Speaker 1: All right, what's up, guys. Welcome into a brand new
Speaker 1: episode of Chargers Weekly. Here with Matt Buddy Smith, who
Speaker 1: is back from his Hawaiian vacation. Money, a lot of
Speaker 1: talk about the birds, Sharpen, you are really getting a
Speaker 1: surf in. How was the trip incredible? You know, like,
Speaker 1: as you're gonna learn, Chris, you're about to go to
Speaker 1: hawaire yourself. It's it's the best. The fact that we
Speaker 1: lived here in southern California have precluded me from from
Speaker 1: going to Hawaii for a while. All our vacations were
Speaker 1: to not beach destinations. It was like, we got the
Speaker 1: beach right here, why am I going to the beach?
Speaker 1: And then finally the wife managed to convince me just
Speaker 1: go once, and yeah, I'm good going to Hawaii every
Speaker 1: single year. Now the aloha just di vibe that you
Speaker 1: can dial it back from, you know, ten to five
Speaker 1: and that's the level everyone's operating on is and of course,
Speaker 1: you know, because I like to surf, the waves were
Speaker 1: freaking incredible. We ended up getting a big swell there
Speaker 1: in the the wiki Ki area, so I ended up
Speaker 1: catching some tasty waves. Rah. But like there was the
Speaker 1: best place in the world to surf, right, It's it's
Speaker 1: one of them, you know, especially it all depends on
Speaker 1: the swell you to get luckier, you don't it. The
Speaker 1: first two days I was there, they were not to
Speaker 1: bore everybody. I'll get through this quick, you know. There
Speaker 1: we were not very big waves. But the last four
Speaker 1: days we were there, the swell came and yeah, I
Speaker 1: got I got some freaking big ones. So it was
Speaker 1: it was a lot, a lot of fun and cannot
Speaker 1: recommend it enough for all those that maybe have that
Speaker 1: mindset that that I did for a while of why
Speaker 1: am I leaving the beach to go to the beach.
Speaker 1: It's a different beach and it's a different vibe, and
Speaker 1: it's it's the best. The only thing that sucks is
Speaker 1: leaving because you know you're going back to the rat
Speaker 1: race and just kind of the way we operate here
Speaker 1: so differently than the way they operate there. Well, I
Speaker 1: will try to replicate. I'll wear a tank top, I'll
Speaker 1: get up at five thirty am Thursday. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I don't know if I'll get into water and
Speaker 1: surf because I'm not on that level. But well, and
Speaker 1: you got no waves, you're going see that's the difference.
Speaker 1: You're going to a spot where there's no waves in
Speaker 1: the summer, and now it's a winter wave, so you
Speaker 1: have no You're gonna snarkle though, and you're gonna grab
Speaker 1: your mask and your your snorkel and you're gonna see
Speaker 1: some some pretty stow. I'm gonna have you snorkle there
Speaker 1: at appeale and report back and sweet things there, all right,
Speaker 1: can't wait? And you know it's the off season, so
Speaker 1: guys are on vacation and there's not a ton to
Speaker 1: talk about in terms of new news, So I thought
Speaker 1: it'd be a perfect episode for a mailback. And we
Speaker 1: had some great questions coming in yesterday that porn in
Speaker 1: this warning. And let's just get right into a money
Speaker 1: and we'll start with one that we've talked about a lot,
Speaker 1: and we don't have to spend a ton of time
Speaker 1: on this one, but this is from Eric, curious to
Speaker 1: hear thoughts on the right tackle spot and who will
Speaker 1: win the job. And I think the last couple of
Speaker 1: weeks we've been talking pretty high about Trey Pipkins and
Speaker 1: in fact the storm Morton's there too, and the coaches
Speaker 1: have a lot of trust I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: between any of the guys other than those two. Well,
Speaker 1: I think it goes back to what we've talked about repeatedly,
Speaker 1: and that's that we've speculated, you know, that they would
Speaker 1: sign someone, that someone would get cut or someone would
Speaker 1: get healthy, you know, one of these vets and not
Speaker 1: the case. So it's it's gonna be Tray or Storm.
Speaker 1: I believe that. I don't know if if you know,
Speaker 1: unless the one other wrinkle is if a guard raises
Speaker 1: his hand and Filer kicks out to right tackle, if
Speaker 1: someone's performing really well at one of the interior spots,
Speaker 1: and they feel a lot more comfortable putting that particular
Speaker 1: player between Slater and Lindsley and that way, having you know,
Speaker 1: the rookie zion between Filer and Lindsley like they did
Speaker 1: with Slater next to Filer, just to kind of help
Speaker 1: ease that transition to the NFL. So that's the only
Speaker 1: that's the only path I see to it not being
Speaker 1: Tray or Storm. And if I were to put odds
Speaker 1: on it, I would I would say Trey is probably
Speaker 1: the favorite, just because I feel like they know what
Speaker 1: Storm is has to offer. I think they've viewed Storm
Speaker 1: as a real good back up. You know, if we're
Speaker 1: in a pit in we feel good about Storm being
Speaker 1: able to come in and give us a half or
Speaker 1: a game or something like that. But I'm not sure
Speaker 1: they want to operate like they did last year where
Speaker 1: he's your starting right tackle, you know, from the from
Speaker 1: the go. Yeah, I think two scenarios there. The first
Speaker 1: is what you said. If a guard shows up and says, hey,
Speaker 1: I could do this, and they believe in having one
Speaker 1: of these guys be a starting caliber left guard and
Speaker 1: you kick Filer out, or if the right tackle play
Speaker 1: during training camp preseason it's just not what they expected,
Speaker 1: maybe then you also kick Filer out. But I would
Speaker 1: bet on train Storm. Popper wrote about Trey in The
Speaker 1: Athletic last week, so if you want more insight on
Speaker 1: his offseason, check that out. So yeah, right tackle, man,
Speaker 1: that has been a topic of conversation among the fans
Speaker 1: more so than I think almost any question money. I mean,
Speaker 1: what else? What else is there? You know? I mean,
Speaker 1: it really is the one, And I think it's also
Speaker 1: because it's the last thing we remember, you know, we
Speaker 1: remember Max Craws be wrecking shop and just you know,
Speaker 1: and that's that's kind of what we keep talking about.
Speaker 1: You can't you don't have to be elite, but you
Speaker 1: can't be a liability. And I think you know, unfortunately
Speaker 1: for Storm in that game, they they found it, they
Speaker 1: attacked it relentlessly, and the Raiders succeeded every time they
Speaker 1: attacked it, and it really made for a long evening.
Speaker 1: Um that Herbert was able to overcome despite the amount
Speaker 1: of pressure he was under from that side of the line.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's the biggest question, um, and I think
Speaker 1: it's it's one that that's gonna certainly have its attention
Speaker 1: on it all training camp long. And look this like
Speaker 1: the thing with Trey, just to wrap it up, you
Speaker 1: want to talk about a coaching staff and a front office,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to kind of shake hands and
Speaker 1: feel good together. That's a big swing. You know, a
Speaker 1: third round pick on a guy that you knew was
Speaker 1: going to be a prod. I think that's what Trey
Speaker 1: was right, he was a third fourth. I think that's
Speaker 1: a that's an investment and a guy from Sioux Falls
Speaker 1: State that played at that level of competition and they're like,
Speaker 1: you know what our evaluators believe in the traits, we
Speaker 1: think we can get him going. So to have a
Speaker 1: coaching staff come in and develop what the front office
Speaker 1: saw and what their vision was, that goes a long way,
Speaker 1: you know, and having a team work together front office
Speaker 1: and coaching staff and really have them mirror one another
Speaker 1: when it comes to what they believe in quick story,
Speaker 1: I remember interviewing Trey the next day after he was
Speaker 1: drafted and he told me his draft story. He was
Speaker 1: in the car on his way to a restaurant with
Speaker 1: his family. He thought that he wasn't getting drafted that
Speaker 1: day in the third round, So he gets the call.
Speaker 1: Usually families are in front of the television and they're
Speaker 1: waiting for that big moment. He was out to dinner,
Speaker 1: so it shows you what he thought about maybe going
Speaker 1: in the third round. It was probably a surprise to him.
