COSTA MESA — In the end, the Chargers didn’t trade the fifth pick in the NFL draft on Thursday. They didn’t pick a wide receiver such as Malik Nabers of LSU to replace Keenan Allen or Mike Williams. They didn’t select Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State, who went fourth to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Chargers did take Joe Alt, a mammoth offensive lineman from Notre Dame, in keeping with the method of operation of new General Manager Joe Hortiz and new Coach Jim Harbaugh. They both like big, athletic linemen to protect their quarterbacks and further their physical rushing game.
“He’s a great piece to add to our attack,” Harbaugh said. “Passing and running.”
Alt, 21, was a unanimous All-American this past season as a junior at Notre Dame. He was listed at 6-foot-9, 321 pounds at the NFL Draft Combine last month in Indianapolis. He was the top-rated offensive lineman going into the draft, and the Chargers jumped at the chance to get him.
Alt also was a finalist for the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award in 2023 as the nation’s top offensive and defensive lineman, starting all 12 games as a left tackle. His father, John, was a first-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection as a lineman.
“We have total confidence that we got it right,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh and Hortiz smiled and bumped fists as they spoke with reporters.
“My brother texted me after we made the pick and said, ‘That’s who I would have picked,’” Harbaugh said of his brother John, the coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
Asked how he responded, Harbaugh brought out his phone from his jacket pocket, scrolled down and found the text from his brother and laughed.
“Oh, I haven’t texted him back,” he said.
Hortiz said he received trade calls, including one as the Chargers were on the clock. But he and Harbaugh wanted Alt, sticking to their game plan to pick the best player available, regardless of his position. They had Alt slotted as their top pick all along, Hortiz said.
“There were other great players, but we felt he was the best,” Hortiz said of Alt.
The first three picks in the draft were quarterbacks, setting up the Cardinals to take Harrison, a standout from Ohio State who would have fit nicely into the Chargers’ plans to replace Allen and Williams, who were salary cap casualties last month. Allen was traded to the Chicago Bears and Williams was released.
Nabers or Rome Odunze of the University of Washington also would have fit, too.
“I think I said it from the beginning, when we started talking about the draft, we were going to take the best player available for the Chargers, and that’s what we did,” Hortiz said. “That’s what we’re going to do at (pick No.) 37 and every other pick we have. He helps our team and helps us get better.”
Harbaugh and Hortiz weren’t concerned about finding a spot for Alt on the offensive line. The Chargers already have a standout left tackle in Rashawn Slater, a first-round pick in the 2021 draft from Northwestern who was selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and started 17 games last season.
The Chargers could flip Alt to right tackle, but Trey Pipkins III is entrenched there, starting all 17 games last season. Alt played his entire career at left tackle at Notre Dame, but he said he played some at right tackle during fall training camp as a freshman before making the switch.
“I don’t think it will be a huge adjustment for me (to play right tackle),” said Alt, who was a quarterback and a tight end in high school in Findley, Minnesota, before moving to the offensive line for good at Notre Dame. “I can do whatever the coaches want me to do.”
The draft resumes with the second and third rounds on Friday (4 p.m. PT) and concludes with the fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday (9 a.m. PT).
