Speaker 1: The late fifteen ten touchdowns. What's up, guys? Welcome into
Speaker 1: a brand new episode of Chargers Weekly, three weeks away
Speaker 1: from the twenty twenty three NFL Draft to Kansas City,
Speaker 1: as always, joined by Matt, Buddy Smith and Buddy. The
Speaker 1: build up is just kind of feeling it now a
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, I've been talking to Mike last week. Actually,
Speaker 1: I saw Mike's updated mock draft and the podbust have
Speaker 1: been fresh at his mic and his Dalton KEKs a
Speaker 1: charge out his mind. You know, Yeah, a lot more,
Speaker 1: a lot more mock drafts, a lot more draft shows,
Speaker 1: a lot more draft columns, a lot more draft pods.
Speaker 1: I don't know if the picture is any clear than
Speaker 1: it was a week ago, but you know, teams, teams
Speaker 1: are going to leak out what they want to leak out.
Speaker 1: For the most part, they're they're playing straight, they're doing
Speaker 1: their due diligence. They've got their board, they've got their
Speaker 1: first round grades. I think that's what most people that
Speaker 1: are listening to us are focused on, not so much
Speaker 1: what are the Chargers going to do in the fourth, fifth, sixth,
Speaker 1: and seventh, but sort of what are these first three
Speaker 1: picks going to look like and where are they going
Speaker 1: to be? And I still think the one development that
Speaker 1: affects them a little bit is the emergence of Hendon
Speaker 1: Hooker as a potential first round draft pick and the
Speaker 1: potential slide of Will Levis as some are projecting. So
Speaker 1: that's between what we were talking about, you know, the
Speaker 1: conversation we had last week and the conversation we're having
Speaker 1: this week. That's perhaps the one development that bodes well
Speaker 1: for the Chargers is if Levis slips, Canny slip all
Speaker 1: the way to twenty one, Hendon Hooker, is he a
Speaker 1: first round pick? How many teams have them on their board?
Speaker 1: Is their quarterback of the future willing to invest a
Speaker 1: first round pick in? And would he be there at
Speaker 1: twenty one? And those are things that would benefit the
Speaker 1: Chargers if they want to trade back. And it seemed
Speaker 1: like Tom and Brandon both alluded to that, and it's
Speaker 1: something that we brought up a couple of weeks ago, right,
Speaker 1: is you only have so many first round aids, and
Speaker 1: once you get out of those first round round graded players,
Speaker 1: you're more open to trade back. It's just is there
Speaker 1: another team that has a first round grade on one
Speaker 1: of those players that's sitting there when you're slated to
Speaker 1: pick at twenty one. You know, I try to take
Speaker 1: ourselves back to last year when we were trying to
Speaker 1: predict who the charges we're going to select, and we
Speaker 1: mentioned Dion Johnson a few times, but we didn't I mean,
Speaker 1: you and I weren't saying, hey, Zion Johnson, look out
Speaker 1: for him. He's gonna be the pick. So you know,
Speaker 1: there's always things that happen on draft night too where
Speaker 1: you don't expect. Henn and Hooker and Will Levis. I
Speaker 1: think those are things to keep an eye on. I
Speaker 1: think maybe trades. Who knows what Lamar Jackson situation is
Speaker 1: going to be, like, uh, you know, does that develop
Speaker 1: on draft night? Does it develop after Draft night? I
Speaker 1: think those are all fair questions as we kind of
Speaker 1: look ahead to Round one, But at twenty one overall,
Speaker 1: you know, first of all, did you see the breakdown
Speaker 1: that Brett Coleman did on Kellen Moore's Yeah, on Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore's offense, a lot of twelve you know, the twelve
Speaker 1: verses eleven, what he likes to run and that perhaps
Speaker 1: is the one thing that I overlooked is probably the
Speaker 1: best word you know, the receiving numbers are almost identical.
Speaker 1: But Gerald Everett is not a blocker. He's a He's
Speaker 1: a pass catching tight end. Dalton schultzkin block. He's not
Speaker 1: an elite blocker, but he's a blocker, and I think
Speaker 1: that's something to keep an eye on. The with the
Speaker 1: Chargers is they drafted Trey McKitty as more of a
Speaker 1: blocking tight end with some receiving skills, and I think
Speaker 1: they're still searching for those blocking skills to show up.
Speaker 1: We know Donald Parham came in with very little ability
Speaker 1: to block, and he's progressed nicely as a more complete
Speaker 1: tight end than just a receiving threat, particularly in the
Speaker 1: red zone. So they'll continue to develop him. But that's
Speaker 1: where sort of the Michael Mayer versus Dalton kincaide versus
Speaker 1: Darnell Washington all come into play. Is tight ends are different.
Speaker 1: It depends what you're looking for. And the one thing
Speaker 1: I would would suggest for people that think, well you've
Speaker 1: got to go Mayor instead of kincaid, because he's more
Speaker 1: of an all round tight end as opposed to just
Speaker 1: a big receiver that's going to be covered by backers
Speaker 1: or safeties. The Chiefs don't really have that blocking tighten.
Speaker 1: You can find those extra blockers and you know what,
Speaker 1: a lot more teams and even the Chargers did this
Speaker 1: pretty regular not regularly, but we'd see it maybe once,
Speaker 1: maybe two, three times a game run out a sixth
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. You know, it's if you're just going to
Speaker 1: keep a tight end to block and there don't have
Speaker 1: that many you know, they don't have not elite but
Speaker 1: just average receiving skills, then just bring in your sixth
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. And they were doing that with Storm as
Speaker 1: a sixth offensive lineman. They've done it multiple year. They
Speaker 1: did it with Trey before he became their starting right tackle,
Speaker 1: he was always their sixth offensive lineman. So they can
Speaker 1: do that if if you're concerned about drafting Kinkaid to
Speaker 1: go with Everett and what is it that that Callen
Speaker 1: Moore's looking for? But yes, a great breakdown hit it
Speaker 1: up at the Chargers YouTube channel with Brady did a
Speaker 1: really great job of explaining kind of what Kellen Moore
Speaker 1: likes to run. Yeah, it gives you a pause a
Speaker 1: little bit to think, Okay, is Washington or is is
Speaker 1: Mayor a better fit? Like on its face in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, knowing that Gerald Everett and Dalton Kinkai kind
Speaker 1: of have similar skill sets and that you know their
Speaker 1: weapons in the passing game. But I'm with you in that, Hey,
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert and Dalton kinka could be a lethal combination
Speaker 1: for a long long time with the Chargers. And it's
Speaker 1: it's not it's not worth saying. Okay, you know, forget it.
Speaker 1: We have Gerald Everett this year. Let's focus on Washington
Speaker 1: or Mayor. At the same time what you said two
Speaker 1: weeks ago, and I agree with trading back and maybe
Speaker 1: getting a Darnell Washington to go with another second or
Speaker 1: a third round pick. Maybe that's the move, you know.
Speaker 1: So it's I think it brings a little bit Musgrave
Speaker 1: or Sam Laporter, Like if you if you only have
Speaker 1: one first round grade or two. Let's say you have
Speaker 1: two first round grades on a tight end on Kincaid
Speaker 1: and Mayor and they're both gone. But you know, so
Speaker 1: that's when you start, Okay, well, we don't want to
Speaker 1: draft Washington here, we don't want to draft Musgrave here.
Speaker 1: We don't feel that there's value with the twenty one
Speaker 1: pick in that player. Now, let's move on to our
Speaker 1: wide receivers. Do we have a first round grade on
Speaker 1: any of these wide receivers? Is there a first round
Speaker 1: grade on Quinton Johnson? Is there a first round grade
Speaker 1: on Jay Jordan Addison? On Zay Flowers? That's the question.