Speaker 1: So you flash forward now again we talked to the
Speaker 1: last two weeks. He looks like a different guy. We'll
Speaker 1: see if that translates the field come training him. This
Speaker 1: next question money from Jesse. Are the Volts done adding
Speaker 1: free agents? Are you comfy heading into the season with
Speaker 1: these linemen and linebackers. It feels like the front office
Speaker 1: has addressed everything, but one or two spots. Why start
Speaker 1: off the year with the glaring Achilles heel, So don't.
Speaker 1: I don't view it that way. I think that they
Speaker 1: feel like this is the team going in and they've
Speaker 1: made this a more complete team. They've brought in guys
Speaker 1: at the linebacker position that Brandon Staley is comfortable with.
Speaker 1: They address both both lines. In my estimation, when you
Speaker 1: bring in Sebaster, Justice Day and Austin Johnson, I think
Speaker 1: that there are some big names out there that may
Speaker 1: have been bigger impact players in like twenty fourteen twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: But I don't think there's anybody that they're counting on
Speaker 1: to come into camp and make a difference, save for
Speaker 1: maybe if there's an injury. I don't I guess that.
Speaker 1: I don't get the linebacker part of that. You got
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack. He's, you know, essentially a linebackers coached by
Speaker 1: the linebackers coach in Chicago who was Brandon Staley. So
Speaker 1: the way this defense is set up, he's an edge. Uh,
Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy is an edge. There's two linebackers, and
Speaker 1: then you get Troy Reader who was in the system
Speaker 1: and was successful with the Rams. And then we think
Speaker 1: about last year, you know when when Aiman had his opportunity,
Speaker 1: he performed. Nick Neeman's a linebacker is one of the
Speaker 1: best special teams players, if not the best special teams
Speaker 1: player on the team, and when he got his opportunity,
Speaker 1: he's shine. And then he got Drew Tranquil and Kenneth Murray.
Speaker 1: So I don't, I don't quite know who's out there
Speaker 1: at linebacker that they're talking about and they would think
Speaker 1: could come in, Like I'm worried that one of those
Speaker 1: guys is gonna have to try to fly through on
Speaker 1: the practice squad and isn't gonna make it. You know,
Speaker 1: when you talk about lining up Murray Neeman, Aymon, Troy Tranquil,
Speaker 1: five guys at the you know it kind of that
Speaker 1: inside linebacker spot. That doesn't you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: it doesn't get a lot I'm comfortable with the linebacker
Speaker 1: one linebacker there. They play a lot of one inside
Speaker 1: linebacker and a bunch of edge So like that's like,
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't, I don't understand that. And what
Speaker 1: was the other one at linebacker an old line or
Speaker 1: it said Lineman, So I mean it doesn't. I mean
Speaker 1: they addressed the d line. They got Morgan Fox just recently,
Speaker 1: so that's your your third behind h comings. Yeah. That
Speaker 1: look someone's gonna get cut on that. Yeah. Like that
Speaker 1: when you talk about making the fifty three, like someone's
Speaker 1: not gonna be around or someone's gonna be trying. You
Speaker 1: know they're gonna try to get them through on the
Speaker 1: the practice squad. I mean you got Fox, Fajoko Covington, Uh,
Speaker 1: Andrew Brown who they signed off the Rams practice squad, Sebastian,
Speaker 1: Joseph Day, Austin Johnson. We so we love the way
Speaker 1: Forrest Merrill looked in in preseason. Uh, and the penetration
Speaker 1: he can get get up getting up field. They draft Tito, Uh,
Speaker 1: there's Tillery who didn't get his first soul like that.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I appreciate the question. I
Speaker 1: just don't quite get it. And I think we already
Speaker 1: addressed the old line. And remember they picked up Will Clap,
Speaker 1: so you know they're that's nine. You know, that's that's
Speaker 1: nine guys. When you go with the starting five and
Speaker 1: then you add let's just say the starting five is
Speaker 1: is Pipkins, then you add Norton six, Uh, Sawyer who
Speaker 1: they you know, drafted and probably believe in seven himus
Speaker 1: eight clap nine and there's your your nine olignement. So
Speaker 1: I don't quite know what what's out there. I looked
Speaker 1: at the remaining free agents in Rosenthal's top one hundred
Speaker 1: just to kind of see, yeah, there's either if there
Speaker 1: was an injury. Let's say, let's say, if there's an
Speaker 1: injury to right tackle, you got Dwayne Brown, Eric Fisher,
Speaker 1: Riley Reef. Those are like three dudes that yeah, so
Speaker 1: and Reef's the only right tackle. You know. Dwyane Brown's
Speaker 1: gonna left his whole life, Fisher's gonna left his whole life. Um.
Speaker 1: I know people think it's easy. It's not. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not. When you're thirty seven years old and you're
Speaker 1: Dwayne Brown, it's all of hey, get on the right side.
Speaker 1: That's yeah, that's tough. Go. So that's that's not ideal. Now,
Speaker 1: Reef if he's healthy, you know, but he wasn't that
Speaker 1: great in Cincinnati and uh and got hurt. So and
Speaker 1: again these are these are names like in Dominican sue
Speaker 1: like in twenty fourteen, sign me up, Julio Jones in
Speaker 1: twenty twelve, sign me up. But you know, I think
Speaker 1: those guys are out there for a reason. They probably
Speaker 1: don't want to go to training camp A and be
Speaker 1: they're looking to sign with the contender, which the Chargers
Speaker 1: are a contender. But I don't know. I can see
Speaker 1: Julio Jones catching balls from Matt Ryan in Indianapolis and
Speaker 1: Sue go into a variety of places and look, I
Speaker 1: mean if it's a flyer, like you know, like last
Speaker 1: year when he was made available, I had hope that
Speaker 1: the Chargers would take a flyer on Odell because I mean,
Speaker 1: I didn't put in one here because yeah, but he's in.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's gonna be he's gonna miss most of
Speaker 1: the season, you know what I mean. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: think the Rams showed, yeah, you know, we'll take a
Speaker 1: flyer on the guy because it's a flyer and if
Speaker 1: it doesn't work, then you cut him and it's no
Speaker 1: big deal. So yeah, I get that part of it.
Speaker 1: If you want to take a flyer on Julio or
Speaker 1: something like that, okay, But if you don't, I think
Speaker 1: it comes down to if you're Tom and his staff
Speaker 1: and Brandon and his staff, and you don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna beat out the guys that have been in your
Speaker 1: system for a year now, then there's no reason to
Speaker 1: bring him in and give him valuable reps that you'd
Speaker 1: rather give to the other guys that you feel better about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, this next question, actually two people ask this
Speaker 1: in different ways, so we'll just try to tackle it
Speaker 1: in one. Our guy Gay, but who's your pick for
Speaker 1: Chargers breakout star of the season? And remember last week
Speaker 1: we did five players that we think are essential to
Speaker 1: the team, maybe not necessarily breakout stars, but guys who
Speaker 1: we think need to have good seasons. And then which
Speaker 1: Chargers player do you believe will have the biggest breakout
Speaker 1: season which is open to interpretation in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: Not necessarily who needs to, but who do you see
Speaker 1: actually doing it? That's from our guy Dan. So the
Speaker 1: name that came to me was nasatterly because I think
Speaker 1: the main reason Terry McLaurin got his extension that kept
Speaker 1: showing scary Terry highlights in week one, ridiculous catchy made
Speaker 1: that Nas should have pained through Naz's arms. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: that just kind of put the light ballf in my
Speaker 1: head that man, if NAS hits on you know, four
Speaker 1: or five of those this year he could be that
Speaker 1: breakout star in the secondary that puts this defense over
Speaker 1: the hume, Like, I'm gonna I don't know if this
Speaker 1: is what they're looking for, but this is my answer.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be Khalil Mack. You know, people are writing
Speaker 1: them off and they're like, oh, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: going to your point, Chris, what you were saying about
Speaker 1: some of the guys that are out there about Hey,
Speaker 1: if it's twenty sixteen, okay, Khalil Mat Kalil Mack. Last
Speaker 1: year when he was healthy, he was a wrecking machine,
Speaker 1: wrecking machine, and he was wrecking so much shop that
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn at thirty four ended up having a career
Speaker 1: year when he piled up all those sacks early. So
Speaker 1: I don't think, like I just don't think Chargers fans are.
