Speaker 1: As l fifteen to ten toussed up sucks. What's Up? Guys?
Speaker 2: Welcome into a brand new episode of Chargers Weekly as
Speaker 2: we push through the dog days before we get the
Speaker 2: training camp as always, joined by Matt Money Smith and Buddy.
Speaker 1: We had a fun, lively discussion.
Speaker 2: With Lindsley and Lindsey Theory and Jeff Miller last week
Speaker 2: on the roundtable. I found it entertaining and if folks
Speaker 2: haven't listened, they should probably check it.
Speaker 3: Out one hundred percent. Got a lot of reaction to
Speaker 3: it through the social media channels, and it's always nice
Speaker 3: to get some outside perspective. Always enjoyed doing the podcast
Speaker 3: with you week in and week out, but you know,
Speaker 3: there's things we might miss and things that Lindsey and
Speaker 3: Jeff can pick up on. Of course, all the beat
Speaker 3: writers do a heck of a job and they cover
Speaker 3: the team day and day out with the stuff that's
Speaker 3: media accessible, so it was great to sort of get,
Speaker 3: you know, just some outside eyes on what they're seeing,
Speaker 3: what they think this team can do, and felt like
Speaker 3: we all sort of had a I whant to say consensus,
Speaker 3: but the same sort of feeling about what this team
Speaker 3: should look like has the capability to look like in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three, and White Charger fans ought to be
Speaker 3: pretty excited about what's ahead here when we get things rolling.
Speaker 3: Like you said, we're in the dog days in about
Speaker 3: a month month and a half with training camp.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it'll be here before you know it.
Speaker 2: And I figured during this time, you know, we've talked
Speaker 2: a lot about some of the star players. I think
Speaker 2: what we want to do the next couple of weeks
Speaker 2: is really kind of dive into a particular side of
Speaker 2: the football, and today just dig into the defense a
Speaker 2: little bit, Bunny. I know you have some trends from
Speaker 2: last year and some things.
Speaker 1: That you saw. I also want to talk about some.
Speaker 2: Guys that we haven't really talked about over the last
Speaker 2: five or six months as much that could have an
Speaker 2: impact on this rotter. Whether it be some rookies or
Speaker 2: some guys that some unherld of guys from last year,
Speaker 2: maybe some guys that they signed this pass offseason. But
Speaker 2: I think it's a nice kind of starting point for
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty three season to kind of dig into
Speaker 2: this Brandon Stanley defense in year three.
Speaker 3: Sure, I think one of the things that we haven't
Speaker 3: talked about enough, and no doubt it's because Brandon Staley
Speaker 3: calls a defense. So the departure of Rinaldo Hill and
Speaker 3: the elevation of Derek Ansley and what that's going to
Speaker 3: look like hasn't been discussed understandably nearly as much as
Speaker 3: Kellen Moore, who is going to build the offense, going
Speaker 3: to call the plays on the offense and essentially is
Speaker 3: I mean, look, Brandon Staley's going to have a hand
Speaker 3: in that. He's a former quarterback, this guy that made
Speaker 3: his bones as a player on the offensive side of
Speaker 3: the ball, So there's no doubt that he's going to
Speaker 3: be involved. But for the most part, he's got freedom
Speaker 3: to build that offense and to call that offense the
Speaker 3: way he sees fit. Defensively, Derek's going to be an
Speaker 3: extension of Brandon. He's going to be a sounding board
Speaker 3: for him. He's going to be another set of eyes
Speaker 3: that can perhaps he help him see why don't we
Speaker 3: try something this way, or let's put this player in
Speaker 3: this particular position where I think he'll excel, and that
Speaker 3: maybe's been it's been understated what kind of impact that
Speaker 3: can have. You know, some of the videos that our
Speaker 3: social media team's been putting out in our digital team
Speaker 3: and Megan and Jason and everybody shows you just like
Speaker 3: how much juice he has, how excited he is. And
Speaker 3: Lindsey made an interesting point last week about just Justin
Speaker 3: and the way he comports himself and the way he
Speaker 3: views leadership. And we know Derwin's very vocal on that sideline.
Speaker 3: We certainly know from the micd up that Sebastian, Joseph
Speaker 3: Day and Joey Bosa, they can all get after it.
Speaker 3: But there is something to be said if you have
Speaker 3: stoic players or you have a head coach that Brandon
Speaker 3: can get excited, no doubt about it. But he's a
Speaker 3: head coach and he I believe, presents himself that way
Speaker 3: most of the time on the sideline. So every now
Speaker 3: and then it's good to find some if you need
Speaker 3: juice somewhere from some of these coaches. And it appears
Speaker 3: as though Ronaldo Hill was a little bit more subdued coach.
Speaker 3: Ansley looks to be a little bit more of that
Speaker 3: that power, and at times it did feel like, particularly
Speaker 3: in the third quarters, I don't know what was going on,
Speaker 3: if it was if it was a nap, or if
Speaker 3: they had massage chairs in that locker room at halftime
Speaker 3: or what was going you know what it was. But
Speaker 3: we know the third quarters were a serious issue for
Speaker 3: this team, and so maybe getting a little bit of
Speaker 3: that juice can can help. It's it's gonna make the difference.
Speaker 3: Is it gonna get you an extra win or no?
Speaker 3: Saying it's it's something that's worth noting. As much as
Speaker 3: we pay attention to Kellen Moore and how different this
Speaker 3: offense can look, that's a much bigger impact. But I
Speaker 3: do think there there is something to be said about
Speaker 3: having a different voice, a different set of eyes that
Speaker 3: can perhaps help a unit that has got a ton
Speaker 3: of talent and for whatever reason, just has not lived
Speaker 3: up to the names on paper. Injuries, no doubt about it,
Speaker 3: But I'm talking about moments in games where we've seen
Speaker 3: this defense let down, and that's the difference between wins
Speaker 3: and losses, considering how tight the margins were in most
Speaker 3: of these charger contests. You know.