Speaker 1: It's not just fit this player. And remember they need
Speaker 1: someone to trade with them. They need someone that wants
Speaker 1: to give up their third to come up to one,
Speaker 1: give up their two and their three for you to
Speaker 1: move back. Like the Chargers did when they jumped to
Speaker 1: get Kenneth Murray. Remember they gave up their two and
Speaker 1: they're three to move to twenty six. I think it
Speaker 1: was to draft Canna. So that's that's the kind of
Speaker 1: deal you're you're looking at. You're going to swap your
Speaker 1: one for their two and you're going to get there three.
Speaker 1: Is there a team that's willing to do that? And
Speaker 1: how far back is there too? And their three? But
Speaker 1: I'd be up for it just to get that one
Speaker 1: extra pick to slide back a little bit. If a
Speaker 1: lot of those players are on the board, and again,
Speaker 1: remember everybody hasn't graded differently, and there's so many. If
Speaker 1: Tom Tolesco is true to his word that he is
Speaker 1: the best player available, Well, that puts everybody into play.
Speaker 1: You may end up having a first round grade on
Speaker 1: an interior lineman that's sitting there for you at twenty
Speaker 1: one and you say, well, I know we got Sol
Speaker 1: you're there, but it hadn't hurt to just keep building
Speaker 1: or defensive line or interior line or edge rush or linebacker.
Speaker 1: What if you've got a first round grade on Nolan
Speaker 1: Smith and he's sitting there and it's not someone we're
Speaker 1: really thinking about. So to me, that's that's sort of
Speaker 1: the interesting that that's the riddle of the draft is
Speaker 1: you just you don't have You don't have the answers.
Speaker 1: You don't even have the slightest bit of an answer.
Speaker 1: You have no idea what the teams think. You know
Speaker 1: what you think the players are that fit and should
Speaker 1: be ranked high enough for you to draft at twenty one,
Speaker 1: But you have no idea what Tom Talsko and his
Speaker 1: staff think and Brandon Staley think when when that pick
Speaker 1: is when when the clock starts and they're sitting at
Speaker 1: twenty one. One, thing we both know is that they
Speaker 1: need speed still on offense, and I don't know whether
Speaker 1: that's going to come from And I would think it
Speaker 1: would come from the draft. It would come early in
Speaker 1: the draft, knowing the debt was something that was lacking
Speaker 1: last year. I want to go to this mock draft
Speaker 1: tracker and guys, we have a bunch of questions that
Speaker 1: we'll get to in a little bit, but just look
Speaker 1: at it. What some of the experts around UH media circles. Funny,
Speaker 1: have your guy Cancy from Pittsburgh. Todd McShay has him
Speaker 1: going to the Chargers and if he slides back. That's
Speaker 1: one interesting I've said offense, offense, offense, but the more
Speaker 1: and I hadn't really dug into him. I did after
Speaker 1: we were talking with Mike Rent last week, and it's explosive.
Speaker 1: It jumps off I mean it really jumps off the
Speaker 1: screen when you're watching him, how quickly he splits, just
Speaker 1: the strength. There's one play I think it was against
Speaker 1: West Virginia where he's inside, he's in the B gap
Speaker 1: and he splits the center guard, just dusts the guard
Speaker 1: to the right and the running back tries to pick
Speaker 1: him up and he basically throws the running back into
Speaker 1: the quarterback for the sacks. It's that kind of play,
Speaker 1: the stuff we see with Joey and Khalil last year.
Speaker 1: I remember there was that in that first game Khalil
Speaker 1: against the Raiders. Essentially, I don't remember which back was
Speaker 1: in there. I can't imagine be Jacobs, he's too strong,
Speaker 1: but just basically grabbed the running back and tackled Derek
Speaker 1: Carr and the running back for a sack. Like that's
Speaker 1: the kind of power we're talking about with Kalijah Cancy
Speaker 1: and just the quicks. So yeah, McShay, I think if
Speaker 1: if he's sitting there at twenty one, I can only
Speaker 1: imagine that Brandon Stale will be jumping on the table
Speaker 1: begging Tom to take him to help this defense out.
Speaker 1: So Renner updated his mock yesterday. He's got Dalton Kincaid,
Speaker 1: Michael Middlehurst, Schwartz from USA Today, Dalton Kincaid, Ryan Wilson,
Speaker 1: CBS Sports, Jordan Addison. That's interesting. If Jordan Addison's there
Speaker 1: at twenty one, and that's something you got to think
Speaker 1: long and hard about. He's starting to slide a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, and maybe the pro day wasn't fair.
Speaker 1: It was in that monsoon we had out here that
Speaker 1: they were out there doing their pro day. But for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, Addison has taken a bit of a tumble
Speaker 1: down the board. You're starting to hear more Quinton Johnston,
Speaker 1: you're here and a little bit more is a Flowers
Speaker 1: Smith Na Jigma seems to be the number one receiver
Speaker 1: now on just about everybody's board. Don't know if that's
Speaker 1: really a fit with the Chargers for what they have.
Speaker 1: And again, you can't just think about twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: You've got to think about the next five years with
Speaker 1: these first round picks. So potentially, yeah, you could. He's
Speaker 1: just very similar to Keenan, where he's so good and
Speaker 1: strong and he's one speed in every one of his cuts.
Speaker 1: He's not the fastest guy, but like Keenan, everything's at
Speaker 1: the same speeds. You have no idea where he's going,
Speaker 1: and he's just explosive like Keenan is in and out
Speaker 1: of his breaks. He's very similar. So you'd be drafting
Speaker 1: a similar player as opposed to Zay who played a
Speaker 1: lot on the outside. You know, Johnson, who played a ton.
Speaker 1: I mean that's what he is, right, He's just a
Speaker 1: giant dude. Johnston's a giant freak of nature. DK Metcalf,
Speaker 1: you know, not that swoll, but that tall and that long.
Speaker 1: So that's and we talk about that all the time
Speaker 1: with wide receivers. You'r DJ has that line. You're building
Speaker 1: a basketball team, point guard, you know, swing your your forward,
Speaker 1: do you have a center for the red zone for
Speaker 1: those for those you know, jump balls like that's what
Speaker 1: you're trying to build. So of all those players, to me,
Speaker 1: Za is the one that really jumps out, just because
Speaker 1: he's the most explosive. I think dynamic was the word
Speaker 1: that that are, you know that Mike Renner used last week,
Speaker 1: And that's that's the one thing that jumps you know.
Speaker 1: I love Josh downs at the combine, just so smooth
Speaker 1: and also looked explosive. But he's essentially a slot. I
Speaker 1: think you got to think about somebody on that that
Speaker 1: you know that that's lined up outside opposite Mike Bleacher Report,
Speaker 1: Scottie Department, Zay Flowers. There you go, Boston College, Kyle Stackpole,
Speaker 1: has Miles Murphy at Clemson, our friends Cynthia Freeland, Michael
Speaker 1: Mayer uh and you know we just brought that up.
Speaker 1: He's probably the most complete tight end just nowhere near
Speaker 1: the receiver. Kincaid is not even close. He's He's good
Speaker 1: Kincaid's a great receiver as a tight end, great elite
Speaker 1: receiver as a tight end. Mayor is more of you're
Speaker 1: all around good block or good receiver. And Christier Pasto
Speaker 1: has b John Robinson going to the Chargers, and I
Speaker 1: don't you know, we spent so much time on the
Speaker 1: running back. But I'll just say this, this debate about
Speaker 1: drafted one in the first round, I think I've completely
Speaker 1: come to the side of you absolutely should if it's
Speaker 1: a game changer, because he enters your program in his prime.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have this guy for four or five years
Speaker 1: on your team with a guy like Justin Herbert. You know,
Speaker 1: if you have Bijean Robinson in the backfield with Justin Herbert,
Speaker 1: it makes your offense star near unstoppable. Really, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: I just I think a dead he's that type of player.