Speaker 1: I think the national media is a little bit more
Speaker 1: understanding of the kind of impact that this move is
Speaker 1: going to have. You know, the fact that that Bosa
Speaker 1: And it's one of the reasons why I don't like
Speaker 1: the PFF grades because there's just so much that goes
Speaker 1: into every single snap when you have eleven pieces moving
Speaker 1: on a play that it's hard to create an individual
Speaker 1: player because you don't know what's asked of them, you
Speaker 1: don't know what they face. You know who's on that
Speaker 1: same line with them that's drawing attention versus the attention
Speaker 1: that's being paid to them. Khalil like, I'm gonna just
Speaker 1: connect to those two. Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa are
Speaker 1: going to be a problem, a giant freaking problem for teams.
Speaker 1: We know the value that is placed on offensive linemen,
Speaker 1: how high they get drafted, how much money they get paid,
Speaker 1: the draft capital that has exchanged for them, you know,
Speaker 1: and how few elite offensive linemen there are. Chargers have
Speaker 1: two elite defense. I believe Joey Bosa is the best
Speaker 1: all around defensive end of the game, the best. No
Speaker 1: one is better at stopping the run and rushing the
Speaker 1: passer as a combined individual than Joey. And to have
Speaker 1: he and Khalil and one of them is going to
Speaker 1: be one on one when the both of them are
Speaker 1: on the field, that's a problem. That to me, that's
Speaker 1: your breakout player. Those two guys are going to be
Speaker 1: All pros this year and it's going to be the
Speaker 1: main reason why as long as everyone stays how the
Speaker 1: discharger team and this defense really excels. You know, he's
Speaker 1: going to benefit the most from from those guys, is
Speaker 1: Kyle van Noy. I mean, he could have a career
Speaker 1: high in sacks potentially. Like let's say, like Khalil has
Speaker 1: twelve sacks, Joey has ten. I wouldn't be surprised if
Speaker 1: Van Noy had eight or nine, right, just because of
Speaker 1: the double teams. And that's what he does. Like that's
Speaker 1: what's that's why the Van Noy signing was so huge.
Speaker 1: Is this guy every single year is floor is typically
Speaker 1: five you know, and if he's putting great spots, you're
Speaker 1: talking about a guy that's you know, five plus sacks.
Speaker 1: There's always a couple of forced fumbles, he might get
Speaker 1: his hand on an interception, He's got a ton of tips.
Speaker 1: He's really smart at the line of scrimmage, and no
Speaker 1: one went to pull up from his rush and and
Speaker 1: just get those arms up, you know, because he recognizes
Speaker 1: he's not going to get to the quarterback. Absolutely. You know,
Speaker 1: Chris Rump could end up with a four to six
Speaker 1: sack year. So like that's to me, I just feel
Speaker 1: like that's not being paid enough attention to there isn't
Speaker 1: enough attention being placed on what it means to have
Speaker 1: those two guys. You know, if everything is right with
Speaker 1: Leal Max's foot when he's out there, you know, come
Speaker 1: Sunday night and the Raiders are are in our Sunday
Speaker 1: afternoon and the Raiders ron La another guy. Give me
Speaker 1: Isaiah Spiller on offense. I just think that that guy
Speaker 1: is gonna bring in dimension to the O. And you
Speaker 1: know we talbot him. Yeah, I hope, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: on on offense. To me, it's it's it's Everett. You know,
Speaker 1: I think we saw how often Justin Herbert wants to
Speaker 1: go to the tight end. He you know, he targeted
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry a lot, especially in the red zone. He
Speaker 1: targeted Jared Cook a lot, especially in the red zone. Um.
Speaker 1: And to now have you know an athlete you know
Speaker 1: that's got a little bit more juiced than than Jared
Speaker 1: did last year there. Um and you just it seems
Speaker 1: like it's a name that keeps coming up. You know,
Speaker 1: people are, hey, you know, Jared, we got we gotta
Speaker 1: run after catch there. Now we got some action. And
Speaker 1: you think about what Joe Lombard He's done with tight ends,
Speaker 1: you know, in New Orleans obviously with Jimmy Graham, you know,
Speaker 1: heading the list there. So I mean, I'm excited about
Speaker 1: Everett as well. His numbers have gotten better every single season.
Speaker 1: And Herbert by far, I think the best quarterback he's
Speaker 1: gonna play with throughout the course of a seventeen games.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so all right, next question from Mark guy
Speaker 1: Jimmy famm any chance Brown and Marks knock off both
Speaker 1: Kelly and Rowntree in this running back battle. So if
Speaker 1: you don't know Kevin Marks from Buffalo and Lady Brown
Speaker 1: from West Virginia two undrafted guys, Jimmy, I wouldn't take
Speaker 1: it out of the realm with possibilities. It just it
Speaker 1: comes down to special teams. And you know, we don't
Speaker 1: know much about Kevin Marks and Lady Brown is pros,
Speaker 1: especially during OTAs in mini camp. We got to see
Speaker 1: the pads on in training camp in preseason. But listen,
Speaker 1: Marks had thirty three touchdowns at Buffalo, Brown twenty seven
Speaker 1: at West Virginia four point seven yards a pop back
Speaker 1: to back a thousand yards seasons. So you know, I
Speaker 1: think with Roundtree and Kelly, Kelly was drafted by the
Speaker 1: previous regime Roundtree is gonna have to show that he
Speaker 1: can excel on special teams and then when he has
Speaker 1: given those opportunities in the game that he can do
Speaker 1: something with him especially because of the guy that we mentioned,
Speaker 1: Isaiah Spiller. Yeah, I think the one thing that you know,
Speaker 1: people get excited about, and they should, it's a running back.
Speaker 1: What are you supposed to do? You're supposed to run.
Speaker 1: You better be able to pass protect. That's what it's
Speaker 1: gonna come down to. So I know, the numbers aren't
Speaker 1: there for a round Tree and for Kelly uh and
Speaker 1: you'd love to get more production out of them. A
Speaker 1: lot of that's a product of the offensive line. Um.
Speaker 1: Certainly it's not just them running the football, but it's
Speaker 1: it's you know, what holes are being opened. But to me,
Speaker 1: it's passpro you know, and and and Josh is good
Speaker 1: in passpro. You know, he does it. He does a
Speaker 1: pretty darn good job there. So you better be able
Speaker 1: to block or else. You know, they just especially on
Speaker 1: third down, they can't afford to put you out there. Um,
Speaker 1: so that's that's the key. But yeah, look, I mean
Speaker 1: we've seen, you know, year after year, Chris right, we've
Speaker 1: seen running backs make it that are undrafted. You know,
Speaker 1: Auston Eckler, Darius Bradwell, like running backs make this team
Speaker 1: that we're undrafted. So I don't think it's it's a
Speaker 1: great question, um, and and I'm not saying no, they can't.
Speaker 1: Absolutely they could. But the one thing they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to do beyond running the football is being able to block, yeah,
Speaker 1: and play special teams that yeah, that third phase. All right,
Speaker 1: this is from a big Red Bolts fan. That's a
Speaker 1: fun question. With how Stanley's putting together the D. It
Speaker 1: isn't going to fit into any of the current named
Speaker 1: system since it's a hybrid system and there are at
Speaker 1: least five players who will play up to five techniques.
Speaker 1: He's got a name for this one. The perfect name
Speaker 1: is the high hy dash five defense, the high five defense. Money.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the high five defense? Love it?
Speaker 1: I think, well, I think the one thing that people
Speaker 1: and this look, this really kind of came into play
Speaker 1: when Wade and his three four started kind of showing
Speaker 1: up right and started making some noise. And now our
Speaker 1: four three and the Tampa two is being challenged by
Speaker 1: this three four in Baltimore and three four of Wade Phillips,
Speaker 1: and they're in subs so often, like you are, in
Speaker 1: sub packages ninety percent of the game as opposed to
Speaker 1: you know, fifty percent or so. So it's like, I
Speaker 1: understand what they're saying. It's you know, are they gonna
Speaker 1: have five down linemen? You know? Are they gonna run
Speaker 1: seven up front? You know? Are they gonna run seven
Speaker 1: defensive backs? Now that they've got those two safeties with Durwin?
Speaker 1: You know, who can act? Is that that one linebacker?
Speaker 1: Maybe if you want to go a little bit smaller
Speaker 1: because of how dynamic he is. Yeah, dude, I like
Speaker 1: the name. I love it. But um, but I think
Speaker 1: almost every defense now is a hybrid defense. You know,
Speaker 1: except for one guy that's Gus Bradley. There was there
Speaker 1: was one guy out there that is is gonna do
Speaker 1: very very little other than play single high rush for
Speaker 1: rarely blitz. There's usually three linebackers, all right, maybe there's
Speaker 1: two and a nickel dB out there. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: now we saw him be forced into having those six
Speaker 1: six defensive backs because of injuries to Denzel and you know,
Speaker 1: and oh Cheevez helped me out. Who am I forgetting?
