts - Florida State
- WR Dalton Schoen - Kansas State
- DT T.J. Smith - Arkansas
- CB Donte Vaughn - Notre Dame
A couple of interesting names on that list. Northwestern's all-time sack leader Joe Gaziano joins the team. Tulane's Darius Bradwell ran for over 1,100 yards as a junior before a change in offensive scheme saw him split carries with a diverse group of backs in 2019. And Army linebacker Cole Christiansen led the Black Knights in tackles in 2019 (112).
Overall, the team seems to have done a nice job of filling the various needs they had entering the weekend's draft. The question, as Lynn points out, is how will the altered offseason affect rookies' readiness. Will the league have minicamps? Or will it just move straight to training camps in July? Those questions remain up in the air as the league continues to monitor the coronavirus pandemic.
