COSTA MESA — After new Chargers general manager Joe Horitz completed his first NFL draft on Saturday, he called the whole experience “a fun three days.” After he and new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh worked to establish a new identity for their new team, Hortiz expressed his appreciation and thanks.
“I’ll tell you what, I’m really excited how it went,” he said. “I really believe we made our team better.”
The Chargers had nine picks in the seven-round draft, and they selected three wide receivers, two cornerbacks, one offensive lineman, one defensive lineman, one linebacker and one running back. They addressed their many needs with each of their picks, but especially at wide receiver.
Joe Alt, a mammoth left tackle from Notre Dame, was their first-round pick on Day 1. Ladd McConkey, a swift wide receiver from the University of Georgia, was their second-round selection and Junior Colson, a hard-nosed linebacker from University of Michigan, was their third-round pick on Day 2.
With six additional picks Saturday on Day, the Chargers had six opportunities to further beef up their roster. By the end of the day, the Chargers had received an A grade from the crack staff at Pro Football Focus, one of six teams to get the highest mark from the analytics-centric website.
“It was a good opportunity to really build our team and add to it,” Hortiz said.
Justin Eboigbe, a 6-foot-4, 297-pound defensive tackle from Alabama, was the Chargers’ fourth-round pick (105th overall). His selection filled another need for a Chargers roster that was considered wafer thin at too many positions to count heading into free agency and the draft.
Eboigbe recovered from a season-ending neck injury in 2022 to have a superb senior year at Alabama in ’23, recording 63 tackles and seven sacks in 14 games. He was named first-team All-SEC, but he played with a heavy heart stemming from the death of his brother, Trey, in May 2022.
An athletic trainer at Alabama told Eboigbe his injury was serious but not career threatening. Eboigbe had no thoughts of retiring from football, telling reporters on a Zoom call, “No sir, I’ve been playing this game since the age of 5.” He said it “wasn’t any luck, it was just work” that got him back on the field.
“I came back quicker than expected,” he said. “I put everything together. I had my best season. I realized that the adversity on and off of the field, losing my brother and having the neck injury, it made me more appreciative. It made me understand that there is no tomorrow. You have to give everything that you have today because, one day, it will be your last, and you never know.”
The Chargers used both of their fifth-round selections to draft cornerbacks. They selected Tarheeb Still from Maryland with the 137th pick and Cam Hart of Notre Dame with the 140th pick. The Chargers were thin at the position after Michael Davis signed with the Washington Commanders.
Kimani Vidal, a running back from Troy, was the Chargers’ sixth-round pick (181st). Vidal is the great nephew of the late MLB legend Hank Aaron. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 213 pounds, Vidal was described last month by one analyst at the NFL Draft Combine as a “sawed-off running back.”
Vidal said he never considered playing baseball despite his connection to Aaron.
“It was always football,” he said.
In the seventh round, the Chargers picked USC wide receiver Brenden Rice, the son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, with the 225th selection and took Michigan wide receiver Cornelius Johnson with the 253rd pick. Rice was a favorite target of Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams.