Speaker 2: But it's a great point about coaching and coaching styles,
Speaker 2: because you don't want every coach to be the same.
Speaker 2: It kind of reminds me of when Ron Milis was
Speaker 2: the defensive backs coach. When Gus was the DC coach,
Speaker 2: Milo would let these guys be themselves. They all had
Speaker 2: a different handshake with Milus and it was just kind
Speaker 2: of a looser atmosphere in the secondary. And I'm not
Speaker 2: saying every style is different. Every style works in some
Speaker 2: form or fashion, but to have Annsley bring the juice
Speaker 2: a little bit and maybe that sets the tone for
Speaker 2: some of the players on the team. We know Dirwin
Speaker 2: is vocal, and I think it was you maybe a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago. We don't really need any more
Speaker 2: leaders on the team, you know. We talked about Kendricks
Speaker 2: as a leader, Derwin is the heart and soul. Joey
Speaker 2: and Khalil bring leaders in their own ways, largely through
Speaker 2: their play. But I do think there's something to be
Speaker 2: said about Derek Ansley and kind of that unknown of
Speaker 2: what it is specifically that he's going to bring in
Speaker 2: coordination with Brandon Staley and third quarters were an issue.
Speaker 2: Run defense certainly an issue, and I went back to
Speaker 2: Brandon Staley's one year with the Rams and just looked
Speaker 2: at how good they were against the run. I think
Speaker 2: there were number three in the NFL. So sometimes people
Speaker 2: say this system what you know, you don't want anything
Speaker 2: to get behind you, and you know maybe that's why
Speaker 2: you know sometimes running back can get runs on you.
Speaker 2: If you have the players and you have the scheme,
Speaker 2: and you combine it and you marry it, you can
Speaker 2: do big things, especially against the run. That's one of
Speaker 2: the things I want to see what Ansley and Staley
Speaker 2: have cooked up this year. I think that they have
Speaker 2: the personnel now as we get to year three to
Speaker 2: kind of slowly gets what we saw it at the
Speaker 2: end of last year. Like those last five games. I
Speaker 2: knew the quarterbacks were an elite, but we saw them
Speaker 2: stop the run. We saw how good they were on
Speaker 2: third down, and I think that could be a nice
Speaker 2: starting point with Ansley at the helm.
Speaker 3: So you go through it from last year, and this
Speaker 3: is where the Kellen Moore conversation comes into play. It's
Speaker 3: one hand washes the other. When you look at the
Speaker 3: Chargers defense, particularly the third quarter, is what everybody's been
Speaker 3: talking about and just how bad third quarters were for
Speaker 3: this team. Well, you look at the Chargers offense by
Speaker 3: quarter and you see second quarter's total outlier second in
Speaker 3: the league, eleven point three points per game. The third
Speaker 3: quarter not necessarily an outlier because fourth quarter was almost
Speaker 3: right there with it. But third quarter points per game.
Speaker 3: So you go eleven point three in the second quarter,
Speaker 3: you feel like, hey, we carried this momentum into the half,
Speaker 3: let's build on it coming out of the break and
Speaker 3: really put our foot on the throat of our pone it.
Speaker 3: Third quarter twenty ninth in the league. Two point nine
Speaker 3: points per game for the offense. Now you look at
Speaker 3: the defense, and second quarter their highest ranking of any
Speaker 3: quarter as a defense, allowing six point eight points per game.
Speaker 3: Their third quarter as a defense the worst of all
Speaker 3: the quarters, five point seven points per game. So, like,
Speaker 3: I think it's important to recognize this is there is
Speaker 3: a connection here between these two sides of the ball
Speaker 3: that the offense and the defense works hand in hand.
Speaker 3: And if your offense is not producing and your defense
Speaker 3: is put into some bad spots because your offense is
Speaker 3: turning the ball over having multiple three and outs, things
Speaker 3: can get sideways. And that's It's something that was also
Speaker 3: brought up last week when we discussed how we felt
Speaker 3: about Brandon's play calling, about coach Day's play calling, about
Speaker 3: his schemes, about how this team seemed to have things
Speaker 3: figured out with what its opponent was trying to do
Speaker 3: offensively in the game, and it sort of cracked that
Speaker 3: code early and then it got away from them in
Speaker 3: the second halfs And I kind of just went through
Speaker 3: through a lot of different stuff. I mentioned the points
Speaker 3: per game, per quarter. I know they sound weird. It
Speaker 3: doesn't sound like it's that big of a gap, but
Speaker 3: it is when you talk about just how games play out.
Speaker 3: So when I went through every single loss and I
Speaker 3: tried to figure out, okay, what was was there? Was
Speaker 3: there a common factor? Was there a common trend in
Speaker 3: all of these losses? And for the most part, yes,
Speaker 3: in every single loss, the second halfs were a disaster,
Speaker 3: an unmitigated disaster. If I go Week two in Kansas City,
Speaker 3: They're up seventeen to seven at the break. Here's their
Speaker 3: second half offensive possessions. Punt punt, pick six, punt punt,
Speaker 3: and then they scored a TD and couldn't get the
Speaker 3: on side kick. The defense allowed just seven points in
Speaker 3: the first half, come out in the back end, touchdown, punt,
Speaker 3: field goal, punt field goal. So the defense held up
Speaker 3: the offense gave them nothing in that second half. As
Speaker 3: a matter of fact, they took seven points because they
Speaker 3: threw the pick six. Week three, Jacksonville. You remember what
Speaker 3: a mess that game was. Final scores thirty eight to ten.
