2018 NFL Mock Draft: Los Angeles Chargers Select DT Vita Vea at No. 17

With the 17th pick of the 2018 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft, the Los Angeles Chargers select...

Vita Vea, DT, Washington

The selection and write-up were made by Crawford_T:

The Chargers were one win shy of the playoffs last season and played very well after a bad start. However, with Philip Rivers entering his last few seasons, they have the dual problem of the window for a championship run closing and the need to look forward to post-Rivers life. A QB of the future is certainly something the Chargers need to start looking for but with all the 1st round QB talent off the board here, they will have to try and take a flier on a guy in the later rounds or wait till another year altogether.

Another area the Chargers need to address is pass protection. 2017 draft pick Forrest Lamp coming back from an ACL injury and the signing of C Mike Pouncey from Miami should improve the O-line over last season. Right tackle is still an area of need but I decided the Chargers could wait till later to address that position.

The last major area where the Chargers need to improve is in run defense. Against the pass the Chargers defense was pretty good, led by the excellent pass rushing duo of Bosa and Ingram along with talented DBs Hayward and Verrett. Against the run, the Chargers were probably the worst in the NFL: allowing 131 yards per game rushing (31st in the NFL) and 4.9 YPC (32nd in the NFL) in 2017. This abysmal performance is due to poor play at LB (where Denzel Perryman is the only good player) and at DT (where the aging Brandon Mebane has lost a step). Here Vita Vea can step right in and immediately improve the team.

Vea is a highly athletic and very strong defensive tackle, who I think can make an impact early on as a run-stopper but has the potential to grow into a real force on the Charger D-line. He did have issues with consistency in college but with good coaching, I think he has the talent to overcome that in the pros. Vita Vea won’t be Aaron Donald as a pass-rusher but I think he can become good enough in short order to make dealing with him, Bosa, and Ingram a nightmare for QBs, and with Corey Liugent would make one of the most well-rounded Defensive lines in the NFL. I think the combination of Vea’s talent/potential and addressing an area of need is too much too pass up in this scenario.

Pokorny: “Is it Danny Shelton 2.0? The Chargers will hope for more upside from Vea at a faster rate. It won’t put fans in the stadium (especially in Los Angeles), but this will be a good pick for whoever takes Vea.”

The Seattle Seahawks are up next, led by OhioCityBrownsBeliever.