NFL Draft Steal by Chargers Could Give Jim Harbaugh Long-Term Starter

The national lens says a forgotten Chargers draft pick is a big steal.

Jim Harbaugh | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers exited the NFL draft with plenty of hype around notable selections

Drafting Akheem Mesidor was a win-now feat for the Chargers in the first round. Taking Jake Slaughter in the second round was controversial, but might just work out in the long-term. 

And after Joe Hortiz pulled off some trades, landing in Round 4 on wide receiver Brenen Thompson for Mike McDaniel might just be proverbial lightning in a bottle for Justin Herbert’s offense. 

Speaking of Herbert, while there wasn’t one big household name among them per se, the Chargers using four of their eight picks on his offensive line registered as a pretty big deal…both to hardcore fans and even the national lens.

Somehow, though, it’s one Chargers sleeper pick getting some national love in unexpected ways right now. 

NFL draft overlooked pick with Chargers starts feeling like steal

Nick Barrett | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

One of the Chargers draft picks not mentioned in the flurry above, or much at all? 

Try Nick Barrett. 

Barrett, a fifth-round pick out of South Carolina this year by the Chargers, has largely gone overlooked. 

That is, until ESPN’s Field Yates decided that Barrett was one of his favorite picks of that fifth round in the entire NFL draft. 

Even better: It’s really hard to ignore what Yates’ analysis could mean for the Chargers right away. 

“When sizing up Day 3 picks, I like to look at prospects who can fill specific roles,” Yates wrote. “Barrett won't register much in the sack department (just 2.0 in four seasons), but he's like a house to move for run blockers. He's massive, plays with a strong base and eats up blockers in a way that frees up linebackers to roam and hit. A tough L.A. defensive front should get tougher with Barrett.”

In our deep analysis of the Barrett pick, we threw a C grade on it. There were first-viewing problems, like the fact he sat at No. 232 on the Pro Football Focus big board. A 76.2 PFF grade from last year didn’t look great. 

Even NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein merely charted Barrett as a “rotational nose tackle for teams looking for more congestion in the middle.”

But… finding a rotational player in the fifth round to fill a very specific niche isn’t a bad thing. At the time of his selection, the Chargers had only drafted two offensive linemen, and things didn’t look that good for Herbert’s line. They drafted two more after the Barrett pick. 

On paper, Barrett should be in the rotation with free-agent addition Dalvin Tomlinson right away. The Chargers needed more space-eaters, so a guy like Teair Tart could be more reliably freed up to apply pressure and disrupt. 

Also on paper, the Chargers could probably use more interior pressure-creators still. But they can also get creative with their fronts and moving guys around now that Mesidor has arrived to help out. And frankly, free agency is still a thing well into the summer and right before the season starts. 

As always, it’s important to point out, too, that this new Chargers regime has been money in the later rounds. Breakout tight end Oronde Gadsden was a fifth-rounder last year. Heavy-snap count corners Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart were fifth-rounders the year prior. 

So, here comes Barrett, who most probably shouldn’t sleep on, then. And if nothing else, it’s cool to see the national lens actually highlight him (and the Chargers at all, for that matter).

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