When the Los Angeles Chargers were building their board for the 2024 NFL Draft, many names were thought to be in consideration. Most of those were on the offensive side of the ball in the form of a new weapon for Justin Herbert.
That made sense. The team had traded Keenan Allen in the offseason and both Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler left in free agency. But Jim Harbaugh likely had his favorite pick on the board early on. And that ended up being Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt.
And that too, makes sense. Harbaugh builds a team starting with a monstrous offensive line and adding Alt to a unit that already includes Rashawn Slater has the makings of just that.
Many fans were frustrated that the team could have had Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze or Brock Bowers. But Alt is a Harbaugh pick. However, Alt was prepared to go somewhere else.
The Tennessee Titans had that pick and all of the stars were aligning for them to grab Alt. As Mark Craig of the Star Tribune writes, that is what the top offensive tackle in the draft expected and was hoping for.
Joe Alt's mom reads a ton of mock drafts and keeps telling Joe that everyone has him going to the Tennessee Titans.
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) April 24, 2024
What about the Giants, Jets or Chargers though? @InfSportsNet pic.twitter.com/h88a35eYWx
Harbaugh and the Chargers stopped those thoughts and brought Alt to the City of Angels. Hopefully, Alt settles in for them and becomes as happy in his new home as he would have been in the one he thought he would be in. Alt had this to say when discussing his pre-draft meeting with the Titans and their first-year head coach, Brian Callahan.
"I met with Coach Callahan down in Tennessee. The biggest thing that hit me was it's very black-and-white in how he coaches. He laid out very specific things that he wants for me. It was a great coaching scheme and you know exactly what he wants and how to fix it if you do it wrong. All the visits I had, he was the best."
All high praise and it seems that Alt had his heart on going there. When the Titans missed out on Alt, they chose Alabama's JC Latham with their first-round pick, so they would have almost certainly taken Alt if he was there.
With Alt and Slater, the Chargers may have the best bookend tackles in the entire league.