Speaker 3: It was sixteen to seven at the half. It was
Speaker 3: sixteen to ten after the first possession of the third quarter,
Speaker 3: and after that punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs.
Speaker 3: The defense goes touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, and that's how you
Speaker 3: lose thirty eight to ten. You go to Week seven, Seattle,
Speaker 3: they're only down ten. It's twenty four to fourteen at
Speaker 3: the half, and they come out in the third quarter. Punt, punt, punt,
Speaker 3: turnover on downs. It's and then you look at what
Speaker 3: Seattle does, and it's field goal, safety, field goal touchdown.
Speaker 3: These things just compile. I think it's worth going through
Speaker 3: all of them. In San Francisco second half, punt, punt, punt,
Speaker 3: turnover on downs, interception, they had fifty seven yards in
Speaker 3: the second half. They had the ball for under nine minutes.
Speaker 3: Can't expect the defense to perform when the other side
Speaker 3: of the ball is not on the field is three
Speaker 3: and out, is punting and giving their opponent good field position.
Speaker 3: Sooner or later, that damn is gonna break. Week eleven
Speaker 3: Kansas City. First half, here's your offensive possessions in the
Speaker 3: first half. Touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. That's your that's
Speaker 3: your first half. Second half punt, punt, fumble. Like it's
Speaker 3: just it's it's right in front of you.
Speaker 1: They stumble.
Speaker 3: Vegas up thirteen to ten at the half on that
Speaker 3: pick six of six of Derek Carr, second half fumble,
Speaker 3: missed field goal, punt, and it just and obviously we
Speaker 3: know what the playoff was, right up twenty seven to seven, punt,
Speaker 3: field goal, missed field goal, punt, Jacksonville touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.
Speaker 3: That's so, that's it. Even in wins, like I looked
Speaker 3: up some of the wins in Houston, they're up twenty
Speaker 3: seven to seven at the half, they come out in
Speaker 3: the third quarter, punt, punt, punt fumble that you know,
Speaker 3: it's twenty seven to twenty four in the fourth quarter
Speaker 3: and you're like, wait a minute, what just happens? Team
Speaker 3: was up twenty points. Yeah, So I bring it all
Speaker 3: up because that's why people are excited about Kellen Moore.
Speaker 3: That's why the defense can't be discussed without also bringing
Speaker 3: up the offense, because it's it is it is imperative
Speaker 3: that whatever was going on with this team to start
Speaker 3: the third quarters, it's got to come to an end.
Speaker 3: There's just got that third quarter again. Twenty ninth in
Speaker 3: the league, they averaged less than a field goal per quarter.
Speaker 3: That is less than twelve points per game, if you
Speaker 3: expand what they do in the third quarter, less than
Speaker 3: twelve points per game as an offense. So that's that's
Speaker 3: got to get fixed in order for the defense to
Speaker 3: get better and for them not to give away these
Speaker 3: games in the second half.
Speaker 2: If you just bookend the season on the road, right
Speaker 2: that Kansas City game where it was complete domination in
Speaker 2: the first half and you fall apart in the second half,
Speaker 2: and then it's the same exact story in Jacksonville, and frankly,
Speaker 2: the defense was the ones that put the offense in
Speaker 2: the position to score in the first half. If you remember,
Speaker 2: it's not they sent me a three interception when you
Speaker 2: have five turnovers in the first half. The defense, the
Speaker 2: offense didn't have to move the ball really at all
Speaker 2: in that Jacksonville game, and then in the second half
Speaker 2: they didn't move the football at all, and the defense
Speaker 2: wore down. And it was that third quarter into the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter where they look like two completely different teams.
Speaker 2: So as we say at the top, we're going to
Speaker 2: talk about defense today. To Bundy's point, Kellen Moore in
Speaker 2: the offense is just as important in terms of how
Speaker 2: the defense. You know, when your offense scores right out
Speaker 2: of the gate in the second half, right, you don't
Speaker 2: think the defense is little jacked up to get on
Speaker 2: the field and get another three and out and get
Speaker 2: your offense back on the field. So that's I think
Speaker 2: an important point that you brought up money, because that
Speaker 2: was theme throughout. I was waiting for you to get
Speaker 2: to the Seattle game because I was like, man, the
Speaker 2: way you laid that out, it was like I was
Speaker 2: in we were in Houston, Eckler had three touchdowns. They
Speaker 2: almost lost that game in Houston, like.
Speaker 3: Twenty seven to twenty four. It was twenty twenty seven
Speaker 3: twenty four. Houston had the ball.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, every every stage of the regular season this
Speaker 2: kind of reared its head. And yes, Kellen Moore in
Speaker 2: the offense, but I think the defense and anybody can
Speaker 2: say this, but when you do have the talent that
Speaker 2: the Chargers have, if they have a little bit better
Speaker 2: injury luck, things are going to be I think just fine.
Speaker 2: There's a couple of guys, buddy, that we haven't talked
Speaker 2: about that I wanted to get your thoughts on. The
Speaker 2: first is Nick Williams. And Nick Williams was in Chicago
Speaker 2: with Jay Rodgers and Brandon Staley in twenty nineteen. He
Speaker 2: essentially replaced Austin Johnson with the Giants in the starting
Speaker 2: lineup last year. When Austin came to the Chargers in
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, he had six sacks. He played with Khalil Mack.