Speaker 1: We've talked about it a lot. One of the things
Speaker 1: that I've brought up through social media and engaging with
Speaker 1: the fans and some people around the Chargers that do
Speaker 1: maybe you know, satellite podcast stuff like that, is don't
Speaker 1: think of it as a running back. Think of it
Speaker 1: as just one of eleven that helps. How does this
Speaker 1: one of or I should say ten. If Justin Herbert
Speaker 1: is your number one, right, how do the other ten
Speaker 1: players compliment that quarterback? And that's something that Mike Renner
Speaker 1: brought up. I want Justin throwing the ball more. That's fine,
Speaker 1: not telling, not saying that you have to hand the
Speaker 1: ball to Robinson every every play because Bi catch too,
Speaker 1: by the way, that's when he's on the field. He's
Speaker 1: a receiver, he's in past protection, he's a play action
Speaker 1: weapon for Justin Herbert. So like that's what people have
Speaker 1: to remember when you have an elite running back. Well,
Speaker 1: now your play actions being honored a lot more. Now
Speaker 1: you can't now you're stacking the box because Bijan's just
Speaker 1: ripped off four or five runs for six seven yards
Speaker 1: a carry. The big debate comes in. There's two debates
Speaker 1: that I think people fail to follow with the should
Speaker 1: I or should I not draft the running back in
Speaker 1: the first round. The first is what's the drop off?
Speaker 1: What is this separation between Robinson and the player that
Speaker 1: I'm going to get in the next round. So from
Speaker 1: what's the drop off from Bijean? If I can get
Speaker 1: Jamir Gibbs in the second round, if I can get Charbonnet.
Speaker 1: If I can get you know, Tank Biggs beat that
Speaker 1: that Mike was talking about, what is my pass pro receiving?
Speaker 1: What is my drop off there? If it's not that big,
Speaker 1: then yeah, let's wait. Now, if Bijan is so far
Speaker 1: and away ahead of them, then that's where that conversation
Speaker 1: comes into play. The second thing is money. So why
Speaker 1: do you want to draft defensive lineman offensive lineman? And
Speaker 1: now what the and this goes into the tight end conversation. Right,
Speaker 1: wide receivers are not getting paid twenty to twenty five
Speaker 1: million bucks a year if you're elite. Offensive lineman are
Speaker 1: getting paid twenty to twenty five million dollars a year
Speaker 1: if you're elite. Defensive edge rushers are getting paid thirty
Speaker 1: million dollars a year if you are elite. So it's
Speaker 1: not just the player, it's the money. So if you
Speaker 1: feel like this is an elite edge rusher, I'm going
Speaker 1: to have him for five years, and I believe he's
Speaker 1: going to be elite from the jump. Well, now I'm
Speaker 1: paying a guy four million bucks a year instead of
Speaker 1: thirty million dollars a year offensive lineman. I believe this
Speaker 1: is a starting tackle for the next five year as
Speaker 1: well Ermy Tunsel just got twenty five. Landa Brown just
Speaker 1: got twenty. Jowan Taylor just got twenty two. Like that's
Speaker 1: that's what we're talking about. That and that's what I
Speaker 1: think those guys twenty one overall though money, but that's
Speaker 1: what I mean. So, like, that's why if you believe
Speaker 1: and look that we Renter set it, it's a deep
Speaker 1: offensive line class, it's a deep defensive line class. So now, okay,
Speaker 1: what's what's cancy? If he's what we think he's gonna be,
Speaker 1: what is that guy gonna cost me? If he's as
Speaker 1: as we believe he's going to be in year three?
Speaker 1: Because guess what, we're not paying him thirty five million
Speaker 1: bucks like Aaron Donald's getting. We're paying him three million dollars.
Speaker 1: And now we've got that other thirty two million bucks
Speaker 1: to go spend on our team in our defense, and
Speaker 1: we've got this elite player. So that's the one thing
Speaker 1: you have to remember is that money does come into play.
Speaker 1: Your top shelf running backs are getting paid twelve million
Speaker 1: dollars a year, so you're gonna pay your running back.
Speaker 1: You're not saving that much money. The gap, isn't that wide.
Speaker 1: And that's the other part of that conversation. Yeah, how
Speaker 1: many close games have the Chargers been in the last
Speaker 1: two years? All of them? And what would a guy
Speaker 1: like Jean Robinson do in terms of assaulting the game
Speaker 1: away and icing the game and running the football when
Speaker 1: you absolutely have to run the football. I think that
Speaker 1: I think about that because we know, listen, Justine still
Speaker 1: going to throw the ball forty plus times a game, right,
Speaker 1: But if you have someone who can close the game,
Speaker 1: who can Mariano Rivera the game for you in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter with six minutes left, I mean, I would
Speaker 1: say that's a pretty good asset to have on your offense.
Speaker 1: That's it, you know, I don't. I know it'll probably
Speaker 1: come off as pointing fingers. I don't mean it to
Speaker 1: I just to me. The offense, specifically, the run offense
Speaker 1: is going to be so much better with this coordinator.
Speaker 1: I was not a fan of the designed runs, even
Speaker 1: when the offense was operating at very high level two
Speaker 1: years ago. I know it wasn't nearly as effective last year,
Speaker 1: but the running game just was not good. And that
Speaker 1: could be personnel, it could be play calling. There was
Speaker 1: not near enough play action. There weren't nearly enough shot
Speaker 1: plays to open things up to let your running game
Speaker 1: have a chance. So with Josh and with Austin and
Speaker 1: with now what you what you hope is going to
Speaker 1: be a healthy offensive line slater Johnson Lindsley saw your Pipkins.
Speaker 1: To me, with what you have, you can still have
Speaker 1: a very effective running game. You don't you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: need be John Robinson to do that. Again, I leave
Speaker 1: isayh out just because I don't know. I do know
Speaker 1: from what I saw last year that Josh took a step.
Speaker 1: Joshua Kelly took a step and looked like a violent
Speaker 1: He's gonna bring the pain when he gets that ball.
Speaker 1: If you give him a crease, He's not He's not
Speaker 1: gonna make you miss. He's not gonna stretch it. And
Speaker 1: that's the one interesting thing about Kellen Moore that check
Speaker 1: out at the Charger's YouTube channel. What Brett broke down
Speaker 1: is the outside zone and being able to stretch, stretch, stretch,
Speaker 1: find that gap and you might have to cut back
Speaker 1: and run a Kylary you. I don't know how that's
Speaker 1: gonna fit. Josh. That's the other thing to keep in mind,
Speaker 1: how do these backs that are on the roster fit
Speaker 1: into that outside zone scheme that we did not see
Speaker 1: a lot of last year. Yeah, and we're not in
Speaker 1: those meetings with Brandon Sailing, Kelly Moore, and Tom Tolesco.
Speaker 1: They may say, Hey, we're good with Isaiah Spiller, We're
Speaker 1: good with Eckler and Josh Kelly, Like Bejan Robinson is
Speaker 1: not even in the conversation because we have guys on
Speaker 1: the roster that we think can maximize their potential onto
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore. So were you know, you're just talking to
Speaker 1: talk here at this point with three weeks ago in
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft. But there's so many different options and
Speaker 1: we had so many questions that you guys submit via Twitter.
Speaker 1: Take a quick break and we'll answer them on the
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Speaker 1: All right, Bunny, let's get to some of these questions.
Speaker 1: This one was directed towards you. I know Money wants
Speaker 1: all offense, but what defender would you both consider a
Speaker 1: twenty one given lack of depth at corner, edge, linebacker
Speaker 1: and future cap Well, I think we already mentioned one
Speaker 1: and in Kalijah Cancy, that's, to me is a no brainer.
Speaker 1: The interesting one is Nolan Smith. I think he's going
Speaker 1: to be there. He just doesn't necessarily fit the profile
Speaker 1: of what Brandon Staley likes. Staley likes big, long rushers.
Speaker 1: He's he's you know, Nolan is not a big guy,
Speaker 1: but man, he is strong. He is nasty, physical, quick
Speaker 1: as hell. He's just small, you know, he's like two
Speaker 1: hundred and forty pounds and he's not six four. So
Speaker 1: that's that's one I think. I think van Ness is
Speaker 1: an interesting one at edge because to me, that's where
Speaker 1: they would look. I think you're talking about somebody who impacts,
Speaker 1: impacts the game from a rush the quarterback sort of.
