Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers own the fifth overall pick of the NFL Draft next month. Given that they already have Justin Herbert under center, they won’t be taking a quarterback.
The four teams ahead of them in the draft order, on the other hand, may all be taking signal-callers.
That would leave Harbaugh and the Chargers first dibs on the first non-quarterback to go in the draft class, and that has Los Angeles’ new head coach excited.
“There’s talk of four quarterbacks going in the first four picks. Boy, if that happens, that pick really becomes like the No. 1 pick in the draft,” Harbaugh said, via Eric Edholm of NFL.com. “If four quarterbacks go in the first four picks, that’s not like the fifth pick anymore. That’s like the No. 1 pick of the draft for teams that have a great quarterback already.”
The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots will almost certainly be selecting quarterbacks with picks 1 through 3. The Arizona Cardinals—who have Kyler Murray—pick fourth, but they could very well trade down to a quarterback-needy team.
Chances are, the Cardinals will stick with their pick and take Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4, but it won’t stop Harbaugh’s imagination from running wild.
“I mean, maybe four quarterbacks don’t go in a row — it’s unprecedented that’s ever happened,” he said. “But maybe there’s still another quarterback there when the fifth pick comes around and somebody wants to… again, that’d be like the No. 1 pick. … It’s an exciting pick.”
Even if the Cardinals don’t trade down (and they probably won’t), the Chargers would still be sitting pretty at their spot.
Los Angeles went just 5-12 this past season and has lost numerous key offensive weapons such as Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler, but with Herbert under center, this incoming rebuild should go much easier for the Bolts.
Jim Harbaugh seems more than ready for the challenge.
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