The Los Angeles Chargers day two picks were both risks

After a great first round that consisted of drafting safety Derwin James, the Los Angeles Chargers followed suit with two risky picks in the second and third rounds.

The Los Angeles Chargers got a steal in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, that is without question. Derwin James as a top-10 talent on many big boards heading into the draft and will fit like a glove in the tenacious Chargers’ secondary.

However, as good as the pick was, it did not address the team’s biggest need in stopping the run. Thus, it was safe to assume that the Chargers would pick both a linebacker and a defensive tackle in the second and third rounds.

And the Chargers did just that; they followed the narrative perfectly and added pieces that will immediately make an impact; or did they? The Los Angeles Chargers have had some great drafts recently, so it is fair to trust the front office’s judgment.

Both the selections made were, well, shocking. In the second round, the Chargers went with USC middle linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. Nwosu is one of the hardest hitters in this year’s draft and is a feel-good story as a hometown kid. However, Nwosu was also labeled as a third or even a fourth-round selection prior to the draft.

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While it was smart to select a linebacker, the team did not even go with an interior linebacker. Instead, they drafted an outside linebacker when they could have tried to land a defensive tackle in the second round.

To be fair, the Chargers ended up getting the guy they probably wanted prior to the pick in Justin Jones.

Jones has some question marks in getting to the passer but serves as an above average threat to help in the run game. He certainly will come in handy while Corey Liuget serves his suspension and could win the secondary starting job.

And while that pick may fit on paper, it is hard to see why the Chargers passed on a different defensive tackle.

Stanford’s Harrison Phillips was still on the board and ended up going 12 picks later to the Buffalo Bills. Phillips has a much more well-rounded game than Jones. And while he also can come up shorthanded in getting to the passer, he has elite-level run defending that would have fit in perfectly at nose tackle alongside Liuget or Brandon Mebane.

Phillips was ranked as the ninth-best defensive tackle on Walter Football while Smith was 14th. As for Nwosu, he was ranked as the seventh-best outside linebacker. Not a bad pick, but a questionable one that early in the draft.

Both Jones and Nwosu are going to have an impact on the Chargers’ run defense next season regardless, so that is a plus. However, the manner in which the Chargers approached the draft leaves more questions than answers.

Next: Twitter reactions to Derwin James

The Los Angeles Chargers took a risk in the second and third round. Now, it is just a matter of time to see if it pans out.

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