Speaker 1: I don't think you'll get a corner that falls there.
Speaker 1: I don't think Wheer, Spooner, Gonzalez or those elite corners
Speaker 1: are going to fall. Branches interesting because he's so versatile
Speaker 1: and he's starting to slide a little bit after his
Speaker 1: pro day, and he can play nickel, he can play safety.
Speaker 1: We know how much they value sort of them be
Speaker 1: styled defensive back, and how they want to use Derwin
Speaker 1: and how they used Gilman, you know, be it high
Speaker 1: or low. How they're moving Asante inside outside. So that
Speaker 1: branch is an interesting one, just because he slipped a
Speaker 1: little bit coming off of his pro day, and I
Speaker 1: know some people had him at the start of this
Speaker 1: whole process. Is their number one corner, just as their
Speaker 1: number one defensive back. They just thought that highly of them,
Speaker 1: So that'd be an interesting one where I could see
Speaker 1: them maybe having a first round grade on him based
Speaker 1: on his tape where he could slide. But van Ness
Speaker 1: is an interesting one just because he's a freak. He's
Speaker 1: just like one of those you know, Roman statues that
Speaker 1: chiseled from marble, that that's out there playing and you know,
Speaker 1: is he bodied beautiful or is he you know, this
Speaker 1: freak of an athlete that's also a really good player
Speaker 1: because he didn't that that that production part if it
Speaker 1: wasn't really there. So that's a couple names I think
Speaker 1: on the defensive side that maybe if for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: Gonzalez where it's been, I don't think they're going to
Speaker 1: be their branch is probably the interesting one. At at corner,
Speaker 1: can's Nolan Smith. Some people have Miles Murphy there. I
Speaker 1: don't know if they'd have a first round grade on him.
Speaker 1: So there's a couple names to maybe think about him
Speaker 1: there you go more than a couple, and you know,
Speaker 1: from a cornerback perspective, I think sometimes we forget that J. C.
Speaker 1: Jackson is rehabbing right now. We don't know when he's
Speaker 1: gonna be ready, But it's a nice segue into the
Speaker 1: next question High Chris and Money. I see JC Jackson
Speaker 1: on social media working diligently to recover as soon as
Speaker 1: he can from this serious injury. Also read no timeline
Speaker 1: for his return. When does he finally return? How much
Speaker 1: will that injury affect his level of play from prior
Speaker 1: to it? All good questions. I don't have the answer
Speaker 1: to any of them. Us are tough ones to answer.
Speaker 1: Those are tough ones, and I'm hopeful that JC can
Speaker 1: contribute in a meaningful way at some point during the season.
Speaker 1: You know, you sawwa Zon did in the in the
Speaker 1: playoff game. Michael Davis was fantastic in Jac's absence. Bryce
Speaker 1: Callahan's fill a free agent, I think he was signed
Speaker 1: by the Chargers in May after the draft last year,
Speaker 1: So maybe that quarterback room isn't done yet. Money, But
Speaker 1: to what extent we can count on Jc, I think
Speaker 1: right now as we sit here April fifth, I don't
Speaker 1: know no idea. Just know that after the injury was
Speaker 1: described as a really bad injury. That's pretty much all
Speaker 1: I know is they said it was a bad one.
Speaker 1: So we see him. Though you mentioned you see the
Speaker 1: videos talking to guys that are going into the office
Speaker 1: every day. They're like, yeah, see here every day, working out,
Speaker 1: starting to put a lot of weight on it, starting
Speaker 1: to get along, you know, a lot further in his
Speaker 1: rehab process. So you need him. There's no depth in
Speaker 1: that cornerback room, so you definitely need him. And that's
Speaker 1: a lot of money tied up that you're not walking
Speaker 1: away from anytime soon. He's here for at least another
Speaker 1: two years, so it's it's one of those just cross
Speaker 1: your fingers. The interesting thing is going to be what
Speaker 1: do you do with Mikey's last year of his deal?
Speaker 1: So how do you play that when you've got JC
Speaker 1: on that type of number. Assante is going to be
Speaker 1: going in to his Asante is going into his third year,
Speaker 1: so next year will be his fourth year and then
Speaker 1: he'll be a free agent. So that really sort of
Speaker 1: flips the corner room on its head, which is why
Speaker 1: you might see it when it comes to the draft. Okay,
Speaker 1: do they You hate to say it, but do they
Speaker 1: have to go corner? You know, because of just the
Speaker 1: timing of all of this. What's Michael Davis worth on
Speaker 1: the free agent market? And can the Chargers afford it
Speaker 1: with the amount of money they already have tied up
Speaker 1: in Derwin James and J. C. Jackson. Alloie Gilman is
Speaker 1: going to be a free agent at the end of
Speaker 1: this year. What if he has a really good year?
Speaker 1: So is I kind of go through the board here
Speaker 1: of of corners, you have Joey Porters there, Maybe you
Speaker 1: take Joey Porter at twenty one. If Deante Banks is there,
Speaker 1: maybe you take Deante Banks at at twenty one. So
Speaker 1: that's sort of an interesting I think it's I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know kind of what the what the approach
Speaker 1: would be. Brian Branch should be an interesting one because he's,
Speaker 1: like we said, he's so versatile. You can play him
Speaker 1: at safety, you can play him at slot, you know.
Speaker 1: So that's that's one I think to keep an eye on.
Speaker 1: But that is I'm talking through it now. It starts
Speaker 1: to make a little more sense. Yeah, corner could be
Speaker 1: what you end up doing there in the first round,
Speaker 1: just because of the timing on these contracts and these
Speaker 1: players that are coming up. That's a good point. That
Speaker 1: question was from Crumbo. All right, Charters, Aaron, Yeah, who
Speaker 1: would be some dark horse offensive guys already on the
Speaker 1: team that should benefit the most from Kellen Moore. He said,
Speaker 1: for me, param and Spiller, I think those are two
Speaker 1: really good ones. Especially you know, I think Parham still
Speaker 1: just scratching the surface head injury history. And we just
Speaker 1: mentioned the big question mark around Isaiah Spiller. Maybe he
Speaker 1: is a guy who can think of league Well, I
Speaker 1: know it's not sexy, but how about the five guys
Speaker 1: up front? The Cowboys offensive line is regularly cited as
Speaker 1: the best in the league. Now is that because they
Speaker 1: have the talent they've invested Zach Martin, best guard, Tyrn Smith,
Speaker 1: one of the best left tackles. But when guys went
Speaker 1: down and Steele had to step in, these guys are
Speaker 1: playing ball. So yeah, to me, that's something to keep
Speaker 1: an eye on. Is how good that offensive line was
Speaker 1: year in and year out? How is that the offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator's job? Not really the offensive line coach tends to
Speaker 1: operate on his own separate But how do you use
Speaker 1: the offensive line? How are they blocking in your run scheme?
Speaker 1: How are they blocking? How are they pass blocking? So
Speaker 1: you know, what kind of plays are you calling? What
Speaker 1: kind of pass plays are you calling? To help your
Speaker 1: offensive line out? So instead of just thinking to the
Speaker 1: skill positions, to me, you could also think about the
Speaker 1: five guys up front and how they benefit with him
Speaker 1: calling plays versus Joe Lombardi the last two years. Certainly
Speaker 1: you look at the running backs, you know, and what
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard turned into under Kellen, So that's an obvious
Speaker 1: place to look. And for everything else, we're just looking
Speaker 1: at the continued development of young players. Josh Palmer, Donald Parham,
Speaker 1: Trey McKitty. He's a guy that likes to use a
Speaker 1: lot of twelve. We talked about that. That means two
Speaker 1: tight ends, one running back, two tight ends. So does
Speaker 1: that mean the development or Trey McKitty Moore, because he's
Speaker 1: got to be out there more and Kellen's gonna be
Speaker 1: able to coach him up make him a better tight end.
