cornerback Donte Jackson and wide receiver Mike Williams and re-signing outside linebacker Khalil Mack, among others. Hortiz said he believed the Chargers were in a better place thanks to his many free-agent moves than when their season ended with a wild-card loss to the Houston Texans on Jan. 11. He said the draft would only enhance his belief when the final players are selected Saturday.

“I feel like we did a really good job addressing these areas, and I feel like we could go out and play tomorrow and be damn good,” Hortiz said. “But we have a chance to add 10 more players through the draft and then additional players post-draft (through free agency). Free agency never ends.”

Hortiz has plenty of options for the draft, his second as the Chargers’ general manager after spending more than two decades in various scouting and player personnel jobs with the Baltimore Ravens. He could pick an offensive or defensive player first, but it’s bound to be a difference-maker.

The Chargers do appear to have glaring needs in the draft, including at wide receiver and on their defensive line, and it’s probable that Hortiz will select one or the other with his first two picks. Much depends on who is available and at which spot in the draft order on the first two days.

Matters were simpler last year, when the Chargers were fairly certain that Alt would be available for them with the fifth pick. Three quarterbacks went first followed by a wide receiver, which meant Alt was there for the Chargers’ taking as they sought to improve their offensive line with the mammoth right tackle.

Only the first round will be conducted Thursday in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The second and third rounds will be held Friday, with the fourth though seventh rounds winding up things Saturday. It’s the late rounds in which Hortiz could make his mark, as he did last year, especially in the fifth round. That’s when Hortiz picked cornerbacks Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still, who would go on to earn starting positions by the midseason.

Hart and Still fit seamlessly into a Chargers defense that also included linebacker Junior Colson, a third-round selection. The Chargers gave up a league-low 17.7 points in the 2024 season. As an added bonus in this draft, the Chargers have three compensatory picks in the sixth round.

When a reporter reminded Hortiz of his fondness for compensatory picks, Hortiz corrected him by saying, “I love comp picks.” It’s in the late rounds that the scouts have their greatest impact, according to Hortiz.

“It’s the scouts’ Super Bowl,” Hortiz said, smiling broadly. “Day 3 is when the scouts get really excited, and the coaches, too, because they have looked at all these players and you sit there and you’re looking at the slots on the board and you say (to the scouts), ‘OK, who do you guys love?’

“So, that’s the moment that you see the conviction come out, and we have four sixth-round picks and that’s going to be fun because we find out who’s got convictions on (a certain) player, and it could be any position, and so that’s the beauty of that, and I’m looking forward to that.”