Speaker 2: Khalil had nine and a half that year. Nick Williams
Speaker 2: was second. He has forty two starts since twenty nineteen,
Speaker 2: and it was a signing a few weeks ago that
Speaker 2: we're like, Okay, Nick Williams, that's cool. But when you
Speaker 2: think about the defensive line and the depth that's needed
Speaker 2: because injuries are inevitable, a guy like that who knows
Speaker 2: Staley's system, who has been coached by Jay Rodgers, who
Speaker 2: you know, essentially replaced Austin Johnson in New York, that's
Speaker 2: another depth piece that is you can add essentially to
Speaker 2: this defensive line. And I haven't even mentioned guys like
Speaker 2: Tito Abonia and guys who got hurt. But Nick Williams
Speaker 2: I think is a very under the radar free agent signing.
Speaker 2: You know, Kendricks was the guy we talked about. But
Speaker 2: I think Nick Williams will contribute this year.
Speaker 3: Well, I'll be honest, Chris, I hope he doesn't. I'm
Speaker 3: just saying that because, like you said, he's a depth piece.
Speaker 3: Now he is a better depth piece when you're talking
Speaker 3: about you know what best case scenario is Tito Abonia,
Speaker 3: Austin Johnson, Sebastian Joseph Day. There's your three man rotation
Speaker 3: for those two inside tackles. Sign of Nick, though, is
Speaker 3: better than what they were faced with in the middle
Speaker 3: of the season last year, and that's trying to pluck
Speaker 3: guys off whomever was exposed on a practice squad and
Speaker 3: just trying to get them up and run. And here
Speaker 3: we are in week five. You got to figure this out.
Speaker 3: We need You're going to start this game like that's
Speaker 3: what we were looking at last year. So that's where
Speaker 3: the point you're making is, great, get some depth. Injuries
Speaker 3: are going to happen. Tito Obonia and Austin Johnson are
Speaker 3: both coming off significant injuries, and to project that they're
Speaker 3: going to play seventeen games, or they're going to be
Speaker 3: effective in seventeen games. It's crazy. So that's where Nick
Speaker 3: Williams comes in. You look at the depth chart, and
Speaker 3: I'm just looking at it right now, and it's kind
Speaker 3: of what you you know, I think you're probably a
Speaker 3: little worried about because you look behind and you see Nick,
Speaker 3: and and you see Tito behind Sebastian Joseph Daan and
Speaker 3: Austin Johnson behind that's David Moa, Jared Clark, cj Akoye.
Speaker 3: So it's it gets thin in a hurry, and that's
Speaker 3: where you hope that someone like Nick, who's thirty three,
Speaker 3: who's been in this league for a long time, who's
Speaker 3: piled up a career of one hundred and twenty five tackles,
Speaker 3: seven and a half sacks, has certainly proven in whatever
Speaker 3: role you ask of him, he's capable of going out.
Speaker 3: It's almost like a middle reliever. Can you get me
Speaker 3: some innings? Can you chew up some innings so I
Speaker 3: can give Austin Johnson, I can give Sebastian Joseph they
Speaker 3: a breather. And that's and when you mentioned coaching, that's
Speaker 3: something that is worth bringing up because I'll go, you know,
Speaker 3: I'll just go to last year and think about how
Speaker 3: well it didn't matter who it was, like, how well
Speaker 3: that you know, Fojoko played that, Merroll played that, Hinton
Speaker 3: played like Tys Shelby. Like they were bringing in guy
Speaker 3: guys that we're playing pretty darn well and not letting,
Speaker 3: you know, the games get away from you. At least
Speaker 3: they were keeping the Chargers in the game for the
Speaker 3: most part, for most of these games that they were
Speaker 3: able to either win or lose. So there is something
Speaker 3: to be said about Jay and Jay Rodgers and Brandon
Speaker 3: Staley and the way they coach these players and the
Speaker 3: way they developed these players. Tito Abonia was really coming
Speaker 3: on when he ended up getting hurt, like he was
Speaker 3: really coming on, was looking like a hell of a
Speaker 3: fine in that fourth round I think that's where they
Speaker 3: draft them in the fourth round, and looked like he
Speaker 3: was going to start earning a lot more time. We
Speaker 3: talked about Brandon Fojoko and him coming on as an
Speaker 3: undrafted free agent, how well he managed to play. So
Speaker 3: if there's one thing we can tell, it seems as
Speaker 3: though that particular position group plays pretty darn well. Under
Speaker 3: this set of coaching, under the sets of coaches that
Speaker 3: the Chargers have, and seems to play at or above
Speaker 3: their previous levels if they were at any other stops.
Speaker 3: And that's where when you bring up Nick where it's
Speaker 3: a little more encouraging that they have some depth at
Speaker 3: the start of the season and you know what someone's
Speaker 3: gonna show. You know, someone's gonna flash in training camp.
Speaker 3: You know that the the front office does a really
Speaker 3: good job of finding and tabbing these undrafted free agents.
Speaker 3: And just like we've seen with Braden Fojoco, with Forrest Merrill,
Speaker 3: with Joe Gaziano, just going through the whole defensive line,
Speaker 3: they tend to find guys. They tend to find guys
Speaker 3: that play and end up playing pretty well and make
Speaker 3: nice and end up developing nice NFL careers for themselves.
Speaker 2: Maybe Scott Medlock's that guy, the guy from Boy Yeah,
Speaker 2: who you.
Speaker 1: Know showed some promise.
Speaker 2: I think he's got some size and maybe can be
Speaker 2: one of.
Speaker 1: Those guys that six four to three hundred.
Speaker 2: He could be a rotational guy potentially. The one thing
Speaker 2: about Tito and Austin Johnson, I think silver linings to injuries.
Speaker 2: It happened earlier in the year. So Austin Johnson got
Speaker 2: hurt in the Atlanta game, Tito got hurt in the
Speaker 2: forty nine Ers game. So you hope those guys are
Speaker 2: ready to go for training camp. Tito, I went back.
