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Seeing two receivers fly off the draft board in the first seven picks of the second round made Joe Hortiz squirm. With an eye on Mississippi receiver Tre Harris, the Chargers’ general manager wondered if he should make an aggressive move to trade up from the 55th pick.
John Spanos stepped in to ease the anxious room.
“You’re going to get him,” Hortiz recalled the Chargers’ president of football operations urging the room. “Just be patient.”
“And we were,” Hortiz said. “And we got him.”
Patience was the defining characteristic of the Chargers’ second day in the draft, both from the front office and their two picks, who each took circuitous routes to the NFL.
The Chargers gave coach Jim Harbaugh another run option, selecting North Carolina tailback Omarion Hampton with the No. 22 pick of the NFL draft.
Harris, the Chargers’ second second-round wide receiver selection in as many years, was a high school quarterback before he became a second-team All-American receiver. Defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell went through two junior colleges and two Division I schools to become the 86th overall selection, adding a new anchor to the Chargers’ defense that gave up the fewest points per game last year.
Hortiz was fixated on Harris since Thursday night, when he assured coach Jim Harbaugh that the 6-foot-3, 210-pound prospect still would be on the board when the Chargers picked again in the second round Friday. They both knew the importance of adding another weapon for quarterback Justin Herbert.
The Chargers ranked 19th in the NFL with 213.5 yards passing per game, the franchise’s worst passing attack since 2012. In a formal meeting with the Chargers at the combine, Harris could tell the team was looking to upgrade at receiver. The Chargers were searching for a sure-handed, downfield threat.
Harris — the sixth Mississippi player to record a 1,000-yard receiving season — believes he fits the bill.
“I can make those tough and contested catches whenever people may not think I’m open,” said Harris, who had 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns last season. “But at the end of the day, you’re going to get a hard worker out of me. You’re going to get a competitor out of me and you’re going to get the best out of me for sure.”
After playing quarterback at Comeaux (La.) High, where he threw to eventual first-round pick Malik Nabers, Harris transitioned to receiver at Louisiana Tech. He played mostly special teams as a freshman in 2020, using the free year of eligibility granted from the pandemic to learn nuances of his new position. He transferred to Ole Miss in 2023, averaging 17.7 yards per catch in two seasons with the Rebels and earning Associated Press second-team All-American honors last year despite playing in only eight games because of an unspecified injury.
This draft class will be the last with a significant number of players who had additional eligibility from the pandemic, and the extra year has helped many emerge as potential immediate impact players as they transition to the pros.
“It’s been a positive, really,” Hortiz said. “I think for a lot of players, just getting that extra year of maturity, those reps, polishing up your game, it helps them elevate their status.”
The pandemic stalled Caldwell’s career as he was slated to go to Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College but suddenly was taken off of scholarship as an out-of-state student. When football resumed the following season, he enrolled at Independence (Kan.) Community College before transferring to Houston for two seasons.
With the Cougars, Caldwell flashed his pass-rushing potential with 6½ sacks in 2023 then transferred to Oregon in 2024, where he started 14 games as a run-stuffing nose tackle.
“You see the feet, and you see the agility,” Hortiz said. “You see that burst when he played that role [at Houston]. So we do think there’s some untapped pass-rush potential with him. … That versatility is something you really like, and it’s what jumped out to our scouts and our coaches.”
Caldwell, who is listed at 6-1, 340 pounds but wants to get closer to the 320 pounds he carried while playing at Houston, doesn’t have a position preference. He’s happy to fit anywhere in a retooled defensive line that brought in free agents Da’Shawn Hand and Naquan Jones. Hand and Jones were key additions to counter the losses of nose tackle Poona Ford and defensive end Morgan Fox in free agency.
“Just somebody that loves football,” Caldwell said. “From a juco guy — you can ask a lot of juco guys in the league as well — it’s either football or nothing for us.”
Caldwell already experienced a life without football. After his scholarship was pulled at Hutchinson during the pandemic, he was unable to afford classes without financial aid. So he stayed at home in Newberry, S.C., and helped his mother run a catering business. Waking up early in the morning, he served as her sous chef as they catered events from weddings to funerals out of their home.
He proudly reported she’ll soon open a brick-and-mortar soul food restaurant.
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