NFL Undrafted Free Agents With Best Chance to Make Chargers’ Final Roster

A few undrafted free agent rookies have a chance to make the final roster with the Chargers.

Nadame Tucker | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers wasted no time after the NFL draft, diving right into undrafted free agency. 

Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz and the front office threw big cash at multiple undrafted free agents at positions of need. Unlike most of the NFL, the team went ahead and announced the 18-player undrafted class just a few hours after the draft itself, too. 

As in the past with names like Marlowe Wax and others, the Jim Harbaugh era has been very good to Chargers undrafted free agents. This year shouldn’t be any different, with one or two capable of breaking through to the final 53-man roster. 

Here are a few final-roster undrafted free agents to keep in mind. 

NFL UDFA with best shot to make final 53-man roster for Chargers

Lander Barton, LB, Utah 

Lander Barton | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Chargers turned some heads when they didn’t use one of their eight picks on linebacker. Denzel Perryman is aging and on a one-year deal and Junior Colson hasn’t developed. 

But here comes Lander Barton with a big contract for an undrafted player from the Chargers. 

The cash says the Chargers really see something with Barton, a productive player who played 637 snaps with a 61.7 overall grade by Pro Football Focus’s metrics last year. 

A 6’4” presence and three-year starter, plus a team captain, Barton has enough to make a push and, at the very least, make some noise on special teams.

Nadame Tucker, EDGE, Western Michigan

Nadame Tucker | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Chargers attacked pressure creators on the edge with Akheem Mesidor in the first round, then didn’t touch it again with their remaining seven picks. 

Turns out they might’ve had sights on undrafted free agency. 

There, the Chargers gave Nadame Tucker a massive contract for an undrafted free agent. 

A Western Michigan product and last year’s MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Tucker had 14.5 sacks and an FBS-high 21 tackles-for-loss. 

There are some size concerns with Tucker, considering he’s 6’1”, 247 pounds. But there’s a big counterweight: New Chargers defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary just spent a year at Western Michigan and saw firsthand what Tucker can do and might be capable of from here. 

Plus, Tucker gets to learn in a hurry from a guy named Khalil Mack. Not bad. 

Devin Grant, S, Syracuse

Devin Grant | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The Chargers drafted safety Genesis Smith, but that doesn’t mean a competition can’t help an undrafted player get on the final roster. 

Devin Grant out of Syracuse seems to fit the bill. 

Grant is a big 6’4” safety who projects as a big nickel player in the slot. The Chargers didn’t have anyone in that role behind Derwin James on the roster before this signing. 

That alone could help Grant stick on the 53. He’s got a checkered injury history, but the upside is obvious. The Chargers need the improved depth after trading away a safety last year in the Odafe Oweh deal. 

Note: Oregon tackle Isaiah World would make this list too, but he’s potentially heading for being stashed on an injured list while he comes back from a torn ACL last January. 

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