Speaker 2: I interviewed him right after he was drafted money, and
Speaker 2: I listened back to it because I kind of forgot
Speaker 2: the conversation. He went to the local pro day because
Speaker 2: he's from UCLA, and he hit it off with the
Speaker 2: Chargers and he said he knew he kind of knew
Speaker 2: that the Chargers were the team that he was going
Speaker 2: to go to. And in terms of what he said
Speaker 2: he was going to provide to the team, he said,
Speaker 2: first and foremost, improved the rush defense and secondly, collapse
Speaker 2: pockets for Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. And to your point,
Speaker 2: we saw that, I mean we saw him coming on.
Speaker 2: And he's another guy, almost like a red shirt rookie
Speaker 2: this year who I think fans will be very excited
Speaker 2: to see in this rotation. I think he had one
Speaker 2: year as a starter at UCLA, but he was there
Speaker 2: for a while, just a powerful dude. And I think
Speaker 2: the season is so long you kind of forget moments
Speaker 2: throughout the year, and I think Tito was maybe a
Speaker 2: little forgotten about because of his injury. But he's coming
Speaker 2: back and I think he's gonna be an impactful player.
Speaker 3: You look at the rush numbers, and we all know
Speaker 3: they were terrible. One hundred and forty four yards per game.
Speaker 3: Teams rushed twenty seven times per game and they would
Speaker 3: have seven rushes for first downs. That can't have that.
Speaker 3: Just that that's something that needs to be fixed. They
Speaker 3: were dead last allowing five point four rush yards per
Speaker 3: attempt and they were twenty third and percentage of rush
Speaker 3: plays against them, which tells you teams came in and
Speaker 3: said we're gonna run the ball, and what Coach Staley
Speaker 3: will tell you is that's fine that they believe. And
Speaker 3: I do think this is where philosophy and scheme comes
Speaker 3: into play. Is it's the philosophy. I don't want to
Speaker 3: put words in his mouth and have him come on
Speaker 3: and tell us himself, but my interpretation of the way
Speaker 3: they approach is no explosive place. Happy to give up
Speaker 3: for four yards on the ground. See if we can
Speaker 3: get a negative play in there on second down, rush
Speaker 3: the passer on third down. One thing we can't do
Speaker 3: is give up that twenty yard explosive passing play, that
Speaker 3: thirty yard that get over your head touch. That's the
Speaker 3: one thing they will not allow. Unfortunately, what became a
Speaker 3: bit of a signature for this defense was explosive runs.
Speaker 3: No defense allowed more explosive runs than the Chargers. So
Speaker 3: while I understand you don't want the thirty yard pass
Speaker 3: play or the fifty yard bomb for a touchdown, you
Speaker 3: also don't want the forty yard run, the seventy yard
Speaker 3: run from Kenneth Walker. The amy might be of who
Speaker 3: was exactly ho Dame. That's what I was thinking about
Speaker 3: Pierson Houston for seventy five yards. There were way too
Speaker 3: many of those, So I'm curious. I shouldn't say it's
Speaker 3: not anxious. I'm curious to see how they fix that.
Speaker 3: Because it's one thing to give up the four yards
Speaker 3: per carry, the four and a half yards per carry.
Speaker 3: That doesn't look great. The problem is all of those
Speaker 3: explosive runs, which negate the philosophy of no explosive plays
Speaker 3: in the passing game. Don't let the ball get over
Speaker 3: your head. Well, it doesn't matter if the running back
Speaker 3: gets to the edge and rips one off like Pierce
Speaker 3: did for seventy five yards in a game that's getting
Speaker 3: away from you. We went through it, you know, the
Speaker 3: punt punt fumble, you're up twenty seven to seven. It's
Speaker 3: a twenty seven to twenty four game, and Houston's got
Speaker 3: the ball in the fourth quarter. That's what they were
Speaker 3: faced with before they scored a touchdown in their last
Speaker 3: possession to go up thirty four to twenty four. So
Speaker 3: that's something I'm anxious to see again. There I am
Speaker 3: with anxious curious to see how they adjust and that
Speaker 3: that could be. I know I defended them when it
Speaker 3: came up the other day. But maybe that's why Arit
Speaker 3: Kendricks is here and Drew trankwill is not here. That's
Speaker 3: his responsibility as the play caller or the man that's
Speaker 3: relaying the play calls and making sure everybody gets set
Speaker 3: up in their right spots. That then perhaps the idea
Speaker 3: is that Eric Kendris can do a better job of that.
Speaker 3: To prevent, to make sure the edge is set, to
Speaker 3: make sure the linebackers are in their lanes, to make
Speaker 3: sure the corners know where they're supposed to be, and
Speaker 3: to get corners that can tackle to get corners that
Speaker 3: can make those tackles. Far too often we saw safeties
Speaker 3: and corners. It's one of the big issues with JT.
Speaker 3: Woods last year. There were a couple runs that were
Speaker 3: on him when he was out there, just bad angles
Speaker 3: or misdiagnosed. Kenneth Murray, I know, had some serious issues
Speaker 3: in diagnosing runs and trying to figure out where he
Speaker 3: was supposed to be. And that's probably why I think
Speaker 3: of all the issues, my guess is that's probably number
Speaker 3: one on the list of why that fifty year option
Speaker 3: was not picked up. Is he really struggled to find
Speaker 3: the right lane and really struggled to diagnose run and
Speaker 3: get that first step and not be a step slow,
Speaker 3: but be a step quick and trying to make those plays.
Speaker 2: Bunny, we've routinely said this, it takes all three levels
Speaker 2: to stop the run, and you've routinely said this, Joey
Speaker 2: Bosa is perhaps the best all around defensive end of football.
Speaker 2: Do you think that Damian Pierce seventy five yard run
Speaker 2: happens if Bosa's on the field, or you know some
Speaker 2: of these like huge runs throughout the course here where
Speaker 2: Joey wasn't on the field, So right.
