EL SEGUNDO — When things got nerve-wracking Friday at the Chargers’ headquarters, on the second day of the NFL’s three-day draft, president of football operations John Spanos preached calm and patience. General Manager Joe Hortiz believed the player he coveted in the second round would be available.
Hortiz wasn’t sure, though.
That’s when Spanos, the son of team owner Dean Spanos, stepped up.
At least that’s the way Hortiz and Coach Jim Harbaugh later described it.
In the end, Mississippi wide receiver Tre Harris was there when the Chargers picked in the second round (55th overall). Later, they selected Oregon defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell with their third-round pick (86th overall). The Chargers filled two needs with one more day to go.
At one point, Hortiz said he considered trading up to be sure to get Harris after telling Harbaugh after selecting North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton in the first round Thursday that he believed Harris would be there when the Chargers made their pick in the second round.
But there was concern that Harris might be gone.
“It was very calming,” Hortiz said of Spanos’ influence. “You know, do we consider going up? John is in every draft meeting. He’s watching all the tape on all the guys (on the draft board). I don’t know that other owners that do that, but John does. That’s the way he came up (as a scout).”
Harris gives the Chargers another playmaker, another target for standout quarterback Justin Herbert, something that was lacking at times last season, Hortiz’s first as GM and Harbaugh’s first as coach. It was clear it needed to be addressed after the Chargers’ wild-card loss to the Houston Texans.
Harris, listed at 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, had 60 receptions for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns, and averaged 17.2 yards per catch during an injury-plagued 2024 season. He played in only eight games for the Rebels, but he still topped 1,000 receiving yards as a fifth-year senior.
“They were definitely looking for a guy who can make plays happen and stretch the field,” Harris said when asked what he believed the Chargers sought in selecting him. “I definitely feel like I fit that mold. … Kind of knowing where I needed to be prepared me for those situations, for making those big plays.”
Caldwell, listed at 6-foot-2 and 332 pounds, began his college career by playing at Hutchinson and Independence community colleges in Kansas before moving on to the University of Houston before transferring to Oregon for his senior year in 2024. He had 29 tackles in 14 games at Oregon.
“A lot of times they call defensive linemen dancing bears and you can call me a dancing bear,” Caldwell said of his excellent speed and footwork.
Earlier in the day, less than 24 hours after he was their first-round pick (22nd overall), Hampton visited the Chargers’ practice facility. He said he relished the idea of continuing his education in the days to come, not in school at North Carolina but alongside his new teammates in the NFL.
“I want to learn from running backs like Najee (Harris, a free-agent running back who signed with the Chargers last month after four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers) how he teases the defense, how he runs the ball in one-on-one situations. Learning is a big thing for me.”
The Chargers have seven remaining picks (Nos. 125, 158, 181, 199, 209, 214 and 256) when the fourth through seventh rounds are conducted Saturday (9 a.m. PT, ABC/Ch. 7, ESPN, NFL Network), including four in the sixth round. Their final three picks are compensatory selections, which gave them 10 overall in the seven-round draft.
