Chargers fifth-round pick Oronde Gadsden II is the son of a former NFL player, but his father wasn’t used as a point of comparison by Chargers tight ends coach Andy Bischoff on Monday.
Gadsden transitioned from wide receiver to tight end while he was at Syracuse and capped his college days with an All-ACC season. Gadsden posted 73 catches for 934 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 and his receiving talent led Bischoff to compare the rookie to a player he coached during stints with the Ravens and 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,” Bischoff said in a press conference. “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.”
Gadsden’s blocking skills are not as well developed as his receiving ones, but Bischoff said he’s shown a “willingness” to work on that part of his game and improvement in that area would only help him carve out a bigger role on offense for the AFC West club.
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