Speaker 1: I think that that's going to make a big difference too.
Speaker 2: And it's it's very easy to say it's it's you know,
Speaker 2: call it an excuse, Oh, Joey wasn't on the field,
Speaker 2: but it's true. Joey was not on the field for
Speaker 2: a lot of these big runs throughout the course of
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 3: And Joey, it's a great point, Chris's they ran right
Speaker 3: at Kyle van Noy for all of the celebration we
Speaker 3: had of Kyle, and he really came along toward the
Speaker 3: end of the year. And his sack numbers and his
Speaker 3: past his pressure numbers, he was a busy against the
Speaker 3: run for a good stretch. And look, he was playing
Speaker 3: a position that he didn't think he was going to play.
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of rules. Lindsay brought this up
Speaker 3: last week. It'd say, very complicated defense. There are a
Speaker 3: lot of rules for what you're supposed to do. And
Speaker 3: we know even the first year that Brandon Staley was
Speaker 3: your joy was not entirely comfortable. He was not comfortable
Speaker 3: with this defense and he was not happy, and you know,
Speaker 3: and then he settled in and he figured out, and
Speaker 3: he got a lot more comfortable and got into that
Speaker 3: rhythm and so you're you're absolutely right, because I know
Speaker 3: I've said it on the podcast before, but you know,
Speaker 3: I remember listening to when my daughter was playing lacrosse.
Speaker 3: They would say, where's the Cheetoh and that was the
Speaker 3: name of the person that they were going to take
Speaker 3: advantage of. Okay, that person can't play offense. We could
Speaker 3: ignore them, so we can double and triple over here,
Speaker 3: or you know, hey, there's the Cheetoh on defense. That's
Speaker 3: where you're attacking every time. And it's every sport is
Speaker 3: exactly the same way, you know, whatever you want to
Speaker 3: call it. The cheetoh or that's what they're looking for.
Speaker 3: And they ran right at Kenneth Murray, and they ran
Speaker 3: right at Kyle van Noy repeatedly, and that's all it takes.
Speaker 3: It's just like an offensive line. You could have the
Speaker 3: best left tackle in the world, but if your right
Speaker 3: tackle is not league average or at least serviceable, you're host.
Speaker 3: You are completely hosed. We saw it in that first
Speaker 3: game that Forrest Serel got into nothing against him. He
Speaker 3: just wasn't. He's got a lot better through the course
Speaker 3: of the year, and that's why they brought him back
Speaker 3: because he's a developmental prospect. He's got to continue to develop.
Speaker 3: And they just came ran right over him, ran right
Speaker 3: over him the entire game. That's what they'll do. So
Speaker 3: that's where the whole Bosa being on the field, along
Speaker 3: with Khalil Mack, who is probably the best run edge
Speaker 3: defender in the league. Khalil Mack is exceptional at defending
Speaker 3: the run as an edge player. Jadavian Clowney another one
Speaker 3: exceptional at defending the run as an edge player, Joey Bosas.
Speaker 3: So when you have two of the best we can
Speaker 3: set the edge and you're not getting around us guys,
Speaker 3: then that certainly helps out a lot more.
Speaker 1: A couple of other guys I want to mention. We'll
Speaker 1: move on.
Speaker 2: Morgan Fox had twelve starts last year, really picked this
Speaker 2: defense up when they needed it. Towards the end of
Speaker 2: the year, he had six and a half sacks career high.
Speaker 2: Four came in the last five games. And these two
Speaker 2: rookies I want to talk about too. Money Tully to
Speaker 2: below two from USC. He's only twenty years old. The
Speaker 2: coaches say he's wise beyond his years. Thirteen and a
Speaker 2: half sacks at USC last year, twenty two tackles for
Speaker 2: loss and your buddy Lance zero line rare a lineman
Speaker 2: versatility for every defensive front. That's music that should be
Speaker 2: music to Chargers fanciers. He can play across the line.
Speaker 2: He's another guy who I think will be that third
Speaker 2: or fourth edge rusher but also provide help up front.
Speaker 2: And then Diane Henley, this is a guy who maybe
Speaker 2: is a little bit rang because he hasn't played the
Speaker 2: linebacker position that many years, but he's all over the
Speaker 2: field and this could be another player who you see
Speaker 2: more often than not as far as the linebacking position
Speaker 2: and that unit is concerned money. Do you think it's
Speaker 2: a little thin behind Kendricks and Murray with with Henley
Speaker 2: there as a rookie and you know, I know Amon's there,
Speaker 2: and you know Nick Neeman didn't really get much run
Speaker 2: on defense last year. He's been great on special teams.
Speaker 2: But it could be a position where I think they
Speaker 2: could add a guy.
Speaker 3: It's it's it's a non premium position in this In
Speaker 3: this defense, a lot of times there's only one guy
Speaker 3: out there and it's the extra. They're playing a lot
Speaker 3: of dime. They're playing that dollar, you know, safety role.
Speaker 3: So That's why it doesn't concern me as much. What
Speaker 3: really it's it's really going to come down to how
Speaker 3: good is Kendricks, how how good is he going to play?