Speaker 1: Who is our other linebacker, Jeron, help me out. Wait,
Speaker 1: Javis Brown, Davis Brown, there you go. Exactly when when
Speaker 1: those guys both went down and Adrian Phillips's really a safety,
Speaker 1: was playing linebacker. That's the only time the GUS has
Speaker 1: ever shifted from what he normally does and wants to do.
Speaker 1: So that's unless Gus is your DC. You're doing a
Speaker 1: ton of sub packages and there's very little. Hey, this
Speaker 1: is what this defense is, big Red Bolts fan. Put
Speaker 1: a pet and pending on high five defense and see
Speaker 1: if anybody takes it. All right, I was going through
Speaker 1: some of the replies last night. I think this is
Speaker 1: my favorite question money. This is from Daniel Kabanac. If
Speaker 1: you were trapped on a deserted island with three current Chargers,
Speaker 1: name the three that would give you the best shot
Speaker 1: at survival and explain why. Oh man, all right, so
Speaker 1: let's see three. Let me see I got the Well.
Speaker 1: One pops into my mind immediately, and to me, that's
Speaker 1: the easy one, and that's Brandon Phoco because he's from
Speaker 1: the Islands, so he's gonna have working knowledge on how
Speaker 1: we're going to survive being a guy from the Islands.
Speaker 1: So that's my number one U number two boy, oh boy,
Speaker 1: let's see Drwin. I just think he would keep my
Speaker 1: spirits up. You know, he's on my team simply because
Speaker 1: of his his enthusiasm, personality and you know, keeping everybody together.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna feel like, Okay, we got a chance to
Speaker 1: get off this thing, he says. So so I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna buy it. And U and three boy, Now
Speaker 1: let me just go through the position group. So line no,
Speaker 1: because they're gonna eat everything and they they need to sustain.
Speaker 1: So you know what, So that's the thing. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go Asante because I need someone that's my size that's
Speaker 1: not going to consume too much food, so we can
Speaker 1: you know, we're probably gonna have to live. You know,
Speaker 1: our sustenance is gonna have to to allow both of
Speaker 1: us to live. So somebody who maybe wouldn't be able
Speaker 1: to really physically overpower me and just snatch not saying
Speaker 1: he couldn't, of course he could, but you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, he's he's the only guy on the team
Speaker 1: that I'm bigger than, perhaps or at least equal to
Speaker 1: in terms of size. So at least that way we
Speaker 1: could we could share a little bit of food and
Speaker 1: I might be able to survive this nightmare. All right?
Speaker 1: So you got Fihoko, Drwin and Asantete. Derwin is the
Speaker 1: one commonality here because it's such a mental game and
Speaker 1: I feel like I can't lose if Darwin's telling me
Speaker 1: we can't lose, right right, So Darw was number one
Speaker 1: for me, just to kind of set the foundation. Number
Speaker 1: two is just at Herbert because I feel like I
Speaker 1: need another leader on the island. And he was president
Speaker 1: of the fishing club, right and oh there you go,
Speaker 1: so and I think he was biology. Right, wasn't he
Speaker 1: a biology major, all academic, all American biology? So at least,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe a lot there. You get us some
Speaker 1: food and the third col christians him a west Point leader.
Speaker 1: I want, I want a real leader there. So so
Speaker 1: Cole Durwin and justin versus Durwin, Fajoko and Asante. Yeah again,
Speaker 1: part of its survival, man, its survival. You know you
Speaker 1: got three big dudes, uh that are gonna be eating
Speaker 1: all that food and there might not be enough. All right.
Speaker 1: This is the second half of Daniel's question, which is
Speaker 1: very different but still a good one. Which player pastor
Speaker 1: present would you like to most see return to the
Speaker 1: team as a coach, well, obviously Philip. Yeah, Phillips, that's
Speaker 1: the no brainer. He's a coach, you know, and he's
Speaker 1: a he's a coach on the field, and he's a
Speaker 1: football junkie. So yeah, that's amazing, easy one. Yeah, I'd
Speaker 1: say Philip too. I you know what, Adrian Phillips is
Speaker 1: one that that I think would be a good yes
Speaker 1: down the line too, but not close to Phil exactly.
Speaker 1: And there aren't many players in the NFL that are
Speaker 1: close to Phil that you would rather have come back.
Speaker 1: It's like, like, I don't know, I'm trying to think
Speaker 1: of save Peyton Manning, you know that. That's kind of
Speaker 1: off the top of my head. I cannot think of anybody,
Speaker 1: you know. That's the level that that Rivers was on,
Speaker 1: just seeing things, diagnosing things, knowing exactly what was going
Speaker 1: on on the other side of the football. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: that to me is an easy one plus plus as
Speaker 1: a member of the media, like, that's the SoundBite you want, right,
Speaker 1: You want him at the podium every Thursday talking about
Speaker 1: everything that's going on, probably a fifteen twenty minute pressment.
Speaker 1: Gosh darn that, gum gum all right, next one from Scott.
Speaker 1: What would Guyton and Palmer have to do this season
Speaker 1: to make the Chargers offense a true super Bowl caliber? Oh?
Speaker 1: The Jamar Chase added that extra oomph and help help
Speaker 1: since I had to get to the big game. Guiton Palmer,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, must have a big impact. What do
Speaker 1: you think about that? Well, you know, it's not fair
Speaker 1: to put them in the category of Jamar Chase. You know,
Speaker 1: Jamar is the Keenan Allen, Jamar is the Mike Willis.
Speaker 1: It's like a top five receiver. Yeah, so you're talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, can they can they be the te Higgins
Speaker 1: who's also incredible, Like that's your other teen and Allen
Speaker 1: and Mike Williams. I mean, look, they I don't think
Speaker 1: that super Bowl, you know, super Bowl appearance or regular
Speaker 1: season success is going to be predicated on then having
Speaker 1: an exceptional year. I think they like, honestly, you want
Speaker 1: me to know what you want me to tell you
Speaker 1: what I think they need to do? Catch the ball.
Speaker 1: Justin's gonna find matchups. Yeah, catch the ball when Justin
Speaker 1: throws it to you, because he's gonna put it in
Speaker 1: a great spot. And if you can catch it, then
Speaker 1: you'll be fine. You know that to me, is is
Speaker 1: pretty much what they have to do. And I think
Speaker 1: we saw we definitely saw Josh Palmer do it. We
Speaker 1: saw Jalen Dyton do it most of the time. I
Speaker 1: think he's got a little bit further to go than
Speaker 1: Josh does. I feel better about Josh's hands than I
Speaker 1: do Dtan's right now. But of course Guydan's got the speed,
Speaker 1: so you know, if he's able to take that next step,
Speaker 1: which plenty of people have done. You know, I think
Speaker 1: about Tyrell Williams, right, you know, just kind of not
Speaker 1: Tyroll Williams. Am I Why am I blanking on these names?
Speaker 1: Oregon State, our guy are out of not Oregon State West,
Speaker 1: wasn't it Tyrell? Yeah? Okay, I'm thinking t Billy for
Speaker 1: some reason, which is not who I'm talking about. Tyrell
Speaker 1: in twenty eight Tyrell Williams exactly who kind of came
Speaker 1: out of nowhere and just took that jump and became
Speaker 1: that deep threat and his hands became a little bit
Speaker 1: more reliable. I remember you had that huge drop in
Speaker 1: the New England game. That was a disaster, But yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it. Catch the ball, you know, because they're gonna
Speaker 1: win their matchups wide receivers. The way the rules are now.
Speaker 1: It's so I'm not saying it's easy, but the rules
Speaker 1: favor the wide receivers to get open. You know, the
Speaker 1: way that you can't put your hands. There's so many
Speaker 1: flags thrown for holding her pass interference. So just catch
Speaker 1: the ball. That's it. Take full advantage of Mike Williams
Speaker 1: and Keenan Allen and Gerald Everett on the field. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the same time as you right and said, I think
Speaker 1: that Austin Ekeler, I think a positive development last year.
