The Los Angeles Chargers added nine players in the 2025 NFL Draft. In an ideal world, all of them would develop into starters, and a few would even earn Pro Bowl nods and/or achieve All-Pro status. Of course, that is rarely the case.
The cold, hard reality is that the Chargers didn’t nail all their draft picks. Some won’t even make the team.
Yet, one, the Chargers’ fifth-round pick Oronde Gadsden II, is drawing rave reviews from the team’s tight end coach. Specifically, Chargers tight ends coach Andy Bischoff has already compared the rookie to former two-time Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller, whom he coached with the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants.
“I know it’s a huge, huge forecast, but I was fortunate to coach Darren Waller and Darren Waller was a receiver in college. We turned him into a tight end. He’s got some of those traits. It’s way early. Way early, but he’s twitchy. He separates, he does some really good things in the pass game. I think as he’s become more comfortable in our system in the last four or five days, I think people are beginning to see that.”
Chargers TE coach Andy Bischoff on Oronde Gadsden
For a tight end, Gadsden does have a slight frame, at 6-foot-5, 235 pounds. However, he’s still just 21 years old; there is plenty of time for the former receiver to bulk up and, in turn, become a better blocker in the long run.
For now, the Chargers are extremely intrigued with what Gadsden offers from an athletic standpoint. If he can produce at even a fraction of the level that Waller did, the Chargers will have gotten yet another late-round steal.
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