Why Jim Harbaugh, Chargers Will Be Aggressive In The 2024 NFL Draft

The NFL kickoff is just months away for Jim Harbaugh, who will begin his first season as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers a decade after his last NFL stint with the San Francisco 49ers. Yet, his real first test starts a week from today as Harbaugh, his new coaching staff, and the Chargers’ new general manager Joe Hortiz have the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft.

The hype for Harbaugh is growing and growing after he brought Michigan their first national championship in over 20 years in 2023 and beat their biggest rivals, Ohio State, three years in a row. The controversy at the end of his tenure at Michigan was washed away in mere weeks after he was hired by the Chargers and given the keys to not only the franchise, but Justin Herbert, one of the brightest stars in the NFL.

There are a lot of ways Harbaugh can take on the challenge of having a high draft pick, but there are three strong reasons that suggest Harbaugh will stay put at number five and might even trade up in the later rounds.

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Jim Harbaugh’s Previous NFL Draft History

The elder Harbaugh has shown some patterns through previous drafts

The first reason is Harbaugh’s history with the 49ers. While there have been rumors of trading down with their first round pick, as GIVEMESPORT predicted in our latest mock draft, Harbaugh very rarely traded down during his four-year tenure with the 49ers, and never on Day 1. In fact, during those four years, Harbaugh actually moved up seven different times through various drafts.

One of the players the 49ers traded up to get was Colin Kaepernick, as they traded from the 45th overall pick to the 36th overall pick to snag the QB. Kaepernick was the 49ers quarterback during the rest of Harbaugh’s tenure and took the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012.

The 49ers also had good positions entering the draft during Jim Harbaugh’s time there, with a consistent abundance of draft picks (10 in 2011, seven in 2012, 11 in 2013, and 12 picks in 2014).

There were some good picks from 2011-2014, including Pro Bowlers such as Aldon Smith and Eric Reid, who were both taken in the first round of their respective drafts. Harbaugh once again has flexibility with his franchise quarterback already in tow with Herbert, the fifth overall pick, and 10 total draft picks to choose from.

Chargers Have Chance to Replenish WR Room

It would be hard for L.A. to pass up the chance to draft Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 5

The second reason Harbaugh will likely stay aggressive is his position in the draft, as it is generally believed that Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will fall to Los Angeles at the fifth overall pick as long as the Arizona Cardinals, who have the No. 4 pick and a neon sign that says “open to trading”, don’t stay put and take him for their own dire wide receiving corps.

With Chargers long-term receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams traded and cut, respectively, during this offseason, Herbert is in desperate need of some new weapons, and Harrison Jr. is ranked as the best receiver (sometimes even the best player) on the board by most draft analysts. The likelihood of Harrison Jr. falling to the Chargers rises even more because of the needs of the teams ahead of the Chargers in the draft.

Barring something insane, the Bears are selecting quarterback Caleb Williams as the first overall pick in the draft and the vast majority of mock drafts have the QB-needy Washington Commanders and New England Patriots at picks two and three drafting signal callers as well.

The aforementioned Cardinals are the only team likely to stand in Harbaugh’s way of getting Harrison Jr. If Harbaugh and the Chargers really want Harrison Jr., they might even have to trade up a spot to get him.

LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze are also elite WR prospects who will likely be available at the number five spot, although Harrison, who is more of a do-it-all wideout, is graded better than both. If you want more analysis on Harrison Jr.’s incredible talent, check out GIVEMESPORT’s film study analysis of the receiver.

New General Manager Shares Harbaugh’s Draft Philosophy

Joe Hortiz has connections with Jim’s brother, Ravens HC John

The third reason is Harbaugh’s new partner, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz. From 2011-2014, Harbaugh and GM Trent Baalke of the 49ers were an ideal pairing until the reported breach in the relationship near Harbaugh’s departure.

Now, Harbaugh is paired with a first-time general manager in Hortiz, who has come to the Chargers after a 25-year career with the Baltimore Ravens. Hortiz moved up the Ravens ranks, starting off as a personnel assistant and finishing his time there as the director of player personnel.

Hortiz’s time with the Ravens is even more significant because of both Harbaugh and Hortiz’s connection with Ravens longtime head coach, John Harbaugh, Jim’s older brother. John even sent long-time Ravens staffer, Mike Macdonald, who had spent 2014-2020 with the team working in various roles, to Jim for one season at Michigan in 2021. Macdonald would later return to the Ravens as the DC in 2022 and is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

After MacDonald returned to the Ravens, Jim hired another former Raven, Jesse Minter (who worked for the Ravens from 2017-2020), to replace him at Ann Arbor. Minter was Michigan’s defensive coordinator when they won the national championship in 2023, and has since followed Jim to the Chargers. There is certainly a history of Jim poaching not only his brother’s coaching talent, but also his players (he has signed five former Ravens draft picks this offseason), to great success.

It also seems Hortiz and Harbaugh will be on the same page when it comes to draft philosophy. Despite the Ravens typically trading down when Hortiz was there, Hortiz told PFT Live that his philosophy is to take the best player available thanks in large part to the mentorship of legendary NFL tight end and executive Ozzie Newsome:

Harbaugh is certainly set up for a great draft and a great future relationship with Hortiz, as he hopes to have as much success as he had during the majority of his time with the 49ers, when he brought the team to three straight NFC Championships, including that Super Bowl 47 appearance.

An NFL team’s spine of general manager, head coach, and quarterback is very valuable and can be the deciding trio on whether a team flames out or wins championships.

In this case, it seems like Harbaugh and Hortiz are on the same wavelength, and they’ve got one of the best and seemingly easiest-to-please QBs in the league in Herbert, as the guaranteed starting quarterback. Everything at the moment seems to be going well in Los Angeles, at least during the honeymoon period.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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