2023 NFL draft: Who will Chargers pick first? There is depth behind the 21st choice

Chargers general manager Tom Telesco this week specifically highlighted only one position group: tight end.

Although that is an unusually deep group, the club’s social media team recently touted wide receiver Zay Flowers and, before that, running back Bijan Robinson.

Though the names varied, the consensus among the most prominent national mock drafts is the Chargers will take an offensive player Thursday at No. 21.

All this means nothing is certain as Round 1 finally, mercifully, arrives — ending months of speculation founded in everything from fact to fantasy.

“I don’t know what other people are going to do,” Telesco said during his pre-draft news conference. “Everyone thinks they do, but I just don’t know. Nobody gives out information. So you make educated guesses.”

Beginning his 11th draft as general manager, Telesco also offered the most biting reality of the process, telling a roomful of reporters that their mock drafts might be just as accurate as his.

The overriding thought that the Chargers need to bolster the personnel around Justin Herbert is understandable. Scoring is what today’s NFL is all about and keeping a young franchise quarterback happy is never a bad idea.

But this is also a team that needs to be better on the other side of the ball, particularly with a head coach in Brandon Staley who rose to prominence because of his ability to coordinate a defense.

The Chargers revealed late last season what their more well-rounded version can look like with a four-game, playoff-clinching winning streak during which they limited each opponent to 17 or fewer points.

The uncertainty surrounding the team’s first pick Thursday night speaks to the current condition of the roster. Telesco is not tasked with securing a player who’ll need to start immediately.

The Chargers are looking to replace a pair of first-stringers in slot cornerback Bryce Callahan and safety Nasir Adderley, but they have in-house options at both spots, including Ja’Sir Taylor and JT Woods, 2022 draft picks.

Instead, the Chargers need players who, as rookies, can compete for time and add depth throughout a lineup that currently appears top heavy. Not starters, no, but Telesco needs contributors.

“You’d like to construct it where, going into the draft, you feel like you’re solid across the positions to where you don’t really feel forced to take a certain position,” he said. “I feel like that’s where we are right now.

“There really aren’t many spots that we couldn’t use a player, other than maybe quarterback and left tackle. We’ll see how it plays out. But I feel like our roster is at a point where we’re not forced to go one direction or another.”

Given his roster and a draft class that seems to be lacking in first-round depth, Telesco could trade back to perhaps acquire an additional second-day pick.

But trading back is something he not done with the Chargers, that history strongly suggesting such a move is unlikely.

The team does have some health issues that could be considerations during the draft, including cornerback J.C. Jackson and defensive tackle Austin Johnson — both starters — coming off major knee injuries.

Defensive tackle Otito Ogbonnia, who was developing into a key rotational piece during his rookie season last fall, also continues to rehabilitate from a patellar tendon tear.

Austin Ekeler is healthy but his status for the start of the 2023 season is unsettled, as well. With one year remaining on his contract, the team’s top running back would like an extension.

Ekeler has permission to seek a trade, a development that has generated little movement. Telesco said the circumstances surrounding Ekeler would not affect the team’s choices over the draft’s three days.

(As it is, the Chargers have selected a running back each of the last three years and four out of five overall.)

Telesco cited last year’s fourth-round pick — Isaiah Spiller — as someone the Chargers would like to see emerge in the backfield.

“He’s still the same talent that we saw last year,” Telesco said. “Like a lot of these players, they may earn roles more toward the middle or back end of their rookie contract, maybe not right at the beginning, which is OK, which is normal.”

After selecting 21st, the Chargers’ next two picks come Friday at Nos. 54 (second round) and 85 (third). They have one pick in each of the four remaining rounds Saturday.

Whatever the Chargers do Thursday and beyond, they’ll finish the weekend with another round of offseason questions answered.

“There will be a good player for us to choose,” Staley said. “I think that that’s what we’re committed to — choosing a player we all believe in and know there’s a role for him, a vision for his path in his time as a Charger.”