Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel is known for being one of the best offensive minds in the NFL.
So when he told general manager Joe Hortiz that he wanted a specific wide receiver for the team’s offense next season, Hortiz made it happen.
“In this whole formula, if you can find a way to get (Mississippi State receiver) Brenen Thompson, I will take my shirt off in here,” McDaniel told Hortiz in a video from the team’s war room that was published on the Chargers X account.
With the fifth pick of Round 4, the Chargers did, indeed, select Thompson.
The video shows the Chargers calling him to inform him they were about to pick him, and McDaniel jumped on Facetime with a message for the Chargers’ newest offensive weapon.
“I’m so excited to see you,” he said. “I see the passion in your eyes. This is the first day of the rest of your life — let’s go. You’re going to do elite stuff.”
After getting off the phone with Thompson, McDaniel had a message for the rest of the Chargers coaching staff.
“If you’re not fired up, you’re dead,” he stated. You have no pulse.”
Thompson, a second-team All-SEC selection last season, is a burner — he ran a 4.26 in the 40-yard dash at the combine, fastest among all WRs — who can quickly become L.A.’s top deep threat.
His 10 touchdown catches in college averaged 39.8 yards per reception, and he’s coming off a breakout senior year in which he caught 57 passes for 1,054 yards, and six touchdowns.
Thompson averaged 18.5 yards per catch both last season, and for his college career, and he’s nearly impossible to guard in man coverage without safety help.
With Keenan Allen still a free agent, Thompson should battle with 2025 second-round pick Tre Harris for the Chargers’ WR3 spot behind Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston.
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