In the days leading up to the draft, rumors swirled that the Chargers planned to select Ronnie Stanley with the third overall pick. When the draft came and the Chargers selected Joey Bosa, it raised questions about where all those Stanley reports came from.
The Chargers were curious about that, too.
Chargers officials say they have no idea where the talk that they coveted Stanley came from, but they enjoyed it because they knew Bosa was their guy and liked being able to keep that a secret until draft day.
“Sometimes when you hear rumors, you can piece together where it came from,” Chargers President of Football Operations John Spanos told the team’s website. “In the specific case of the Ronnie Stanley rumor, I have no clue where that came from. So I was really amused, and I didn’t feel a need to set the record straight. I just sat back and enjoyed the false speculation.”
Added General Manager Tom Telesco, “I have no idea where that came from. That came out of nowhere. We didn’t tell anybody anything, so I still don’t know where that came from.”
Bosa himself, sitting in the green room at the draft, had no idea he would go to the Chargers, although the mock draft he looked at had San Diego taking Laremy Tunsil, not Stanley.
“I was holding the phone ready for Laremy Tunsil’s family to stand up and hug each other and kiss,” Bosa said. “Then my phone goes off, and my agents screamed ‘Cameras over here!’ None of the cameras were on me; they were all on Tunsil and Jalen Ramsey.”
The Bosa pick was the one no one saw coming, except those in the Chargers’ draft room.