Speaker 3: And in the hope that that Kenneth Murray can we
Speaker 3: say it all the time, can live up to what
Speaker 3: we know capable of doing physically and athletically. He's a
Speaker 3: complete freak of a physical football player. It's just trying
Speaker 3: and maybe that's where the Eric Kendrick's decision came in
Speaker 3: as well, just communication and making sure that Kenneth is
Speaker 3: is in the best spot to have him succeed. So
Speaker 3: that's I'm with you. I think Dan can could end
Speaker 3: an absolutely could absolutely make an impact. He is he,
Speaker 3: like you said, just started from Nevada to Washington State
Speaker 3: and moving to the linebacker position, and just how little
Speaker 3: time he had at that position to the impact that
Speaker 3: he made suggests that, yes, this is an ascending player,
Speaker 3: someone who is gifted athletically, physically, plays with a butt
Speaker 3: ton of energy and an aggressiveness and violence and probably
Speaker 3: just needs to learn the position. And again going to
Speaker 3: what we've said repeatedly, it's a good coaching staff. They
Speaker 3: develop players very well, so certainly he's have to play.
Speaker 1: I would assume.
Speaker 3: I think Nick Neeman's been on the team long enough
Speaker 3: for us to know he's one of the best special
Speaker 3: teams players in the league. Maybe not a linebacker that
Speaker 3: you want out there a whole lot. Same thing with Aimen,
Speaker 3: great special teams player, not quite sure he's a rotational player.
Speaker 3: So Dan's the latest person that that's gonna try to
Speaker 3: fill in at that depth. Tully Polo two is Twey
Speaker 3: Polo two is the more important one. He's got to
Speaker 3: be the third edge rusher and he's got to be effective.
Speaker 3: It's what they thought Chris Rump was gonna be last
Speaker 3: year and just didn't quite materialize. Again. Exceptional special teams player,
Speaker 3: solid give you give, give your starter a breather. Maybe
Speaker 3: plays a series, maybe half a series, couple plays Tooley's
Speaker 3: got to be that guy that can can play a hole,
Speaker 3: can play multiple series. Hey, this is your series in
Speaker 3: the first quarter, this is in the first half. Here's
Speaker 3: your series in the second half. You're gonna Gi Khalil
Speaker 3: a blow. Here, You're gonna give Joey a blow there.
Speaker 3: You need to be effective, so that's Hey, we're gonna
Speaker 3: kick Joey inside and you're gonna play outside of him.
Speaker 3: We're gonna put you both on the same side of
Speaker 3: the like, that's what Tuley, That's what Tooley's got to be. Yep,
Speaker 3: So that's to me, that's the much more important one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you and you know ed Morgan Fox
Speaker 2: that mix who was kind of you know, he can
Speaker 2: he can.
Speaker 1: You can move him around.
Speaker 2: Like I said, six and a half sacks last year.
Speaker 2: The secondary money we've talked I think maybe the most
Speaker 2: of every all three levels of the defense. We talked
Speaker 2: about the secondary of the most because of the intrigue
Speaker 2: behind J. C. Jackson being ready for training camp and
Speaker 2: potentially for the beginning of the season, the way I
Speaker 2: Sante Samuel closed the year, especially in Jacksonville with there's
Speaker 2: three interceptions. What Derwin's capable of when he actually has
Speaker 2: healthy bodies around him, how you can move him around?
Speaker 1: Is there anything else? J? T.
Speaker 2: Woods obviously is another guy we've talked about who has
Speaker 2: to step up. Jalil I thought was great breaking down
Speaker 2: Alohi Gilman a few weeks ago and just what al
Speaker 2: he brings to the secondary, his steady presence. Is there
Speaker 2: anything else Michael Davis, any other players that you're looking
Speaker 2: forward to seeing that maybe can help in terms of depth.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously we've mentioned the name Bryce Callahan and
Speaker 2: John Johnson, two guys who are still out there. Perhaps
Speaker 2: they get signed by the Chargers at some point.
Speaker 3: I think Jaw's going to be that guy, the depth guy.
Speaker 3: You know. Ultimately it comes down to the health of
Speaker 3: jac Jackson, and it feels like he's going to be ready.
Speaker 3: That Jac is going to be ready, and that's going
Speaker 3: to help a lot having him, and especially if he's
Speaker 3: another if he's actually comfortable in the system, or if
Speaker 3: the system can be adjusted to take advantage of his
Speaker 3: strengths and not ask him to change his stripes and
Speaker 3: just stick him on. Someone say that's your guy here
Speaker 3: at week one, JC, you got Tyreek Hill, just stick
Speaker 3: get up on the line, physically punish him and let's go.
Speaker 3: It's a big ask, but you know what I'm getting at,
Speaker 3: Like that's so anxious to see or is he more
Speaker 3: comfortable and he now is comfortable with the rules and
Speaker 3: all the different things he's got to adjust to in
Speaker 3: a system that he's not used to playing so in
Speaker 3: the secondary and I just mention that because of Jossier Taylor. Right, So,
Speaker 3: now if you want to get physical in that slot.
Speaker 3: Now you're talking about three really big corners going back
Speaker 3: to that that rush defense. If then the nickel you
Speaker 3: got Joss here in his size and Mikey Davis on
Speaker 3: one one side and j. C. Jackson on the other,
Speaker 3: you've got three really big corners that can tackle and
Speaker 3: that can help change the calculus of that run defense
Speaker 3: and being effective. And I think outside of that, I'm
Speaker 3: just gonna bring up two lee again because just in
Speaker 3: vision and this is sounds great. Whether or not it's effective,
Speaker 3: I can't say, but just imagine on an obvious passing
Speaker 3: down to have Joey Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Sebastian, Joseph Day,
Speaker 3: Morgan Fox and Tulle Tuipolo two. That's what's That's what's
Speaker 3: on that line. To me, that's what Brandon Staley is envisioning.
Speaker 3: And by the way, behind them, you've got Eric Hendricks,
Speaker 3: Derwin James, j C. Jackson, Mikey Davis. Like that's what
Speaker 3: we're talking about. When this team can be healthy, when
Speaker 3: you have that kind of talent on the defensive line,
Speaker 3: that's going to create pressure that in turn creates opportunities
Speaker 3: for JC and Derwin and Mikey to create turnovers. Eric Kendricks,
Speaker 3: who's got good hands and has interceptions in his career.