Speaker 1: It's not like Dalton Schultz was a household name when
Speaker 1: he when he turned in one of the better all
Speaker 1: around tight ends in the league. It was something that
Speaker 1: was coached up by Kellen Moore. Yeah, and that's why
Speaker 1: they drafted Trey McKitty in the third round. So yeah,
Speaker 1: mere cat manner, Why do you guys have such a
Speaker 1: preference for tight end? The only tight ends taking in
Speaker 1: the first round. That had a big impact since two
Speaker 1: thousand have been Verdon Davis and Jeremy Shocky. Even guys
Speaker 1: that have been called aliens or generational haven't lived up
Speaker 1: to the hype. E. G. Pitts and Joeku, etc. I
Speaker 1: won't speak for you money, I'll just I'll start by saying,
Speaker 1: I don't think any of those guys had a quarterback
Speaker 1: named Justin Herbert, and I think that's that's the intrigue,
Speaker 1: is pairing a guy like Dalton kink with somebody like
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert. You know, Kyle Pitts is still figuring out
Speaker 1: because he doesn't have a quarterback. David and Joeku I
Speaker 1: don't remember who his was when he was drafted to Cleveland,
Speaker 1: but Cliffland hasn't had a lot of success at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position. So Justin Herbert is the reason I think
Speaker 1: we are intrigued by Dalton Kincaid, Michael Mayer, and Washington
Speaker 1: from Georgia. It's a fair question. My answer would be
Speaker 1: that you can apply it to any position. It's it's
Speaker 1: all an unknown. It's one great unknown. You're in so
Speaker 1: much of it you alluded to it. Chris is circumstance.
Speaker 1: What team are you being drafted? You know, to what
Speaker 1: team are you being drafted, who's your quarterback, who's thrown
Speaker 1: you the passes? What kind of offense are you in?
Speaker 1: It's the tight end featured. What division are you in?
Speaker 1: How fast are the linebackers, how good are the safeties?
Speaker 1: So there's a lot that goes into it. The one
Speaker 1: thing I'll say is the tight end position has changed
Speaker 1: dramatically the last five years. It has become a true
Speaker 1: weapon in the pass game. A because so many teams
Speaker 1: are playing thirteen where you've got one tight end, three
Speaker 1: wide receivers, and you don't have enough defensive backs. So
Speaker 1: typically one of those guys is being covered by a safety.
Speaker 1: Your tight end is being covered by a safety that's
Speaker 1: too small or a linebacker that's too slow. When you've
Speaker 1: got a really good one, and they can really impact
Speaker 1: a team's offense because it's a constant mismatch. And there's
Speaker 1: a reason why young quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson just
Speaker 1: go through these young quarterbacks. When last year the Jags
Speaker 1: went out and got Evan Ingram, that's it's a it's
Speaker 1: an easy completion. That so when so that's your floor.
Speaker 1: Your floor is middle of the field, easy completion, red zone,
Speaker 1: giant catch radius, big body can help you out as
Speaker 1: a blocker and then release. And then when you combine
Speaker 1: that with someone that you think has elite skills, well
Speaker 1: that's it's almost impossible to cover. And that's why people
Speaker 1: get so excited about Dalton Kincaide because just trying to
Speaker 1: imagine how is a defense going to stop It's everybody
Speaker 1: knew Travis Kelsey was kind of all they had this year.
Speaker 1: Tyree Hill was gone. You know, you're content with letting
Speaker 1: mvs or juju hurt you in the in the past game,
Speaker 1: you just couldn't let Kelsey beach and he still did.
Speaker 1: And he's still beat teams to a pulp because he's
Speaker 1: that good, because he's that tough of a cover. He's
Speaker 1: too big for corners and safeties and he's too fast
Speaker 1: for linebackers. So when you can find one of those players,
Speaker 1: it's why you see these guys go so high. Now
Speaker 1: do they always pan out? No, but just go through
Speaker 1: the Okay, let's super Bowl Dallas Goddard Travis Kelsey two
Speaker 1: of the best NFC Championship game. George Kittle Dallas Goddard. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow can make anybody good, but he's had solid
Speaker 1: tight ends there, and they've been searching year in and
Speaker 1: you know from Uzama who left last year Croft, they
Speaker 1: have regularly been searching for really good tight ends there.
Speaker 1: So that's why you do it. This one is from
Speaker 1: Andrew with Jason Moore, Michael Bandy, DeAndre Carter not coming back,
Speaker 1: and Jalen Guiden still a free agent. How many wide
Speaker 1: receivers do you think the Chargers take in the draft? Well,
Speaker 1: this is what we do know, right, you got Palmer,
Speaker 1: you got Keenan, you got Mike. You got Keenan and
Speaker 1: Mike at a very big number in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: and you don't have speed at the moment at the
Speaker 1: wide receiver position. So if they address it in the
Speaker 1: first two rounds, three rounds, I wouldn't be the least
Speaker 1: bit surprised. I don't know who else is really out
Speaker 1: there money and that that third fourth wave of free
Speaker 1: agency was speed, because I think that's what they're missing
Speaker 1: at this point. Yeah, so you know, I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised if there was a wide receiver. There are twenty
Speaker 1: one that they liked that that had that juice, you know,
Speaker 1: like like as a Flowers who knows well the players
Speaker 1: we all just listen were signed as undrafted free agents
Speaker 1: or veteran minimums. DeAndre Carter very low money deal late
Speaker 1: in the free agent process. Jason Moore was an undrafted,
Speaker 1: Michael Bandy was an undrafted. Aj Giten was an undrafted
Speaker 1: so Tyrant Johnson was an undrafted That's so there, yeah,
Speaker 1: there they'll pull from that pool. They'll they'll bring in
Speaker 1: some guys, some college free priority college free agents that
Speaker 1: they have their eye on on the back end of
Speaker 1: this draft and maybe the first round and maybe the
Speaker 1: second and maybe the third the jail. I know, our
Speaker 1: friend Lancer Line had Jalen Hyatt going to the Chargers
Speaker 1: at twenty one. That seems a little rich based on
Speaker 1: everything we're hearing. It was just a monster game against Alabama,
Speaker 1: had a good game against I think Akron and one
Speaker 1: other smaller school, and everything else was just fair to middling.
Speaker 1: So I think that seems a little rich for a
Speaker 1: guy that really is I hate to say, like a
Speaker 1: one trick pony, but that's hey, go that way real fast.
Speaker 1: If the ball comes your way, catch it. And sometimes
Speaker 1: he does and sometimes he doesn't. That's that's that's the
Speaker 1: speed is elite, elite. Take the top off speed and
Speaker 1: it would certainly help the offense, but it seemed like
Speaker 1: that might be a little rich for twenty one. You're
Speaker 1: trying to force something. So they'll draft the receiver. If
Speaker 1: I were a general manager, I would draft the receiver
Speaker 1: every single year. Every year I would draft. I would
Speaker 1: invest a value pick. I'm talking first four rounds in
Speaker 1: a wide receiver. I just think they are that important
Speaker 1: now in this game, the way it's played, the way
Speaker 1: that it's called. So drafted Josh Palmer two years ago
Speaker 1: in the third round. They're not strangers to it. They'll
Speaker 1: they'll invest in Mike Williams was drafted number seven overall.
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen was a third rounder. They'll draft guys, and
Speaker 1: I suspect they'll do the same this year. If maybe
Speaker 1: Higat's there in the second, if it's at Perry, it's
Speaker 1: some of the guys that we talked about with Renner
Speaker 1: last week. So there are players that they can go
Speaker 1: get in the second and third round. It's a deep
Speaker 1: wide receiver class. It's the way I've heard it describe
Speaker 1: is it's not an elite wide receiver class. It's a
Speaker 1: deep wide receiver class. Yeah, so maybe maybe second, third,
Speaker 1: fourth round is where you see wide receiver. We've talked
Speaker 1: about so many different position groups. That's why this draft
Speaker 1: is such an unknown. Money you mentioned, Hey, if Tom
Speaker 1: is staying true to his board in a guard or
Speaker 1: a tackle, it's best available. Maybe you take that. We
Speaker 1: talked about edge and you know the age of Khalil
Speaker 1: Mack and Joey Bosa. We talked about corner, and you
Speaker 1: brought up a great point about having to pay Michael Davison.