Speaker 1: Palmer in Guyden caught touchdowns late in the year. I
Speaker 1: think they combined for like six touchdowns in December and January,
Speaker 1: so they were making plays late in the year. I
Speaker 1: think that's a an indication that Palmer was really starting
Speaker 1: to get it and obviously getting more playing time, and
Speaker 1: Guyden got in in a groove there. I remember that
Speaker 1: since an Eddie game where yeah, he had a big game.
Speaker 1: I think he had he had that huge touchdown, maybe
Speaker 1: Justin's best throw ever. Right, that was the guiding against
Speaker 1: the Giants. Against the Giants was the guiding Yeah, I
Speaker 1: look called arguably the bet the biggest touchdown of the
Speaker 1: year against the Raiders on fourth down, right, wasn't that?
Speaker 1: I think that was Josh that they caught that ball
Speaker 1: if I remember right, So one, right, yeah, So look
Speaker 1: that's it. They're good man, you know, catch the ball
Speaker 1: and all as well. Next one from Trey, can you
Speaker 1: do an update on where some of the developmental players
Speaker 1: are at. I know you've covered some, but we heard
Speaker 1: a lot about Brendon Hymis and Aiming last offseason. It's
Speaker 1: been quiet on them this time around, you know, money.
Speaker 1: I just think it's been quiet because there hasn't been
Speaker 1: much going on. Right they're not in as, they're not
Speaker 1: ready yet, So I mean it's been quiet on on
Speaker 1: both of those guys. But I don't think there's any
Speaker 1: reason to be discouraged. I think, um, they're gonna have
Speaker 1: a spotlight on them, certainly in training camp and throughout
Speaker 1: the preseason. You know. I think Himus is interesting because
Speaker 1: they drafted Sawyer, you know so, and they signed Clap
Speaker 1: So I think that's an interesting one to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on for sure. Um, you know, they didn't really
Speaker 1: do much int They didn't do anything as a matter
Speaker 1: of fact in terms of linebackers. So you feel pretty
Speaker 1: good about Amen and Amen coming back, you know, into
Speaker 1: that linebacker room, especially with how well you know each
Speaker 1: of them. I think it quitted themselves when they were
Speaker 1: on the field, So I think they'll be fine, uh
Speaker 1: in a year better. Um. Thinking in terms of any
Speaker 1: other developmental guys that we haven't talked much about, well,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to think of who, you know, because
Speaker 1: they like McKitty for instance, I think mckitty's going to
Speaker 1: take a leap this year. Yeah, I think, look he's
Speaker 1: he's definitely, you know, gonna get snaps. That's kind of
Speaker 1: the way I look at it, like, are they gonna
Speaker 1: get more or less snaps than last year? And you know,
Speaker 1: I think in terms of Nieman probably saying amen, maybe
Speaker 1: a little bit more. Uh, you know if if Kenneth
Speaker 1: is is slow to recover from his surgery, you know,
Speaker 1: you could see Aman out there a little bit more.
Speaker 1: So I'm just trying to think of who developmental those
Speaker 1: late round because they didn't I'm trying to think of
Speaker 1: what m shoot, I wish here, let me just go experience,
Speaker 1: let me go h hear my apologies for doing this
Speaker 1: while we're on let's see Michael Bannicole, Christiansen de Luca,
Speaker 1: French shunter, Camp Moyer. Yeah, look, I think Camp Moore
Speaker 1: is going to have a shot. You know, if they
Speaker 1: want to carry four tight ends, you know, which they've
Speaker 1: done in the past. If you know that that spot
Speaker 1: between Horvath and and Neighbors and you know Camp Moyer
Speaker 1: and you know one of these rookies, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's uh Stone Street or or who's the kid from
Speaker 1: Indiana Chrominic. You know, like, I think that's that's a
Speaker 1: battle to keep an eye on. You know, they're not
Speaker 1: as uh Forrest Merrill. I think is we talked about
Speaker 1: him a second ago with all the signings. I think
Speaker 1: maybe he is someone who could take a little bit
Speaker 1: of a step back because you know, he was just
Speaker 1: to they needed him last year. This year with Phoco
Speaker 1: is a developmental guys, Yeah, I think so. I think
Speaker 1: I think that's a good one to bring up too. Yeah, Fohoko,
Speaker 1: even though he's going to be in year three. Um,
Speaker 1: I think you're talking about full practice squad two years ago.
Speaker 1: Got into the rotation a little bit last year because
Speaker 1: of just you know, the inability of the starters to
Speaker 1: slow the rundown, So that'll be an interesting one, you know,
Speaker 1: with bringing in those three new players on the defensive
Speaker 1: interior line. You know as Pohoco, going to be able
Speaker 1: to get as money or more snaps this year for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, having that full offseason, knowing what to
Speaker 1: expect in this this daily system. Yeah. The next one
Speaker 1: from Alistair. It's early, But in your opinion, will a
Speaker 1: rookie undrafted free agent make the final fifty three? It
Speaker 1: seemingly every year an undrafted guy makes the fifty three.
Speaker 1: I don't know where it's going to come from this year.
Speaker 1: I think the running back argument that we talked about
Speaker 1: earlier is certainly something to maybe look at. But yeah,
Speaker 1: but they drafted Spiller, and I just that's a good
Speaker 1: one though. I mean, I think, boyo boy because select
Speaker 1: to me, are they gonna carry four running backs? Probably?
Speaker 1: They did last year, right, so and a fullback. They
Speaker 1: carried four and a fullback and a hybrid and Steven Anderson,
Speaker 1: So I will it's gonna be hard good, It's gonna
Speaker 1: be harder this year undrafted to make it, I think.
Speaker 1: So I'm looking at it now and like, if I
Speaker 1: had to, like, I don't think any of the undrafted
Speaker 1: old linemen are gonna make it because we got nine.
Speaker 1: We went through that when we were talking about Trey,
Speaker 1: you know, with the signing of Clap, they got those
Speaker 1: nine guys. So I don't think there's room there. It's
Speaker 1: not going to be a linebacker. I don't think. Maybe
Speaker 1: an edge if you want to carry another edge and
Speaker 1: just kind of keep that group fresh if you're trying
Speaker 1: to you know, if a guy raises his hand, who's
Speaker 1: the hold on? There's the guy out of here? We
Speaker 1: go out of Louisiana, Monroe ty Shelby. Maybe that's a
Speaker 1: name to you know, he's an edge, defensive end, outside
Speaker 1: linebacker hybrid. Otherwise I would probably look defensive back. I
Speaker 1: think like defensive back might be the one spot, just
Speaker 1: because we know how much Staley loves them in special teams.
Speaker 1: If there's any of them, and you know what, the
Speaker 1: next question we'll just get into it, because I do
Speaker 1: you think Leonard or just Seer makes the roster so
Speaker 1: many more developmental prospects for the future, you know, Yes,
Speaker 1: That's why I was saying, like, you know, I could
Speaker 1: see an undrafted player, you know, making it ahead of them.
Speaker 1: Because they're sixth and set. You know, they're later round picks.
Speaker 1: So if like Sebastian out of BC ends up making
Speaker 1: it as an undrafted free agent ahead of Leonard, who
Speaker 1: goes to the practice spot, like, that's not a big deal,
Speaker 1: you know, whether or not Leonard or just her Taylor
Speaker 1: get claimed. So that's probably where I think there's a shot.
Speaker 1: You got Raheem Lane out of Indiana who was a
Speaker 1: big special teams player for them. Um he's a safety
Speaker 1: corner hybrid, played both positions for Indiana, So that's a possibility.
Speaker 1: You know, That's that's probably where I would look. I
Speaker 1: think that's that's maybe the most likely. But I think
Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think this year is gonna
Speaker 1: be tough. Stanley and to LESCo said this all season
Speaker 1: they want a deep and complete team, and I think
Speaker 1: that they made strides towards that, which is gonna make
Speaker 1: it a little bit more difficult. You had a lot
Speaker 1: of draft picks too. I know you traded some picks,
Speaker 1: but guys like Leonard and jr Um You're right money,
Speaker 1: like a six and seventh round pick you put in
Speaker 1: that same same buppet. Yeah, because you got a fifteen
Speaker 1: man practice squad. You know that's still carried over, so
Speaker 1: you got the extra spots, and you know, if you're
Speaker 1: putting them there, you feel good about them not getting
Speaker 1: claimed and it's not like again it's a six and
Speaker 1: a set. They're developmental players, so you know, and I
Speaker 1: think that goes for the running backs too. You know,
Speaker 1: I think if you feel like Lettie, you know he's
Speaker 1: a bigger back, you know, if you want a little
Speaker 1: bit more thump, you know, if you think he's a
Speaker 1: better fit than round Tree, and you're like, well, if
Speaker 1: you put a round Tree on the practice sque I
Speaker 1: don't think anyone's gonna claim him. So let's keep him
Speaker 1: there and we can rotate these guys back and forth.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's possibility too. You know. I also think
Speaker 1: we look too much into this final fifty three week
Speaker 1: one because you know, even if an undrafted free agent
Speaker 1: makes it and is he gonna be active for a
Speaker 1: week one? Do you even know what to expect? So
Speaker 1: like I almost feel like a fifteen man practice squad.
