2015 NFL mock draft: Chargers select Andrus Peat

With the 17th pick in Pride Of Detroit's 2015 NFL mock draft, the San Diego Chargers select Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat. David Tokarz is serving as the Chargers' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.

This might be the worst possible outcome for the Chargers, which need an offensive weapon (either a running back or a wide receiver), help along the offensive line or a pass rusher. Do you go with the troubled but talented Dorial Green-Beckham or the injured Todd Gurley? Do you prioritize need and slightly overdraft an offensive lineman like T.J. Clemmings or Andrus Peat? Do you go after a guy like Arik Armstead, who is raw but talented? If the draft plays out like this in real life, I'd try to trade down if I were the Chargers.

Alas, there will be no trades today. So the choice came down to Todd Gurley or Andrus Peat. I wanted to take Gurley, but knowing that the Chargers OL is terrible and that Gurley's medicals might be sketchy, the safer pick here is Peat, the plug-and-play tackle who makes the Chargers better now. While his run-blocking technique isn't perfect, he is able to start Day 1, and his strong pass blocking will help keep Philip Rivers upright. While you're never going to be able to replace a guy with Gurley's talent, the Chargers can probably get away with finding an offensive weapon for Rivers in the second or third, and for a team that lost badly on a first-round runner in 2010, I understand their being gun-shy.

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Check out the 2015 POD Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.