Speaker 3: That's what we're talking about. That's how this offense, that's
Speaker 3: how this defense is going to make its impact with
Speaker 3: pass rush when you have That's why I was really
Speaker 3: surprised that Morgan Fox came back. I thought for sure
Speaker 3: he was going to have a ton of money out there.
Speaker 3: It's hard to find effective pass rushers on the interior
Speaker 3: of the line, but that's what you can do. Now
Speaker 3: you can stack Morgan Fox and Joey Bosa. You can
Speaker 3: stack Bosa and Khalil, you can you can stack boson Tully.
Speaker 3: That's where you get your advantage. You can double everybody.
Speaker 3: So it's all about taking advantage of single coverage of
Speaker 3: I'm being I've got a one on one. Khalil and
Speaker 3: Joey can't both be doubled. If they're on the same side.
Speaker 3: One of them's got a one on one. You go
Speaker 3: to the other side, chances are they're doubling one of
Speaker 3: those two guys. So now you've got one on ones
Speaker 3: from Morgan Fox, Sebastian, Joseph Day and Tooley two Polo
Speaker 3: two all on one side of the line. Like, that's
Speaker 3: that's what we're getting at.
Speaker 1: More options than the playbook. Man.
Speaker 2: I'm sure Derwin on the edge that was something that
Speaker 2: we would have seen a lot more in twenty twenty
Speaker 2: two headed up in for the injuries, and I agree
Speaker 2: with you Tooley is is probably the one rookie that
Speaker 2: is going to have to produce the most. You know,
Speaker 2: Quentin Johnson, of course we've talked about, but Tuley's going
Speaker 2: to have to be that guy. I think on defense,
Speaker 2: if they.
Speaker 3: Want things a little bit more of a luxury, right,
Speaker 3: it's you've got Mike, You've got Keenan. Now they weren't
Speaker 3: healthy last year together, but let's just project health. You know,
Speaker 3: project these guys are going to be healthy for the
Speaker 3: majority of the season and not miss eight or ten games.
Speaker 3: And that's a luxury. You're fine. If you've got Josh
Speaker 3: Palmer and Mike Williams and Keenan Allen with Justin Herbert
Speaker 3: throwing the ball, you're gonna be fine. Quentin Johnson, of course,
Speaker 3: takes it to another level. If you've got Johnson out there,
Speaker 3: with Mike and with Keenan, especially in red zone packages
Speaker 3: and stuff like that. Good luck, but Tuley's got to
Speaker 3: have that's good. That has to work, has to work.
Speaker 2: Money as we get out of here, I think the
Speaker 2: biggest takeaway from today's podcast is Kellen Moore's offense is
Speaker 2: going to impact Brandon Staley's defense.
Speaker 1: As much as anything.
Speaker 2: And you brought up that third quarter fans, I suggest
Speaker 2: do what Money was saying, go back and look at
Speaker 2: the second half of these games and how they lost
Speaker 2: the games and how strong they came out in a
Speaker 2: majority of these games against really good teams, and how
Speaker 2: it looks so different in the second half, and what
Speaker 2: the what what they have done in the intel that
Speaker 2: they've gathered in an effort to remedy that that's going
Speaker 2: to be the difference in twenty twenty three, no doubt.
Speaker 3: It's not just fixing the defense, it's not just fixing
Speaker 3: the offense. It's getting them to compliment one another. It's
Speaker 3: complimentary football. That's what it's all about. Touchdowns, not that
Speaker 3: field goals Like I go through. I'll wrap it with this, Chris.
Speaker 3: The second half points they averaged eight points, sixteen points
Speaker 3: per day, twenty eighth in the league. The only teams
Speaker 3: that were worse. Think about these offenses Tennessee, the Rams,
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh and Denver. Those were terrible offenses last I mean
Speaker 3: terrible offenses last year. The Rams, it was a complete
Speaker 3: loss with everybody getting hurt, including Matthew Stafford. Tennessee was
Speaker 3: a complete failure of an offense. Remember they had Malik
Speaker 3: Willis out there. They could not run the ball, they
Speaker 3: got rid of aj Brown had zero, didn't even have
Speaker 3: a number three wide receiver out there, let alone a
Speaker 3: two or a one. Pittsburgh was still playing just protect
Speaker 3: the ball, don't get into trouble, Kennedy, dink and dunk,
Speaker 3: and let's let our defense try to win us some
Speaker 3: games to get into the tournament. And of course Denver,
Speaker 3: we know was historically bad considering how dominant their defense was.
Speaker 3: So that's how bad the second halves were for the
Speaker 3: Chargers and why they need to be so much better
Speaker 3: in that third quarter, second quarter eleven point three points
Speaker 3: per game, or points per quarter eleven point three, third
Speaker 3: quarter two point nine. It's just that's it.
Speaker 1: It's all right there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, hey, we hope we're bringing you good content
Speaker 2: during the Dog Days. If you're listening to the podcast
Speaker 2: on June twenty ninth, you're a diehard Charger than a weirdo. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: and we appreciate you, you weirdos.
Speaker 1: I love the weirdos. Chargers Weekly. Weird that's what we say, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: Hey, we couldn't resist talking about Kellen Moore and the
Speaker 2: Chargers offense on the Defense podcast. We'll talk about Kellen
Speaker 2: Moore in the offense next week and really dive into
Speaker 2: what Kellen Moore is all about and all the weapons
Speaker 2: that he has at his disposal with Justin Herbert at the.
Speaker 1: Trolls for bat Money Smith, I'm Chris Hayry. This has
Speaker 1: been charges with
Speaker 2: M