Speaker 1: It's not a Samuel having the unknown with with J. C. Jackson.
Speaker 1: We talked about wide receiver, We've talked about tight end,
Speaker 1: We've talked about running back. So at twenty one overall,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if there's a specific position
Speaker 1: that you're like, man, we have to get this. I
Speaker 1: think everything you have to see where the board goes. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: This is from our guy, our guys at Charger Chat podcast. Hey,
Speaker 1: Chris and Money, this Echolo situation is something you never
Speaker 1: want to see with him now taking the negotiations personally,
Speaker 1: with his most recent statements, how will this affect the
Speaker 1: team and do you think he will be able to
Speaker 1: assimilate back in without distractions. Listen, Austin is a professional.
Speaker 1: This is a business. I think both sides realize that
Speaker 1: this is a business, and sometimes feelings are hurt in business.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you gotta show
Speaker 1: up to work and you know, honor your contract. And
Speaker 1: I think the Chargers allowed Austin to go seek a
Speaker 1: trade and that's that's kind of where they are right now.
Speaker 1: So again, April Fifth, who knows, But you know, if
Speaker 1: it comes down to him being back with the Chargers,
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that Austin will maintain his professionalism
Speaker 1: and give his his all and one hundred percent to
Speaker 1: being the best back he can be for the Chargers.
Speaker 1: You would hope, certainly. It's it's a position that carries
Speaker 1: a lot of violence, you know, a lot of incoming
Speaker 1: violence to it. So to me, it's hard to expect
Speaker 1: someone to not have that in the back of their mind.
Speaker 1: I've got to go out and get a new contract.
Speaker 1: I've got a couple more prime earning years. I can't
Speaker 1: afford to get hurt. We know Austin took on all
Speaker 1: commerce you know he never went down on first contact.
Speaker 1: You hope that's still the case. The one thing I'll
Speaker 1: say you mentioned it, he's professional. He's still making six
Speaker 1: and a half million bucks from the Chargers is a
Speaker 1: lot of money that he's getting paid this year for
Speaker 1: his services, and he's got to prove to other teams
Speaker 1: that he's still got it. If his thought is I'm
Speaker 1: going to be a free agent, I want to get
Speaker 1: a big money deal and I'm going to go into
Speaker 1: the open market next year and make that money, well
Speaker 1: now you got to show it, and you've got to
Speaker 1: show that you still got it, so that it's essentially
Speaker 1: a free agent prove it year for him that he
Speaker 1: is going to be the touchdown leader and back to
Speaker 1: back to back seasons and continue to be that touchdown maker.
Speaker 1: He's gonna want those carries and he's gonna want those numbers.
Speaker 1: So he's gonna want to try to get to a
Speaker 1: hundred catches again. So he's gonna be out there making
Speaker 1: his point to the other teams that are going to
Speaker 1: be interested in him at this time next year. If
Speaker 1: the Chargers aren't selfishly and it's not my money and
Speaker 1: it's not my cap, that I have to manage. I
Speaker 1: would love it if they could figure out a way
Speaker 1: to tack on a year. To me, that'd be the
Speaker 1: best case. Can you take him it was age twenty
Speaker 1: nine year, give them a little bit more money, and
Speaker 1: that way you kind of meet in the middle. Hey,
Speaker 1: you're not getting a three year deal at twenty eight.
Speaker 1: It's teams just aren't going to do it. They're not
Speaker 1: going to give you big money into that year thirty
Speaker 1: age thirty age thirty one year. But we'll give you
Speaker 1: a little bit more as thank you for the previous
Speaker 1: two years, and we believe you can still be an
Speaker 1: effective back for at least the next two. So here's
Speaker 1: a little something makes feel better. I wonder if that
Speaker 1: you know, unfortunately time has pat that ship is sailed,
Speaker 1: and that's not going to happen. But to me, that
Speaker 1: and again, I'm not the one that's got to figure
Speaker 1: out how to make all this cap work and get
Speaker 1: everything to fit with all the needs and the depth.
Speaker 1: You know, you've already got the guy for six point
Speaker 1: two five, and there's really no reason to do it
Speaker 1: other than I'm not operating from just a straight business standpoint.
Speaker 1: I guess I'm operating from a bit of an emotional
Speaker 1: standpoint as well, But to me, that would be the
Speaker 1: best case. Winning also raises your profile, right, So if
Speaker 1: this is the last year of his deal and the
Speaker 1: Chargers in and he does everything he's done in the
Speaker 1: last two years, it'll make him that much more attractive
Speaker 1: on the open market too. If if that's what it's
Speaker 1: going to be in twenty twenty four, we love aust
Speaker 1: and I think they'll go ahead. On the flip side
Speaker 1: of that too, Chris is he may not want that.
Speaker 1: Maybe the Chargers already offered it. It's possible the Chargers
Speaker 1: are like, hey, we'll give you a year, and he
Speaker 1: and his agent said, that's not what we're looking for.
Speaker 1: We're willing for long term. We do not want a year.
Speaker 1: The last thing that they may say, the last thing
Speaker 1: that they want is to take him into his year
Speaker 1: twenty nine. They're trying to get that three years at
Speaker 1: twenty eight because now that he's taken through twenty nine O,
Speaker 1: there's no chance we're getting another deal after this. That's
Speaker 1: not you know, in the minimum range. So it's possible
Speaker 1: that they're just not interested in that too. I don't
Speaker 1: want to make that a one sided position of well,
Speaker 1: the Chargers should just do this. Aculer may not want
Speaker 1: it that. They may have said, we'll give you one
Speaker 1: extra year, we'll give you a bump up to let's
Speaker 1: say nine million bucks or something, and they said, no,
Speaker 1: not interested. Yep, that's that's something that is TBD. Again,
Speaker 1: we're at the beginning of April, got a long way
Speaker 1: to go until training camp at the end of July. So, um,
Speaker 1: this is from Brandon aside from John Johnson. What free
Speaker 1: agents would you like to see the team pursue either
Speaker 1: pre or post draft. Keep in mind guys like Kyle
Speaker 1: van Noy and Morgan Fox and Bryce Callahan. I believe
Speaker 1: they were all signed after the draft last year money,
Speaker 1: So um, I would listen, there's a there's a lot
Speaker 1: of decent players I shouldn't say decent, A lot of
Speaker 1: good players that are still available in this like third, fourth,
Speaker 1: fifth wave of free agency. UM, I don't know if
Speaker 1: there's anybody that stands out to you. I was taking
Speaker 1: a look at, you know, even up pulling up Greg
Speaker 1: Rosenthal's top one hundred right now and dock Ways out there.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna saying Dockways that one name that stood out
Speaker 1: to me the most. Jadeveon Clowney really good on the
Speaker 1: edge to help with the run, but not they not
Speaker 1: necessarily the best pass rusher Rocky is scene at corner.
Speaker 1: Reisner interior or Isaiah Wynn, who's just been a disaster.
Speaker 1: Marcus Peters interesting coming off the ACLA. Now. Leonard Floyd's
Speaker 1: interesting because we know we know Brandon Staley loves him.
Speaker 1: He's not someone that's gonna come cheap. But if you
Speaker 1: can figure out a way to craft the contract. We
Speaker 1: know that Staley loves that guy, had him in Chicago,
Speaker 1: had him in LA. So that's possibility. Old friend alert
Speaker 1: Melvin Ingram. Would he want to come back and play
Speaker 1: his last year on the charge unit? Situational pass Rodger
Speaker 1: at thirty five. Frank Clark was let go by the
Speaker 1: by the Chiefs, so he's out there. Heck, we know
Speaker 1: full well what he can do, as having to face
Speaker 1: him a couple of times. You already mentioned Bryce Callahan
Speaker 1: is still out there. I'm sure Brandon Staley wants John
Speaker 1: Johnson to me, that's I think that's a lowise position.
