NFL draft: Chargers fill need with DT Justin Eboigbe in 4th round
COSTA MESA — The Chargers addressed another pressing need when they selected Justin Eboigbe, a defensive tackle from Alabama, in the fourth round of the NFL draft Saturday. They filled voids at offensive tackle, wide receiver and linebacker in the first three rounds.
Eboigbe had 63 tackles and seven sacks in 14 games, all starts, and was named to the first-team All-Southeastern Conference squad as a fifth-year senior last season. He redshirted in 2022 after a neck injury limited him to only four games. He didn’t miss a start in the 2023 season, however.
The Chargers had six picks on the final day of the draft, including two each in the fifth and seventh rounds. They selected left tackle Joe Alt from Notre Dame in the first round Thursday, and wide receiver Ladd McConkey from Georgia and linebacker Junior Colson from Michigan in the second and third rounds Friday.
Eboigbe rebounded to have a superb senior year at Alabama, his best as a collegiate player, after recovering from a significant neck injury in September 2022. Compounding matters was the emotional pain and suffering stemming from the death of his brother, Trey, in May of that same year.
An athletic trainer at Alabama told Eboigbe his injury was serious but not career threatening. Eboigbe had no thoughts of retiring from football, telling reporters on a Zoom call, “No sir, I’ve been playing this game since the age of 5.” He said it “wasn’t any work, it was just work” that got him back on the field.
“A lot of people said, ‘You’re going to come back better than ever,’” he said of returning from the neck injury. “But I wanted to prove that. … I’ve dealt with a lot more than just this injury.”
The Chargers used both of their fifth-round selections to draft cornerbacks. They selected Tarheeb Still from the University of Maryland with the 137th pick and Cam Hart of Notre Dame with the 140th pick. The Chargers were thin at the position after Michael Davis signed with the Washington Commanders.
Kimani Vidal, a running back from Troy, was the Chargers’ sixth-round pick (181st overall). Vidal is the great nephew of the late MLB legend Hank Aaron. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 213 pounds, he was described last month by one analyst at the NFL Draft Combine as a “sawed-off running back.”
Vidal said he never played baseball despite his connection to Aaron.
“Never did,” he said. “It was always football.”
More to come on this story.