Chargers News: Columnist Believes Un-Drafted UCLA TE Will Make Big Impact
We find ourselves in an interesting window of your Los Angeles Chargers' 2023 offseason, friends.
We're still basking in the glow of what seems to have been a fairly successful NFL draft weekend, and remain a few weeks shy of the start of OTAs (scheduled for May 22nd-23rd).
Now, LA has inked 18 undrafted free agents to contracts, in the hopes of uncovering some diamonds in the rough.
Matt Wadleigh of Clutch Points believes that, among these 18 prospects, former UCLA tight end Michael Ezeike seems like the best fit among the Bolts, thanks in part due to his ability to block. Wadleigh notes that the Chargers have a significant need for a blocking tight end, to the point that a lot of expert mock drafts projected Los Angeles would use an early pick on an NCAA prospect like the University of Utah's Dalton Kincaid or Notre Dame's Michael Mayer. Kincaid went to the Buffalo Bills with the No. 25 pick in the first round, while Mayer was selected with the No. 35 pick by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Instead, LA opted not to select a tight end at all, in any of the draft's seven rounds.
Wadleigh writes that, among the Chargers' extant options at the position, Gerald Everett and Donald Parham appear to have sown up the first two spots in the new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's rotation -- provided Parham remains vertical. Wadleigh believes Ezeike has a shot at lapping young incumbents Tre’ McKitty and Stone Smartt.
During Ezeike's final collegiate season with UCLA in 2022, he logged 20 catches for a cumulative tally of 226 yards.
