Chargers remain firmly in Top-10 of ESPN’s post-draft power rankings

Staying strong heading into camp, but still room to get stronger.

Following the meat of this year’s free agency period, ESPN put out an edition of their power rankings to reflect how the NFL hierarchy shifted amidst the plethora of movement in mid-March. In those rankings, the Chargers landed at #7 thanks to the big-time acquisitions of edge rusher Khalil Mack in a trade from Chicago and the signing of former Patriot and walking interception, J.C. Jackson.

Now that the offseason’s biggest event has come and gone, their group of NFL writers got together once more to hash out their post-draft rankings. This time around, the Chargers unfortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you see it) saw zero movement in the updated ranking as they head into the remainder of the offseason still in the seventh spot.

Along with the rankings, each NFL beat writer was tasked with highlighting a player on each team that they felt benefited the most from the team’s most-recent draft class. For ESPN’s Adam Teicher, he picked the golden boy, himself, Justin Herbert.

“The Chargers selected a guard in Zion Johnson, who figures to be a Day 1 starter, and running back Isaiah Spiller, who provides a much-needed alternative to Austin Ekeler, with two of their first three draft picks. That’s more good news for Herbert, who saw the Chargers re-sign receiver Mike Williams and add tight end Gerald Everett in free agency.”

As of now, the only teams ranked above the Chargers are — in descending order — the Bills, Rams, Buccaneers, Chiefs, Packers, and Bengals. If anything, it speaks to the respect the group of writers has for the Chargers as they’re the only team among the top eight that’s also NOT the highest-ranked member of their own division. Also shows just how talented everyone believes the AFC West will be this year.