As a lead-up to the 2024 NFL draft, we've broken down the current depth chart of every NFL team and identified the biggest draft and team needs for the Los Angeles Chargers.
You can find additional team-by-team draft needs articles and other draft content on our 2024 NFL Draft Hub.
Who Did the Los Angeles Chargers Select in the 2024 NFL Draft?
The Los Angeles Chargers selected Joe Alt (OT, Norte Dame) with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Chargers also drafted:
- Ladd McConkey (WR, Georgia)
- Junior Colson (LB, Michigan)
- Justin Eboigbe (DT, Alabama)
- Tarheeb Still (CB, Maryland)
- Cam Hart (CB, Notre Dame)
- Kimani Vidal (RB, Troy)
- Brenden Rice (WR, USC)
- Cornelius Johnson (WR, Michigan)
Chargers Draft Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2024
- Wide Receiver
- Defensive Line
- Cornerback
What Picks Do the Los Angeles Chargers Have in 2024?
The Los Angeles Chargers have 9 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, including:
- Round 1 (5)
- Round 2 (37)
- Round 3 (69)
- Round 4 (105)
- Round 4 (110)
- Round 5 (140)
- Round 6 (181)
- Round 7 (225)
- Round 7 (253)
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This preview shares insights into players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal in mind: to prepare you for the 2024 NFL season by delivering the smartest information in the fastest, most direct way possible.
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Los Angeles Chargers Draft Capital Stats
Our Sharp Draft Value Rank is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.
This is based on two public models: performance delivered based on draft slot (the AV model created by Chase Stuart) and contractual earnings in non-rookie deals based upon draft slot (the OTC model created by Brad Spielberger and Jason Fitzgerald).
- Chargers Sharp Draft Value Rank: 4 of 32 teams
- Chargers AV Model Draft Value Rank: 5 of 32 teams
- Chargers OTC Model Draft Value Rank: 4 of 32 teams
Los Angeles Chargers Draft Value vs. Other Teams:
The Chargers’ draft value is 26% higher than the league average of all 32 teams. Just three other teams have more draft value entering the 2024 NFL Draft.
Los Angeles Chargers Draft Prediction:
Brendan Donahue has the Chargers trading down to select JC Latham (OT, Alabama) with the 11th overall pick in his most recent 2024 NFL Mock Draft.
Mock draft expert Ryan McCrystal believes the Chargers could target an offensive lineman like JC Latham (OT, Alabama) with their top pick at No. 5 overall in the first round.
Los Angeles Chargers Strength of Schedule, 2024
The Los Angeles Chargers have the second-easiest NFL strength of schedule for the 2024 NFL season.
Los Angeles Chargers Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs
Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the Los Angeles Chargers, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Depth Chart, Chargers:
- Justin Herbert
- Easton Stick
- Max Duggan
Justin Herbert is coming off a 2023 season that ended on a sour note with the quarterback missing the final four games of the season due to a finger injury.
Before that injury, Herbert had a 5-8 record as a starter, his first losing record as a quarterback since his rookie season.
Herbert ended the season ranking 11th in the league in EPA per dropback (0.07) and 15th in success rate (43.6%).
That success rate was the lowest of his four years in the league. His 65.1% completion rate was also his lowest as a starter.
Herbert started the season hot, completing 74.4% of his passes for 7.8 yards per attempt and a 5.0% touchdown rate through the opening three weeks.
Then Mike Williams was lost for the season, impacting this offense yet again.
Over the remainder of the season, Herbert completed 61.8% of his passes (27th in the league) for 6.6 Y/A (25th) and a 4.2% touchdown rate (18th).
Williams was released this offseason while the team also traded away longtime star wide receiver Keenan Allen.
Herbert and this passing offense have gone by the availability of those wideouts over the past two seasons.
Justin Herbert Based on WR Availability 2022-2023
Justin Herbert | DB | EPA/DB | Comp% | Y/A | aDOT | TD% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
With Both | 278 | 0.21 | 76.0% | 8.0 | 7.3 | 3.9% |
W/o Allen | 427 | 0.03 | 64.8% | 6.3 | 6.4 | 4.0% |
W/o Williams | 711 | 0.02 | 64.5% | 6.4 | 6.9 | 4.0% |
W/o Both | 142 | 0.08 | 65.9% | 5.6 | 5.9 | 4.5% |
To compound matters, the Chargers also lost Austin Ekeler and Gerald Everett this offseason, officially gutting the primary core of this passing game in recent seasons.
A new offense under Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman can help create passing efficiency, but this new regime needs to re-stock the cupboard on offense outside of implementing a friendly scheme for maxing out efficiency on low-volume passing.
That will not be easily done given the resources available.
The Chargers still have one more reasonable season with Herbert carrying a modest cap hit ($19.4 million). Things then ramp up as the extension that he signed last season kicks in for 2025 moving forward.
After this season, Herbert’s cap hit will climb to $37 million, $46 million, $58 million, and then $71 million yearly through 2028.
Behind Herbert, the team retained Easton Stick for one more year while they still have Max Duggan under contract for this upcoming season.
Stick went 0-4 as a starter working with a skeleton crew on offense to close the season paired with a coaching staff that cleaned out after his first career starting Week 14.
Running Back Depth Chart, Chargers:
- Gus Edwards
- J.K. Dobbins
- Isaiah Spiller
- Jaret Patterson
- Elijah Dotson
The Chargers have been one of the league’s worst rushing teams over the past two seasons.
