EL SEGUNDO — It might sound like a tired cliche, a trite bit of sports-speak that leaves skeptical observers shaking their heads because it seems like the most obvious way to avoid answering a direct question, but over the years, it’s become a sacred tenet for Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz.
The Chargers, Hortiz said Thursday, would pick the best player available when the NFL draft is conducted next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Hortiz could say that with a smile because of the way the first waves of free agency unfolded for the Chargers, who filled a variety of job openings on their roster with a variety of players. There are still gaps, to be sure, but Hortiz said he believed the Chargers could take the field today and feel confident.
In other words, the Chargers aren’t locked into picking with one position in mind when they make their first-round selection (22nd overall). Or for the nine that follow. According to Hortiz, because free agency went so well and so many needs were addressed, they’ll simply pick the best player available.
So, if tight end Colston Loveland of the University of Michigan is ranked high on their draft board and is available, they’ll pick him. If a wide receiver or a running back or a defensive or offensive lineman they covet is available, then they’ll pick him. It’s not as if they don’t have options and won’t take advantage of them.
“Our plan was to add as much to our team as we could,” Hortiz said of a free agency frenzy that included the signings of right guard Mekhi Becton, tight end Tyler Conklin, running back Najee Harris, cornerback Donte Jackson, backup quarterback Trey Lance and wide receiver Mike Williams, among others.
“(You’re) trying to build a roster as deep as you can going into the draft, so you can sit there and have the draft board come to you and take the best player.”
The Chargers could do that again and again, for 10 picks over seven rounds. In addition to their first-round pick, they have selections in the second (55th), third (86th), fourth (125th), fifth (158th), sixth (199th, 209th, 214th) and seventh rounds (256th). Their final three picks are compensatory selections.
“What it allows you to do is really, truly, is let the board come to you,” Hortiz said. “You don’t feel pressure, so to speak, to address this player or that position. I just don’t feel that way because of the way we have spread ourselves out in free agency and added to the roster and, really, completed the roster.”
Surely, there are priorities, even if Hortiz wouldn’t say so, right?
Well, the Chargers could use depth at wide receiver, tight end and on the offensive and defensive lines. But if history is our guide going into the draft, and it should be, then the Chargers might find a few gems, especially in the late rounds, and especially with so many extra picks.
After all, Hortiz struck gold when he selected cornerbacks Tarheeb Still (137th overall) and Cam Hart (140th) in the fifth round in last year’s draft, Hortiz’s first as the Chargers’ general manager after serving for more than two decades in various scouting and evaluating positions with the Baltimore Ravens.
Unexpectedly (or expectedly, depending on how you viewed it), Still and Hart moved into prominent roles as starters by midseason after a significant shoulder injury to starter Asante Samuel Jr. As Hortiz put it on Thursday, “It may not be a need (at the moment), but it may become a need (in the future).”
Bottom line: The Chargers created depth during free agency and Hortiz is determined to add to it during the draft.
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