Speaker 1: That's what we're talking about here. If if we can
Speaker 1: keep some of these guys who were late round picks
Speaker 1: and undrafted free agents development developed them rather throughout the
Speaker 1: season and then get them out there. I don't know
Speaker 1: if if a team who is striving to win a
Speaker 1: super Bowl wants an undrafted free agent out there a
Speaker 1: week one on the active roster, you know what I mean? Yeah,
Speaker 1: unless they really really show up and look like the
Speaker 1: thing with that, by the way, the only reason to
Speaker 1: do that is because you know they're going to get
Speaker 1: claimed and you don't want to lose them. And that's
Speaker 1: the point. Like they knew Eckler is going to get
Speaker 1: claimed if they did not put them on the roster.
Speaker 1: They knew Eastern Stick was going to get claimed if
Speaker 1: they did not put them on the roster. So that's
Speaker 1: kind of the way that that works. Is a lot
Speaker 1: of it's just it's defense. It's it's not offense. You're
Speaker 1: not putting them out there because you think they can
Speaker 1: make a huge difference on game day. You're putting them
Speaker 1: out there because you want to keep developing them and
Speaker 1: you don't want to lose them to another team that's
Speaker 1: willing to put them on an active roster because they
Speaker 1: don't they're not in that super Bowl window per se,
Speaker 1: and they're still developing their rosters, so they're more willing
Speaker 1: to take on someone like that and put them on
Speaker 1: their fifty three. Yeah, excellent point, Stephen Gillard. Should the
Speaker 1: Chargers add another ultimate alternate uniform and match powder blue
Speaker 1: top with powder blue pants? Money? No, No, I don't
Speaker 1: think so that would look as that's too smurfy. You know,
Speaker 1: I think that the powder blue as a jersey is great.
Speaker 1: I think the Navies. See, I'm not even crazy about
Speaker 1: the all Navies. I don't. I'm not a big fan
Speaker 1: of the one color top and pant. I just I've
Speaker 1: never I don't know what it is. Like everybody talks
Speaker 1: about the Ravens all blacks is one of the better uniforms.
Speaker 1: The NFL totally disagree. Just does not doesn't work for me.
Speaker 1: I need I need a good pant top combo. That's
Speaker 1: just how I'm wired. You know forty nine Ers red
Speaker 1: and gold, Chargers powder blue and gold. You know Raiders
Speaker 1: black silver pant, you know Chiefs red top, white pant. Like,
Speaker 1: there's there's something about the combos that that work. Um,
Speaker 1: you know gold or green top gold pant Packers. You know,
Speaker 1: that's to me, that's sort of where it's at as
Speaker 1: opposed to the uniform pardon upun the uniform uniform. Now
Speaker 1: that the NFL has allowed teams to have different colored helmets,
Speaker 1: wouldn't you like to see that that Navy Chargers helmet
Speaker 1: back for a game or two at some point of
Speaker 1: the next few years. I like, um believe it. See.
Speaker 1: I guess this is where I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: just too old or whatever. Like I love the gold
Speaker 1: helmet man with the Chargers and the black script, you know,
Speaker 1: and that the real thin follow That would be pretty sweet.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, look, the uniforms are great. You
Speaker 1: know that we love it here and we talk about
Speaker 1: him a lot. So anytime you want to bring up
Speaker 1: uniform talk, by all means you want the Olive Potter
Speaker 1: Blues bring it up. Not my cup of tea, but hey,
Speaker 1: I love talking about it, that's for sure. A fergie.
Speaker 1: Do you think Staley will rain into his go for
Speaker 1: it approach after his first season his head head coach
Speaker 1: in the NFL? Or was he just doing that out
Speaker 1: of necessity? I don't think he would ever admit it,
Speaker 1: but I think he believed a lot more in his
Speaker 1: offense than his defense last year, you know, And I
Speaker 1: think that's it was you know the numbers, certainly, you
Speaker 1: know we're able to bear that out. So I think
Speaker 1: when you're talking about, Okay, how am I feeling about
Speaker 1: my defense, that's you know, not performing on third down,
Speaker 1: that's lackluster against the run versus an offense that is
Speaker 1: shredding defense is regularly. I do think a lot of
Speaker 1: that goes into it. It's not just it's not just
Speaker 1: Staley's gut. That's not how the that's not how he operates.
Speaker 1: It's not hey, you know what, I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go for it here. No, he's looking at everything
Speaker 1: in context and what do I have at my disposal
Speaker 1: on each side of the ball, What do they have
Speaker 1: at their disposal? Do I feel better about my offense
Speaker 1: versus their defense in this particular situation than I would
Speaker 1: putting my defense back out there? Is the defense tired?
Speaker 1: Is like you know what I mean? There's so much
Speaker 1: is it thin? As? They're not enough depth in that
Speaker 1: particular game. So the one thing I think Staley has
Speaker 1: done that has really open and you're going to see
Speaker 1: more of it. I think what he's done that others
Speaker 1: weren't willing to do is recognize that the risk isn't
Speaker 1: as great as people paint it out to be. That
Speaker 1: it's a calculated risk and if the calculation that you
Speaker 1: have at your disposal bears out that you're going to
Speaker 1: be you have a better chance of success than failure,
Speaker 1: then do it. Why give the ball up? You know
Speaker 1: I get it, and so I I think that's still
Speaker 1: look and I think the team loves it. You know,
Speaker 1: the team loves it like it is. They like having
Speaker 1: that swagger, Hey man, this is what we do. Hey, defense,
Speaker 1: what are your third down? Grate? Congratulations? Stop us again
Speaker 1: because you're not gonna like I think there is something
Speaker 1: to that to having that attitude and that disposition when
Speaker 1: you step on the field knowing that if you don't
Speaker 1: get it on third down, you're not hanging your head
Speaker 1: and walking off the field. You're running back to the
Speaker 1: huddle and be like whatever, we'll get it here. Um.
Speaker 1: I think that goes a long way. It's a balance
Speaker 1: to it. If the defense is markedly improved, it's not
Speaker 1: going to be the same ratio. Like if you have
Speaker 1: confidence in that secondary and the pass rush and that
Speaker 1: defense is clamping offense is down, I think Staley will
Speaker 1: be more than happy to punt the ball. And also
Speaker 1: the punning has to be better. I was just gonna
Speaker 1: say that perfect exactly. Christ punting is better and the
Speaker 1: defense is better. Yeah, it's gonna change, and it's not
Speaker 1: going to change the way I think Staley feels about
Speaker 1: Herbert in the offense. But I think there's gonna be
Speaker 1: certain situations where it makes more sense to pin an
Speaker 1: offense back and let Matt Mac and Bosa get after
Speaker 1: quarterbacks as opposed to go for it in you know,
Speaker 1: at your own thirty or at your own forty. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna be game to game and it's gonna
Speaker 1: be different situations. But I just I agree with you money.
