Anonymous Coach Explains Chargers' Best NFL Draft Fit

The Los Angeles Chargers are a pretty easy team to nail down in the NFL draft.

Justin Herbert needs offensive line help. Mike McDaniel has arrived as offensive coordinator and wants to install his own scheme, too. It’s going to be a much more modern take on the NFL than a standard Jim Harbaugh team, that much is for sure.

So far, the Chargers have made mild progress in the trenches. Tyler Biadasz is an obvious upgrade over Bradley Bozeman at center. Cole Strange, if nothing else, at least fits the athletic profile McDaniel wants from his guys in his scheme.

But Round 1 feels like an obvious must-do point for the Chargers when it comes to the line.

And if we’re talking guards in Round 1, one name sticks out above the rest:

Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane.

NFL draft’s best Chargers fit Olaivavega Ioane, explained

Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Olaivavega Ioane — Olaivavega Ioane | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

By now, Chargers fans are probably tired of hearing about Ioane. Excited if he’s the pick, to be sure, but the pre-draft attention on him for the Chargers has long been overdone now.

But have a little patience for a bit more Ioane chatter.

After all, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman recently issued a mock draft in which he took intel from coaches, scouts, agents and otherwise from around the NFL at events like the combine and league meetings, then applied it to a mock.

The Chargers pick Ioane, of course, but what’s really interesting is the quote Feldman grabbed from an anonymous Big Ten coach:

“He grew on me. He’s your typical right guard in the NFL and I think he’ll have a good career. He is athletic. In that (Penn State under then-OC Andy Kotelnicki) system, it’s hard to project their guard with all their unbalanced formations and motioning guys and motioning him sometimes. He’ll fit in a pro-style/gap-scheme offense but he’s versatile enough to play in a West Coast, outside zone scheme.”

Based on the Strange signing, a player fitting McDaniel’s profile for his intended blocking scheme trumps many other factors.

Ioane, though, sort of has it all, on top of feeling like he fits that profile.

The trick is the Chargers somehow actually getting Ioane. He could come off the board as high as the top 10. So if the Chargers happen to feel as strongly about him as everyone thinks, would they attempt a move up the board to get him if they get the sense he could be picked before their trip to the podium?

It’s certainly something to keep in mind, because the guard falloff in the class after Ioane could be quite huge.

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