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NFL Insider Claims Los Angeles Chargers Boosting JJ McCarthy’s Draft Stock to Secure 1st Round Trade Back

Originally posted on LAFB Network | By Ryan Anderson | Last updated 4/18/24

Oh, how draft season unfolds. For the Los Angeles Chargers, it started with the debate about which pass catcher they would draft, Brock Bowers or Malik Nabers. Then free agency passed by and the team’s top offensive weapons were gone. But all the members of the Chargers coaching staff were in lockstep, football is about blocking and tackling not throwing and catching the ball. The draftniks shifted to Joe Alt. But all along there was the third option. The trade back. But in order for that to happen, a fourth high-level quarterback option had to emerge.

Jim Harbaugh has spent a good amount of time pumping up one of those options, JJ McCarthy, who just so happens to have played for the man himself. Coincidence? I think not.

Los Angeles Chargers Angling Trade Back By Inflating McCarthy

That is the central premise of CBS NFL insider Jordan Dajani naming the Chargers as the most likely team to trade back. As he puts it,

You have to respect what Jim Harbaugh has been doing throughout the pre-draft process. He’s been talking up his former quarterback J.J. McCathy to everyone, declaring him the best signal-caller in this class. He also riffed on the value of the offensive line at the league’s annual meeting, pointing to the fact that it’s the one position group that depends on no other position group to be good, while every other position group relies on it to be successful. In my mind, Harbaugh and the Chargers would like to trade down from No. 5 overall.

Benefits of a Trade Back

Picking at five would check one box off the Los Angeles Chargers offseason to-do list whether that is a number one receiver or a solidifying offensive lineman. But trading back would allow the Chargers to check off multiple boxes. The team doesn’t just have a high-level need at wide receiver, but also along the defensive line and in the secondary. And, regardless of how much fans don’t want to acknowledge it, on the right side of the offensive line.

This article first appeared on LAFB Network and was syndicated with permission.

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