Speaker 1: I think they're comfortable with that. They don't want to
Speaker 1: spend the money so to me, those are me those
Speaker 1: are just like what is it going to cost you?
Speaker 1: What are we what are we looking at? How much
Speaker 1: do you want? How long do you want? Can we
Speaker 1: make it work? Sort of thing? But yeah, one of
Speaker 1: those edge rushers in Gockway, Clark, Um Floyd, I'm a
Speaker 1: super cheap side of thing Ingram. So it's bottom line,
Speaker 1: there's guys. Yeah, there's players out there. Yeah, there's there's
Speaker 1: definitely players out there from Louise who would be a
Speaker 1: good replacement for Carter as a punt returner wide receiver. Ford.
Speaker 1: Do you think they could double dip and draft two
Speaker 1: wide receivers? You know, last week we talked about DeAndre
Speaker 1: Carter and I think somebody somebody made mention that we
Speaker 1: like it was overblown. How how big of a loss
Speaker 1: it is. I'll just say this, the special teams the
Speaker 1: last three or four years before DeAndre Carter and Andre
Speaker 1: Roberts got into that position, it was tough. It was tough,
Speaker 1: and when you stabilize it, obviously you want to make
Speaker 1: sure you have somebody who can you could pass the
Speaker 1: torch too. I don't know who that guy is. I'm
Speaker 1: sure Ryan Ficken does. And Ryan Ficken has a plan
Speaker 1: and Brandon Salia has a plan. Uh, I don't know
Speaker 1: if that guy's on the roster right now, buddy. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's somebody they do draft possible. You know. It's it's
Speaker 1: typically not a position player because you want those guys
Speaker 1: to it's it's a very dangerous position that tends to, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: face a lot of injury. I'm just going through I'm
Speaker 1: going through player statistics here, so let's go returning. Um,
Speaker 1: how who are our best return that's for team. The
Speaker 1: thing that's interesting is when you go through it, it's
Speaker 1: not like we mentioned this last year, last year, last week.
Speaker 1: It's not like there's a ton of a ton of
Speaker 1: elite players out there. So I think that's that's something
Speaker 1: to keep in mind as I'm looking for like Keishan Nixon. Right,
Speaker 1: these aren't household names m waganu Wanagu. There we go,
Speaker 1: guy from Minnesota, Brandon Powell, Jerome for these are the
Speaker 1: top returners in terms of sort of who you know,
Speaker 1: Marcus Jones A mir Abdulah, think about plucking him off
Speaker 1: the scrap heap as a backup running back. Returner DeAndre
Speaker 1: Carter was seventh tied for seventh in kickoff returns. In
Speaker 1: punt returns, you had let's see Keyshaan Nixon at twelve seven,
Speaker 1: Marcus Jones at twelve five. DeAndre Carter was fourth at
Speaker 1: eleven seven, but really third because Pharaoh Cooper at the
Speaker 1: top and only returned twelve of them in five games. So,
Speaker 1: Braxton Barrios, what I'm getting at is, these are all Ray,
Speaker 1: Ray McLeod. These are a lot of these are free agents,
Speaker 1: you know, inexpensive free agents that are signed, and that's
Speaker 1: something that you should be able to find. And maybe
Speaker 1: a lot of it is more about Thicken and his
Speaker 1: system and the blocking and getting that part of it right,
Speaker 1: and the returner a sort of the cherry on the
Speaker 1: on the Sunday. All right, this is for money I
Speaker 1: fear most likely Chargers win fourteen games or a top
Speaker 1: three offense. This is for Matt money Smith. Fourteens a
Speaker 1: lot of games. Did anybody win fourteen games last year?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. Right, Oh my god? How many
Speaker 1: won fourteen games last year? Right? Yeah? I think thirteen
Speaker 1: was was the high. I want to say. Yeah. The
Speaker 1: Bills were third. Oh no, the Eagles went fourteen and three.
Speaker 1: So considering one out of thirty two did it last year?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say fourteen and three gonna be tough in
Speaker 1: a division with Patrick Mahomes in a conference with where
Speaker 1: where you're going. Let's see the Chargers, if I remember right,
Speaker 1: they're going to play the AFC East, so they've got
Speaker 1: to play Josh Allen, Miami, Bill Belichick, the Jet Robert
Speaker 1: Salas Jets defense. I think they get what are our
Speaker 1: I can't remember it's the NFC North this year, so
Speaker 1: maybe you catch a little bit of a break there,
Speaker 1: but you got a lot of teams on the com Yeah,
Speaker 1: fourteen seems a little it seems very unlikely. I'll just
Speaker 1: I'll leave it at that. As far as the offense,
Speaker 1: I expect the offense to be very good. I do.
Speaker 1: I think Kellen Moore is the right guy, Justin Herbert
Speaker 1: is an elite quarterback, still has Mike Williams, Keenan Allen,
Speaker 1: Austin Eckler, a solid offensive line. I would not be
Speaker 1: surprised if I'm so fourteen. I'm going through all of
Speaker 1: these now, No, no, no, it's better than all of these,
Speaker 1: better than all of these, better than all of these.
Speaker 1: Eagles offense could end up better than the Chargers. Cowboys
Speaker 1: lose Kellen Moore and Mike McCarthy's talking about running the
Speaker 1: ball more now better than that. So right now I've
Speaker 1: got one potential I think in the NFC in the Eagles, Denver,
Speaker 1: no Raiders, no Chargers, Chiefs Okay, So maybe that's a
Speaker 1: second offense that's ahead of them through the South, and
Speaker 1: Jacksonville would be the would be the only one in
Speaker 1: the North. The Bengals, we know, the Ravens, it's all
Speaker 1: Lamar dependent. Don't know what's going to happen there. And
Speaker 1: the Browns interesting full season with the Shawn Watson, all
Speaker 1: the weapons they have there, Nick Chubb, Maury Cooper, they
Speaker 1: got a lot going on in Cleveland. Or the Charger
Speaker 1: is going to be better than the Bills on offense.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I'll go top five, top five offense for
Speaker 1: the Chargers next season. I feel good about that, all right. Chris,
Speaker 1: does this team view defensive line as a need? It's
Speaker 1: a good question, I think with Austin Johnason coming back, Sebaston,
Speaker 1: Joseph Day, Morgan, Fox, Tito a Bonia, I think everyone
Speaker 1: forgot Tito got hurt too, So that's a nice nucleus,
Speaker 1: but you can never have enough, and you know, maybe
Speaker 1: maybe it is a neat in the draft money. Huge
Speaker 1: need just because we talked about it, you know, I
Speaker 1: think you really wanted Chris Rump to take that next
Speaker 1: step and unfortunately got banged up again. He had flashes,
Speaker 1: that's for sure, but so it's a huge need. Joey
Speaker 1: Bosa was injured for nearly the entire season and it
Speaker 1: was a struggle to replace him. Van noy finally started
Speaker 1: come on on in the back, and I'm hopeful I
Speaker 1: didn't mention Van Noi as a free agent. I'm very
Speaker 1: hopeful because we hear he wants to stay out here.
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping they can figure something out with Kyle
Speaker 1: to come back because he really started to settle into
Speaker 1: that role as an edge as opposed to an inside linebacker.
Speaker 1: So they need, yes, they need help. Don't know when
Speaker 1: Austin Johnson or Tito We're going to be back. Braden
Speaker 1: Fijocos out there shopping for a deal from a team. Yes,
Speaker 1: they defensive line. Braydon signed with the Steelers yesterday, So
Speaker 1: that's Steelers signed with the Steelers. Yeah, that's right, So
Speaker 1: he's gone. Um, Yeah, I think especially at edge, especially
Speaker 1: at edge, because I don't know if you can fully
Speaker 1: go into twenty twenty three confident that that Joey and
Speaker 1: Khalil are going to be on the field for all
Speaker 1: seventeen and Rump is your third guy. And so love
Speaker 1: that they brought back Morgan Fox. Yes, it is a priority.
