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Charger Report

Los Angeles Chargers Top Draft Targets: Iowa OL Beau Stephens

The Chargers are in the market for interior offensive line, and Iowa's Beau Stephens is the best prospect that few are talking about.
Thomas Martinez|
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The Los Angeles Chargers have been painfully selective in addressing the interior of the offensive line this offseason through free agency. The Chargers have added plenty of depth to the room in general but questions still remain heading into the draft.

The Chargers are prime candidates to add youth to the offensive line room during the upcoming draft with at least one of their five picks spent on the trenches if not two. The trouble is, the Chargers are in an odd spot in the draft order regarding where the top guards of the class will fall.

Chargers draft order conundrum

Los Angeles has the 22nd pick in the first round of the draft as well as the 55th pick falling in the second round. There are three guards who will likely be taken in that range. The first will undoubtedly be Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane who could even flirt with the top ten picks in the draft. Some mock drafts still have Ioane falling to 22 and the Chargers but that likelihood is slim to none.

The next tier of guards behind Ioane is Oregon's Emmanuel Pregnon and Texas A&M's Chase Bisontis. Both Pregnon and Bisontis are very good, day one starting guards. Taking either of them at 22 may be a bit early but many analysts believe their range starts around the mid-20s and goes to around pick 40.

The Chargers are faced with missing out on the top tier of guards of this class based on their draft position, assuming no trades are made around those two picks. If the Chargers miss or do not target a guard that early, as their lack of aggression in free agency may indicate, who is the next tier?

The next tier of guards after the big three

There is debate over the order of the next tier of guards but the prospects that fall into this category include several expected tackle conversions. Alabama's Kadyn Proctor is a raw monster of an athlete but has a long way to go assuming he switches from tackle to guard. Iowa's Gennings Dunker is a certified maniac with the incredible hair to match. Georgia Tech's Keylan Rutledge is a hard-nosed trench bully and finisher.

There are a handful of other prospects as well but one prospect that always seems to be on the outside looking in, in terms of national media coverage is Iowa's Beau Stephens.

Iowa's Beau Stephens

Beau Stephens has been on my radar for a while. Iowa's offensive line won the Joe Moore award in 2025 as the best offensive line the country beating out several deserving units from Oregon and Indiana.

Iowa has two highly discussed prospects in right tackle Gennings Dunker and center Logan Jones. Dunker's fiery red magnificent mullet may steal the show and draw all of the attention, this has allowed Stephens to fly under the radar.

Stephens is an excellent fit in a Shanahan-style system. He is quick and sudden off the snap and tracks second-level defenders well. He has not given up a sack since 2022 and yielded only four pressures throughout the entirety of the 2025 season, finishing with an elite 99.3 pass blocking efficiency rating by Pro Football Focus. Iowa runs a Shanahan-inspired system; the translation and fit would be seamless.

Stephens is commonly referred to as the option later down the draft on day three and into the fourth round. I mocked Stephens to the Chargers in round three in my post-combine mock draft and given the amount of offenses that run Shanahan systems across the NFL, it may be wishful thinking that he falls that far.

Stephens has only played guard at Iowa, but he worked out at center at the Senior Bowl and did quite well. He utilizes a nasty snatch and trap technique to slam off-balance defensive tackles in the face.

Stephens can be an early starter and can develop into the center of the future for the Chargers with newly signed veteran Tyler Biadasz holding down the position for the next few seasons.

As we inch closer to the draft, expect to hear more and more buzz on Beau Stephens. He would be a perfect fit for the Chargers.

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Thomas Martinez
THOMAS MARTINEZ

Thomas Martinez has covered the Chargers and the NFL draft since 2022. Born and raised as a Chargers fan, experienced the improbable Super Bowl run in the 94’ season as a child, survived Ryan Leaf, the Marlon McCree fumble and Nate Kaeding in the playoffs. He graduated from UC Riverside with a degree in Political Science and The University of Redlands with an MBA.

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