Speaker 1: I think that the more confidence that Staley and that
Speaker 1: defensive staff has in the players, the less that they're
Speaker 1: going to go for on Portown. And it goes back,
Speaker 1: you know, Chris, when we were talking about drafting a punter,
Speaker 1: you know, and and by the way, you know, and
Speaker 1: talking to some people around the Chargers, they're super impressed
Speaker 1: with JK, super impressed. They're like, this, we got a guy,
Speaker 1: so they feel really good about him. And it goes
Speaker 1: back to something I brought up, and you know, and
Speaker 1: whatever college dropping a name, but he's a punter. You know,
Speaker 1: when I was on with Pat McAfee and this came
Speaker 1: up and we were talking about a rise before the draft,
Speaker 1: when I was out at the combine and I ended
Speaker 1: up doing a show, you know, it came up and
Speaker 1: he made the great point and it's so obvious and
Speaker 1: I just never thought of it before. And I was like,
Speaker 1: what do you think, dude. You know, for the brand,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get your punter drafted in the second round
Speaker 1: three And he just said, well, he said, the only
Speaker 1: reason to draft the punter is when you have an
Speaker 1: elite defense, because that's it. He goes, Otherwise, it's a waste,
Speaker 1: It's complete waste. What what good does it do When
Speaker 1: I put a coffin corner at the three and on
Speaker 1: first and ten, they're already at the twenty two because
Speaker 1: you have defense sucks. He's like, so, so that goes
Speaker 1: to the point that you were making right that I
Speaker 1: feel good about your special teams, in particular your punting
Speaker 1: game and punt cover and you have an elite defense,
Speaker 1: then yeah, you're gonna punt more because that that works
Speaker 1: for you. You know, you have a good punter. That's
Speaker 1: going to pin a team deep, and now you've got
Speaker 1: the personnel to pin their ears back because they're deep
Speaker 1: and get after it and flip the field or create
Speaker 1: a turnover. So yeah, it's gonna change because because the
Speaker 1: team is so different. Yeah, and look, you can do both.
Speaker 1: You can you can punt and have confidence in your defense,
Speaker 1: and you can also go for in situations where it's
Speaker 1: fifty fifty or maybe less and say, listen, man, I
Speaker 1: got justin Herbert, so I'm good, I'm good to go
Speaker 1: for it. And as you mentioned, money, the guys love it.
Speaker 1: They get behind it, you know, and I think all
Speaker 1: three phases get behind it. So it's not something where
Speaker 1: like the defense is wondering why the offense is on
Speaker 1: the field and vice versa. I mean, I think that
Speaker 1: this is like a team decision that this is our identity,
Speaker 1: this is how we're gonna play ball. And remember they
Speaker 1: weren't entirely you know, confident in their kicking game either
Speaker 1: until Dustin got here. So when they were dealing with
Speaker 1: with Viscaino, you know, as a rookie and in his
Speaker 1: first shot and he missed a couple extra points and
Speaker 1: field goals, it's like, Okay, well, I don't really feel
Speaker 1: good about a fifty two yard or here, I don't
Speaker 1: feel good about a forty eight yarder, so let's just
Speaker 1: go for it. You know, we feel better about that
Speaker 1: being a successful play and converting on fourth and three
Speaker 1: than we do given Tristan a shot from forty seven.
Speaker 1: So at all all comes into play. Next one from
Speaker 1: Benjamin who's under more pressure this season? Herbert or Staley?
Speaker 1: I'll I'll answer this first by saying a quarterback and
Speaker 1: a head coach in the NFL are both under immense
Speaker 1: amounts of pressure, and I think both of these guys
Speaker 1: don't really care about the pressure, Like they know what's
Speaker 1: at stake. They know who else is in the division
Speaker 1: in terms of coaches, they know who's in the division
Speaker 1: in terms of other quarterbacks, and they know they have
Speaker 1: a good team. They know they got to get to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. So you know who's under more pressure? I
Speaker 1: think I think Herbert wants to get to the playoffs
Speaker 1: for the first time in his career. Staley wants to
Speaker 1: improve on that nine and eight mark. And you leave
Speaker 1: it at that. I mean I would just for me,
Speaker 1: I'd say Staley just because of so much of it
Speaker 1: is pressure that's applied externally, and there are so many
Speaker 1: and it's fair or not. You know, look younger coach
Speaker 1: versus franchise quarterback. And it's also just a roster that
Speaker 1: national media believes in. You know, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: people picking the Chargers to win the division. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of people picking the Chargers to make the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: You know, if you want to look at Vegas and
Speaker 1: just the numbers, they're one of the favorites. And if
Speaker 1: you believe you have the players that are you know,
Speaker 1: unfortunately for coaches, if the players don't execute, it's not
Speaker 1: on the player, it's typically on the coach. So to me,
Speaker 1: that's where you know, I guess you could craft that
Speaker 1: Hey Staley could be under some pressure after missing the
Speaker 1: postseason last year, you know, losing three of his last
Speaker 1: you know, however, I don't remember what it what it
Speaker 1: came down to, you know, the loss of the Texans
Speaker 1: and the Raiders two of their last three, losing those
Speaker 1: and then coming into this season with a roster that
Speaker 1: a lot of people think is super Bowl caliber and
Speaker 1: not making the postseason, are not making a run in
Speaker 1: the postseason, then you're going to have external pressure. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't think that that pressure will be internal. I
Speaker 1: think everybody inside the building believes this is someone we
Speaker 1: hope is they are head coach for the next twenty years,
Speaker 1: you know, even though that doesn't really happen in the NFL.
Speaker 1: That's the hope and that's the belief. And let's not
Speaker 1: forget you know, Sean mcvay's first season with the Rams.
Speaker 1: You know, they went from a bad record too. I
Speaker 1: think they were nine and seven or something like that,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like they made that first
Speaker 1: step and then the jump came. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: if you're looking at a similar trajectory, young coach, um
Speaker 1: sort of new philosophies, that are our work at play,
Speaker 1: you know. I think I think inside they believe that's
Speaker 1: the guy. They found, someone very similar to McVeigh that's
Speaker 1: you know, or Kyle Shanahan that's young and getting their
Speaker 1: first crack at this and and they're darn excited about
Speaker 1: about having been able to get him a year early
Speaker 1: than maybe being a year too late, um, and being
Speaker 1: able to work through that in that first year. And
Speaker 1: then and then here it comes saw tweet last week.
Speaker 1: So we're talking about Mike Tomwind being on the hot seat.
Speaker 1: And this is a guy who's never had a losing
Speaker 1: season in the NFL. So like that's the thing, just
Speaker 1: that it's your It goes to what you said about
Speaker 1: just the external pressure at the head coaching position. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can ever be happy. This guy's a made he's
Speaker 1: a made man. He should never be fired ever, And
Speaker 1: people are talking about him being on the hot seat.
Speaker 1: It's just it's it's and plus, you know, what are
Speaker 1: you going to replace him with? That's funny thing. It's like, okay,
Speaker 1: so what are you gonna go get? You know, what
Speaker 1: what do you what do you think? What are you
Speaker 1: doing here? So? Um, but I think look, I think
Speaker 1: it's a fair question. When with with with uh, great expectations,
Speaker 1: you know, comes great pressure. We you know, and that's
Speaker 1: why they always say, you know, undersell overperform. Well, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the Chargers aren't overselling it, but the national media is
Speaker 1: and that's and that's where the pressure comes in. As
Speaker 1: your connections. When is the next all in? I don't
Speaker 1: have the exact date, but don't it don't be there.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's so good and by the way,
Speaker 1: shout out to our man Jason, who got named by
Speaker 1: Athletic for the forty under forty UM on their forty
Speaker 1: under forty list for the NFL UM forty individuals um
Speaker 1: under the age of forty that are that are making
Speaker 1: noise and totally deserved what he's been able to do
Speaker 1: to build that department and what our our media department
Speaker 1: does it the charcus is just incredible. Side look second
Speaker 1: to nine. It's the best in the NFL and probably
Speaker 1: the best in American sports. It's that good what Jason
Speaker 1: and Megan and that whole crew have been able to
Speaker 1: build through their social media and through their digital m
Speaker 1: and all in. All In is certainly a product of that.
Speaker 1: So there's no way. And plus it's got a sponsor,
Speaker 1: so of course it's coming back. Oh yeah, big congress
Speaker 1: to Jason on that man. It's it's well deserved. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: A couple more here from Antonio. What kind of offense
Speaker 1: should we expect in twenty twenty two? Similar or very
Speaker 1: different from last year? I would say similar with sprinkles, right,
Speaker 1: Similar with sprinkles, Yeah, I think similar, you know to me,
Speaker 1: it's and that's it better be similar. That's the benefit,
Speaker 1: you know, is that it's finally Justin Herbert in the
Speaker 1: second year of an offense that he's comfortable with. That's hey,
Speaker 1: that's the that's the lead there. That's exciting. Right to
Speaker 1: have Justin actually in a system for two years straight,
Speaker 1: for as smart as he is, to maybe take what
Speaker 1: he learned last year and up at a bit. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, guess what for thirteen years the Saints
Speaker 1: offense was similar. It was Sean Payton and it was
Speaker 1: Joe Lombardi and they ran the same stuff and people
Speaker 1: couldn't stop it. Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco, doesn't matter
Speaker 1: who the quarterback is, this is what we're running on.