Over that span, the Chargers running backs rank:
- 29th in the league in yards per carry (3.7 YPC)
- 29th in EPA per rush (-0.14)
- 27th in success rate (34.9%)
- 31st in rate of runs to gain 10 or more yards (7.0%)
- 30th in yards created before contact per run (1.01)
- 28th in yards after contact per rush (2.73)
That brand of football is not going to fly under Harbaugh and Roman.
When Harbaugh and Roman were together in San Francisco from 2011-2014, the 49ers were 30th in the NFL in dropback rate (54.0%) and 31st in passing plays per game (30.7).
The top two rushers from 2023 (Ekeler and Joshua Kelley) are already gone.
In one of the first moves of the offseason, the team went out and grabbed Gus Edwards in free agency, reuniting him with Roman from their time in Baltimore.
Since Edwards entered the NFL in 2018, there have been 44 running backs with 500 or more rushes. On his 699 runs, Edwards ranks among that group:
- Sixth in yards per carry (4.9 YPC)
- Fourth in EPA per rush (0.00)
- First in success rate (45.1%)
- 12th in rate of runs to gain 10 or more yards (11.6%)
- First in the lowest rate of runs that fail to gain yardage (11.4%)
- First in the rate of runs to result in a first down or touchdown (29.6%)
- Eighth in yards after contact per rush (3.17 yards)
Edwards has also converted 74.0% of his short-yardage runs (needing 1-3 yards) over his career, first in the league.
Edwards is coming off a career season with the Ravens.
Boosted by another injury to J.K. Dobbins early in the season, Edwards set career highs in touches (210), total yards (990), and touchdowns (13).
Now, Edwards will be 29 years old this April and has been used as a compartmentalized back for the majority of his career, including conceding passing downs to Justice Hill a year ago.
Edwards has cleared 153 touches just once over his five seasons with a max of 210 coming last season.
He has never played 70% of the offensive snaps in any career game and has hit 60% of the snaps in just five of his 76 career games played.
We should see the Chargers add a pass-catching back here at minimum as well as competition for a potential committee.
I would expect the Chargers to leave this draft with a running back and still would not rule out the addition of another veteran over the remainder of the offseason.
The latter may be checked off as the Chargers have also added J.K. Dobbins to the fold on a one-year contract, completing the reunion of himself, Edwards, and Roman.
Dobbins will still only be 26 years old this December, but he has been completely snakebit over the start of his career and is a roll of the dice at this stage.
Dobbins has appeared in just nine games since his rookie season in 2020.
He tore his Achilles in the season opener last season after missing nine games in 2022 with a knee injury and all of the 2021 season with a torn ACL, LCL, and meniscus.
Wide Receiver Depth Chart, Chargers:
- Quentin Johnston
- Josh Palmer
- Derius Davis
- Simi Fehoko
We have already hinted that this wide receiver room was gutted this offseason with the release of Mike Williams and the trade of Keenan Allen.
As of right now, the Chargers only have four wide receivers on the roster.
Of those four, only the two that they drafted last season (Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis) are under contract past this season.
Even if we are not expecting this passing game to feature their wideouts, there is a lot of room to be done here.
Especially since their first-round pick a year ago fizzled to open his career.
Quentin Johnston 2023 Rookie Output
Category | 2023 | Rank |
---|---|---|
Routes | 487 | 5 |
Targets/Route | 13.8% | 18 |
ReYd | 431 | 12 |
Yards/Route | 0.89 | 18 |
ReTD | 2 | T-13 |
Johnston ran the fifth-most pass routes among rookie wideouts last season, but among the 27 rookie wide receivers to run 100 or more pass routes in 2023, he was below the fold in every department.
The damning part is that Johnston had a runway for the opportunity once Williams was lost for the season.
When we ended the season, players like Alex Erickson were earning more targets than Johnston in the offense.
The one Charger wide receiver who has consistently taken advantage of the consistent absences of Allen and Williams is Josh Palmer.
Josh Palmer Based on WR Availability 2022-2023
Josh Palmer | Routes | YRR | Tgt/Rt% |
---|---|---|---|
With Both | 175 | 0.66 | 11.4% |
W/o Allen | 437 | 1.57 | 19.0% |
W/o Williams | 563 | 1.74 | 20.2% |
W/o Both | 223 | 1.95 | 22.0% |
Palmer’s usage and production steadily have climbed based on who the Chargers have put on the field.
Palmer even had serviceable games of 4-113-1, 5-47-0, and 6-44-0 when Easton Stick was forced to play at the end of the season.
Palmer is in the final season of his rookie contract and was not drafted by this regime, so his future remains in the air.
The silver lining here is that the Chargers are in a solid position to get talent added here.
They should at least be presented with the option to select a premier wideout at No. 5 overall.
Even if they do pass on a wide receiver for an offensive lineman given Harbaugh’s affection or the hog mollies, or they trade back, the Chargers have solid remaining capital to attack a deeper position in this upcoming draft.

Pre Order the Best Analytical 2024 Football Preview
Don't miss out on Warren Sharp's 500+ page preview of the 2024 NFL season.
The preview is unlike anything you have ever seen, featuring stunning visualizations built with the reader in mind.
This preview shares insights into players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal in mind: to prepare you for the 2024 NFL season by delivering the smartest information in the fastest, most direct way possible.