In 2014, the Chargers believed they drafted their potential center of the future in Chris Watt.
After one year, they were ready to double down.
The team lost some of its locker-room leaders following the 2015 offseason retirements of Nick Hardwick, Jeromey Clary and Jarret Johnson. But it saw some rising leaders in that same room, Watt someone who decision-makers repeatedly identified by name as a young player who could grow to fill that void. Such regard is what he earned his rookie year.
He just never had the chance.