Speaker 1: And what do you know, at the end of the year,
Speaker 1: they're running for four and a half five yards per clip,
Speaker 1: dominating time of possession. It's like, yeah, when you figure
Speaker 1: it out, you know, especially when you got a quarterback
Speaker 1: that can run it, it's gonna look the same things
Speaker 1: look different in New England. Now, that's the one wrinkle. Yes,
Speaker 1: seemed like Bill Belichick would always zag when everyone else
Speaker 1: was zigging, or zig when everyone else was zagging. You know.
Speaker 1: I think about the year that the Chargers made the
Speaker 1: playoffs on that twelve and four year and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, you got two fullbacks and they're freaking running
Speaker 1: down your throat, you know, just a ton of screen
Speaker 1: passes to James White with a big old fullback in
Speaker 1: front of them, and it was teams weren't built to
Speaker 1: stop it. They were too small. So that's the one exception,
Speaker 1: as Belichick would always seem to do that, But otherwise,
Speaker 1: guys do what they do, especially if it's successful. Final
Speaker 1: one Flock with Me one two three from New Jersey
Speaker 1: looking to come out for that Monday night game against
Speaker 1: the Broncos as a longtime Chargers fin any recommendations of
Speaker 1: things to do when I come out for the game
Speaker 1: or places to check out in the area, thanks and
Speaker 1: love the podcast. Guys Flock with Me one two three Money.
Speaker 1: That's an October game, so think about that. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's so hard because I don't know what people
Speaker 1: are into, right, I would say, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the great things about LA is obviously entertainment. So we
Speaker 1: have and I think the one thing that gets overlooked
Speaker 1: is they think about Hollywood that they forget about music.
Speaker 1: This is where all the music labels are, and this
Speaker 1: is where some of the most historic music venues are
Speaker 1: you know, the Troubadour, the Whiskey, the Roxy, the Greek,
Speaker 1: the Hollywood Bowl. So be sure to check the concert
Speaker 1: calendar see if there's someone you're into playing one of
Speaker 1: those iconic venues in particular. Like to me, the big
Speaker 1: ones are there, like for me the Big three. Actually
Speaker 1: know there's a lot more than that, But like if
Speaker 1: I can, if you can catch a show at the
Speaker 1: Troubadour for a small club, I think it's the best
Speaker 1: sound of any club I've ever been in. Um, if
Speaker 1: you want Atmosphere, the Greek or the Hollywood Bowl, if
Speaker 1: there's somebody there. Outdoor venues that are just glorious, These
Speaker 1: giant um outdoor venues in the middle of LA that
Speaker 1: are that are special. Um. There's a couple other venues
Speaker 1: John Ats before that. It's fantastic. UM, but I would
Speaker 1: do that number one two. Um. Obviously there's iconic food.
Speaker 1: But I just don't know, you know what he into.
Speaker 1: You know, to me, you gotta get a you gotta
Speaker 1: get a sandwich at Philip's. You know, you just got to.
Speaker 1: You gotta get that French dip they invented it. It's
Speaker 1: a super cool place right down the street from Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1: And hey, if the Dodgers are playing the freaking Dodger game,
Speaker 1: talk about an iconic mecca of a venue, NLDS or
Speaker 1: exactly get in there, get the Dodger Stadium. So there's
Speaker 1: a couple on the look. I also think I wouldn't
Speaker 1: hesitate to get down to Orange County, you know, and
Speaker 1: just kind of see how pretty it is down where
Speaker 1: we live, Chris, and check out, you know, Seal Beach
Speaker 1: and Huntington Beach and Newport Beach and Corona del Mar
Speaker 1: and Laguna Beach. You know, don't be afraid to just
Speaker 1: kind of walk the streets right there close to the
Speaker 1: coast and take in especially October, it's beautiful to beach perfect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's perfect. You know, a thousand steps, you know, all
Speaker 1: that sort of stuff. So yeah, check check that out.
Speaker 1: If you're a real football head, maybe maybe Lincoln Riley's
Speaker 1: in town. Maybe maybe you go to Coliseum on a Saturday.
Speaker 1: There you go Coliseum, Rose Bowl. Yeah, if UCLA you
Speaker 1: get to go to the Rose Bowl. If it's USC, great, Paul,
Speaker 1: great call. If it's USC, you get to go to
Speaker 1: the Coliseum to iconic football venues there you go. Certainly
Speaker 1: works June thirtieth, money and the appetite for Chargers football.
Speaker 1: It's alive. Man an hour of questions. Love it, love it,
Speaker 1: no doubt. Certainly appreciate everybody and all the all the questions.
Speaker 1: Makes it easy for us when you know, we're just
Speaker 1: kind of waiting until that third week of July to
Speaker 1: a really good going again. Everybody's on their break right now.
Speaker 1: You're going to Hawaii. I just got back. Players are
Speaker 1: taking vacations. Justin Herbert's getting slimed by the people over
Speaker 1: at Nickelodeon. So hey, that was fun to see. It
Speaker 1: was great fun to see because he got slimmed earlier
Speaker 1: in the year winning that award, and he's become a
Speaker 1: Nickelodeon of favorite. No, we love it, man, love it.
Speaker 1: That's the that's the generation you want, you know, get
Speaker 1: the kid I remember, you know, being a little kid
Speaker 1: and and a real little kid um like I you know,
Speaker 1: and I was he was he was kind of working
Speaker 1: his way toward the tail end. When I remember Walter
Speaker 1: Payton growing up, you know, just becoming my favorite player,
Speaker 1: and how excited I was about Walter Payton and Jim McMahon,
Speaker 1: and you know, I cut my hair and got it
Speaker 1: spikey and used to wear a headband that said Roselle
Speaker 1: on it. You know, things like that when I was
Speaker 1: a kid. So you know that. Please do you have
Speaker 1: a picture that I think I do somewhere because you
Speaker 1: know it's not digital, so it's like my parents have,
Speaker 1: but yeah, they I know NFL network somehow, you know,
Speaker 1: this guy Mark Brody was awesome somehow figured out how
Speaker 1: to track down my mom and reached out to her
Speaker 1: and said, hey, we need to get some photos of
Speaker 1: Matt as a kid and some Bears gear if you
Speaker 1: don't mind, And so you know there's pictures of me
Speaker 1: is little kid with that. I don't know if people
Speaker 1: remember there's there used to be this little thing called
Speaker 1: Hutch and you could buy the jersey, pants and helmet
Speaker 1: that was just plastic, like you couldn't play football in it,
Speaker 1: but you could dress up in it. So I had
Speaker 1: the little Hutch stuff and um, yeah, I mean that's
Speaker 1: and that's what Herbert's you know, afforded the Chargers is
Speaker 1: to have that individual that appeals to that age group
Speaker 1: and it's just it's so cool to be that young,
Speaker 1: and it's one of my It truly is my favorite
Speaker 1: thing about going to so Far is when I see
Speaker 1: the little kids and their Derwin James and there and there,
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa in there. You know what I'm sure is
Speaker 1: going to be Khalil Max and j C. Jackson's and
Speaker 1: whom Austin Eckler jerseys. It's just so much fun to
Speaker 1: see those tiny little kids in those jerseys just taking
Speaker 1: it all in and how big it must seem to them,
Speaker 1: and how crazy it must seem to them and overwhelming. Yeah,
Speaker 1: totally generation. I think Justin's jersey is in the top
Speaker 1: ten of overall jersey sales two at this point too.
Speaker 1: I saw that. Yeah, I think they just released last
Speaker 1: months and it was I think it was number seven
Speaker 1: or number eight it came in. So yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: we'll take it. Take it all right, guys. It's gonna
Speaker 1: do it for us. I'll be coming to you from
Speaker 1: Hawaii next week. I don't know if I could. I can,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe I'll rock a tank top and some Yeah,
Speaker 1: of course you can. It's gonna be eighty degrees. I'm
Speaker 1: right up and knock it out. Birds chirping, you'll be
Speaker 1: right there on the Cono Polly Beach in the background
Speaker 1: at the pool. Get yourself a nice con of coffee
Speaker 1: and you'll be all good. That's it. Give me some recommendations.
Speaker 1: Bro oh yeah, they're coming. That's gonna do it for us, guys.
Speaker 1: This has been charges weekly. We'll see you next Thursday.