Speaker 1: They need another edge rusher. They could probably use another
Speaker 1: body or two on the inside. They like Chris Hinton
Speaker 1: a lot. They really liked what he did when he
Speaker 1: came on a couple last I don't know, four or
Speaker 1: five games and then into the playoffs. So I think
Speaker 1: that's why Fijoko was let go. They decided to keep
Speaker 1: hitting and between those two. So all right, this is
Speaker 1: from bull Fit twenty four. Oh no, no it's not.
Speaker 1: I already did that one, Alvaro. If American Kaide and
Speaker 1: Robinson are out of the first should the Chargers trade
Speaker 1: back to get more draft capital and hope on getting
Speaker 1: Gibbs Washington Hyatt. We kind of talked about, Yes, we
Speaker 1: talked about that. My preference is that they trade backs.
Speaker 1: That's what my preference is. I think they need to
Speaker 1: get deeper, they need depth. We just talked about that.
Speaker 1: Defensive line. They need bodies on the defensive line. I
Speaker 1: would love to see another offensive lineman draft at high
Speaker 1: I'd love to see wide receivers like I want everything,
Speaker 1: and unfortunately they don't have thirty picks. So I'm trying
Speaker 1: to get more picks to get as much as if
Speaker 1: I'm the Chargers, I'm trying to get more picks to
Speaker 1: get more players, more bites at the apple to try
Speaker 1: to find starters. This is from Gerald Garrow. We haven't
Speaker 1: talked about Darwin that much, so this is a good question.
Speaker 1: Do you think Darwin James will play near the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage this season instead of moving him all around
Speaker 1: the defense from last season. I think people are saying
Speaker 1: Darwin playing close to the line will help better benefit
Speaker 1: the defense, so instead of using him as Yeah, so
Speaker 1: it's but yeah, it's not. It's not on the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, Chris, it's just close to the ball that
Speaker 1: the I get why you put him up high, But
Speaker 1: to me, the idea of being able to move him
Speaker 1: around just speaks to how elite of a player he is.
Speaker 1: That you can stack him opposite Travis Kelsey, that you
Speaker 1: can put him on a team's best receiver on their
Speaker 1: tight end. We saw him on Davante Adams at the
Speaker 1: end of that Raider game when it started getting close,
Speaker 1: like that's that's what. He's a special player, no matter
Speaker 1: what he's doing, if he's rushing the pastor if he's
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage to stop the run. But
Speaker 1: you're gonna lose a little bit by just leaving him,
Speaker 1: by just treating him as a box safety. He can
Speaker 1: play slot, he can play high, he can he can
Speaker 1: play edge. So that's that's why they use them the
Speaker 1: way they do. To me, the more interesting question, you know,
Speaker 1: apologies to I don't remember who you said asked it.
Speaker 1: I don't mean to reframe your question, but are we
Speaker 1: going to see him closer to the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: more often? Don't for me, I don't want to remember.
Speaker 1: The vision last year was we're drafting JT. Woods, We're
Speaker 1: going to play JT and Nas high. That's going to
Speaker 1: allow us to put Drwin wherever we want, and it
Speaker 1: just didn't come to fruition. So my hope is Allowie
Speaker 1: and JT now can play high, and Derwin can do
Speaker 1: what we thought he was going to have a shot
Speaker 1: to do last year that JT with a year of
Speaker 1: trying to figure this thing out. Because we know he's
Speaker 1: got the we know he's got the trades, he's got
Speaker 1: the speed, he's got the ability. He just did not
Speaker 1: quite have the vision and the instincts last year. And
Speaker 1: that's very It's a lot to ask of a high safety.
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping what full year of being able to
Speaker 1: take in very complicated defense that Brandon Staley runs, that
Speaker 1: JT is going to be ready for that role and
Speaker 1: we're going to see a lot more of Derwin close
Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage all over the field with
Speaker 1: those two guys high. Yeah, three months from now when
Speaker 1: we do our training camp storylines, j T woods big
Speaker 1: one leap from year one of the year two is
Speaker 1: going to be one of the main storylines. Foa Heli.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Alohe, what are we expecting from Gilman and
Speaker 1: Nick Nieman this year? Both guys stepped out towards the
Speaker 1: end of the year and played well. Do we see
Speaker 1: extended roles for them? You mentioned Alohe and how it's
Speaker 1: probably his job listen. Nieman's been great on special teams.
Speaker 1: Is that somebody who maybe get a little bit more
Speaker 1: run and linebacker, not with the signing of Kendricks, because
Speaker 1: coach Daley plays a ton of just one linebacker six
Speaker 1: defensive back sort of sets right with Derwin acting as
Speaker 1: that second linebacker. So could you see him, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean that would mean he's not taken away reps from
Speaker 1: Eric Kendricks. Eric's gonna be the green dot, would be
Speaker 1: my guest. He'll essentially be the play caller on that
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball. That's why they brought him in.
Speaker 1: They talked about not just his ability, but his intellect
Speaker 1: and what they wanted from him. So he's going to
Speaker 1: be on the field like Drew was last year every
Speaker 1: single play, which means you're now talking about Nieman instead
Speaker 1: of Kenneth Murray. And that would mean that Nick took
Speaker 1: a big step and Kenneth didn't. So is that possible. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's possible, but I'd be very surprised. He's an elite
Speaker 1: special teams player and those guys are important. Gosh, we
Speaker 1: know that. So he'll continue to be an elite special
Speaker 1: teams player. But if he's playing more, it's probably a
Speaker 1: product of Kenneth not progressing and not playing well. That's
Speaker 1: my vision of how he would get on the field.
Speaker 1: I don't really see any other path for him. Guys,
Speaker 1: thank you for all your questions. I don't know if
Speaker 1: we got to all of them. We got to most
Speaker 1: of them. What about Lindsay's Well, you have to think
Speaker 1: we're any of him this one. So yeah, our good
Speaker 1: friend Lindsay theory. Um, who are they taking with the
Speaker 1: twenty first overall pick? I figured that's your Chris money.
Speaker 1: Is that? Is that me? That's is that me? Okay?
Speaker 1: So so twenty first overall on April fifth. I don't
Speaker 1: think the running back's gonna be there. I don't think
Speaker 1: Kincaide's gonna be there. I'm gonna say Michael Mayer because
Speaker 1: of past Notre Dame players who have been drafted by
Speaker 1: the Chargers, it's a safe batman, it's a safe bet
Speaker 1: and uh and he's gonna do it all tight end
Speaker 1: and listen. I think I think Brett's video maybe influenced
Speaker 1: me a little bit too. And I think he can
Speaker 1: he can do a lot of the things that Dalton
Speaker 1: can do. He maybe not his skilled with with the
Speaker 1: ball skills, but um, Michael Mayer overall solid tight end
Speaker 1: for Justin Herbert. What about you money, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: zay Flowers today on April fifth, I go Zay Flowers.
Speaker 1: Just need to have I like I like the zay
Speaker 1: Flowers pick. Yeah, I need to have explained very head
Speaker 1: players on this on this offense need it desperately. I
Speaker 1: want to see more balls getting pushed down field, and
Speaker 1: I think Say would would encourage that. At the same time,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind an old lineman. I wouldn't mind a
Speaker 1: d lineman. I wouldn't know. There's a lot of things
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind whatever, But yeah, thanks Lindsay. Yep, that
Speaker 1: was Lindsay actually chimed in first two, which I really
Speaker 1: appreciate it. I think I think I put this sweet
Speaker 1: at eight thirty and her time stip is eight thirty.
Speaker 1: So there you go, thank you, perfect time. A Uh, well,
Speaker 1: you know we should do another one the day before
Speaker 1: the draft. We'll do another Q and a day before
Speaker 1: the draft. Maybe we'll get somebody onto to help answer
Speaker 1: some of these questions. Money, I'll work on a guest
Speaker 1: for next week. I always appreciate your time, brother, We'll
Speaker 1: see you next week. All right, all right, guys, all right, guys,
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