2018 NFL Mock Draft: Final projection on draft day

17. Los Angeles Chargers: Da’Ron Payne, DL, Alabama

The front-seven of the Los Angeles Chargers needs to be addressed in a bad way. While they have elite level talent on the edge with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, they are lacking in terms of the middle of the line and at linebacker. Thus, that’s where they should be looking in the first round, though offensive line is at least a consideration for them as well.

But they turn to the defense in this mock as they take Da’Ron Payne as the second-straight player out of Alabama to be selected. Payne may not be a flashy pick by any stretch of the imagination, but flashy and effective are not mutually exclusive. Payne does everything you want on the defensive line well and can be a run-stopping force for a Chargers defense that, frankly, couldn’t have stopped some high school running games at times last season.

18. Seattle Seahawks: Isaiah Wynn, OL, Georgia

After the departures of guys like Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman, there seems to be a belief that the Seattle Seahawks are going to address their defense early in the 2018 NFL Draft. After all, this is a team whose identity has been built upon their defense for so long that it would stand to reason that they’d retool that unit once they blew it up a bit. However, I have a different belief that is simple: This is now Russell Wilson’s team.

And as this is now Wilson’s team and he is their identity, by god it’s about time that they started trying to protect him by getting talent added to the offensive line. Isaiah Wynn gives them that as a perpetually underrated prospect in this class. Wynn played tackle at Georgia, but will likely slide to guard in the NFL given his height and arm length. Even still, he has the ability and skill to theoretically slot in anywhere along the line, which is the type of player a decrepit line like Seattle’s needs badly.