Did the Chargers outsmart everyone with the Josh Palmer pick?

The Los Angeles Chargers, by most accounts, have had a tremendous offseason in terms of building the roster around second-year quarterback and possible 2021 MVP candidate Justin Herbert, who broke records as a rookie quarterback despite not being the opening-day starter. Herbert’s rapid ascent to stardom was understandably met with an offseason with him as the top priority.

The Chargers went out and stole veteran center Corey Linsley away from the Green Bay Packers in free agency. They signed veteran Matt Feiler to start at right guard. They brought in veteran tight end Jared Cook to replace the departed Hunter Henry and used their top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater, who will man the left tackle position.

After going defense in the second round, the Chargers then continued to add to the offensive side of the ball with Tennessee wide receiver Josh Palmer at pick number 77 overall. With pretty average size and average to below-average athleticism, what did the Chargers see in Palmer’s relatively small sample at Tennessee to spend such a high selection on him?

As a four-year starter for the Vols, Palmer caught 99 passes for 1,514 yards, seven touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown.

This past season, Palmer did some of his best work against the best of the best in the 2021 NFL Draft, including top-10 pick Patrick Surtain II and 33rd overall pick Tyson Campbell.

He’s got the build of a running back almost with a thick lower half and explosiveness to go along with it. In addition to being thicker for a receiver, Palmer also has long 33-inch arms to broaden his catch radius against defensive backs.

At the Senior Bowl, Palmer was dominant in one-on-one drills and undoubtedly caught the Chargers’ attention there.

Despite relatively modest production overall, Palmer has impressive tape and if you’re betting with someone whether the Chargers over-drafted or outsmarted everyone here, my guess is we’re going to find out rather quickly that they more likely outsmarted other teams by taking Palmer at 77 overall.

He was pretty firmly in the day three range by most projections, but the Chargers saw something in Palmer that they felt he was valuable to go in the top 80 picks. Given what they’ve got going offensively, that’s really saying something about this young player.

With Keenan Allen and Mike Williams drawing plenty of attention along with Austin Ekeler and Jared Cook, Palmer could find himself in a lot of favorable situations as a rookie.

If he can be better about beating press coverage consistently, Palmer has the ball-tracking ability to be a monster on the outside in 2021 as a rookie.