Speaker 1: L fifteen to ten touched up Sack.
Speaker 2: What's up?
Speaker 3: Guys, Welcome into another episode of Chargers Weekly from the
Speaker 3: Hope Performance Center as always, joined by Matt Muddy Smith. Buddy,
Speaker 3: we're taping this about an hour and change before you
Speaker 3: hit the road. This is a time will cast by
Speaker 3: the way on Friday. So if you listen to Money
Speaker 3: on the radio, you're also gonna be able to watch
Speaker 3: more TV.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be fun. So, you know, thinking about our
Speaker 2: friend Noah Eagle, he got pressed into emergency duty has
Speaker 2: to apply to Ireland. It's called the Notre Dame Navy
Speaker 2: Game and for NBC that issues new employer no longer
Speaker 2: doing the Clipper play by play here in town, and
Speaker 2: said he is hired by NBC to do Big ten
Speaker 2: football and they need him to head over across the
Speaker 2: pond there to call the Notre Dame game. So Josh Rupreck,
Speaker 2: the name you may not hear often, but one of
Speaker 2: our bosses here is had the idea, why don't we
Speaker 2: do a simulcast. Let's get you DJ and Dan and
Speaker 2: the booth LT down on the field and gonna have
Speaker 2: a lot of fun. I'm gonna do everything I can
Speaker 2: to stay out of the way. I got a lot
Speaker 2: of big football brains between those three that can really
Speaker 2: break it down and should have a really good time
Speaker 2: talking about this final preseason game. The roster what we've
Speaker 2: seen so far, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: I'm excited and on your home channel two, Channel two.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll be a pregame post game with the great
Speaker 3: Jim Hill and Jalila Die and Haley O Wood.
Speaker 1: So it'll be fun. This last preseason game. I always
Speaker 1: date back to.
Speaker 3: The Austin Eckler twenty seventeen year right because it was
Speaker 3: against San Francisco and that's the game he made the roster.
Speaker 3: I guess before we look ahead to the Niners, let's
Speaker 3: look back to that weird Sunday her a quake that
Speaker 3: was really just rain. A game where you know, the
Speaker 3: Chargers lose your takeaways. I guess maybe starting at the
Speaker 3: quarterback position.
Speaker 2: Well else, a rough game for Easton, no doubt. Took
Speaker 2: a couple of really bad sacks, one on a third
Speaker 2: down where he just had He had a couple where
Speaker 2: I think he was sacked maybe three four times. He
Speaker 2: just for whatever reason just didn't get rid of the ball.
Speaker 2: So I'm sure that's something that that coach went over
Speaker 2: with him. Didn't really have good protection. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, a club of those sacks were on him.
Speaker 2: Thought had one interception that just got baited into it,
Speaker 2: didn't see the safety squatting, did not take the bait
Speaker 2: to go deep. But he ran the ball really well
Speaker 2: like and that's one of the things about Easton is
Speaker 2: he's a legitimate dual threat and he ran the ball
Speaker 2: with purpose, you know, rushed for two touchdowns, rushed for
Speaker 2: first downs, you know, rushed into contact, really ran the
Speaker 2: ball well. So there's there's that. You know, the connection
Speaker 2: with Quinton was great. You know, we had the drops
Speaker 2: on that first game, you know, Johnston three targets, three receptions.
Speaker 2: That's great to see. The running game was not nearly
Speaker 2: as effective. None of the runners quite had the same
Speaker 2: sort of effect. So I think that was now. I
Speaker 2: think it's also fair and look, everybody can play this game,
Speaker 2: and they kind of do. But legitimately, the Saints had
Speaker 2: their starting defense in for a good percentage of that game,
Speaker 2: and the Chargers, you know, they started with Zion and
Speaker 2: Jamari out there and then they were gone in a hurry.
Speaker 2: So it really was for quite a bit of the game.
Speaker 2: Backups versus starters in terms of Chargers offense versus Saints defense.
Speaker 2: I think that's something to keep in mind. If it
Speaker 2: looked a little bit lopsided but offensively, I would say
Speaker 2: that's It's probably what stood out to me.
Speaker 1: Sticking with Easton, no foot attended.
Speaker 3: Yeah, is he someone that you really want to see
Speaker 3: make a jump on Friday in terms of did we
Speaker 3: bring in another arm? Because I think people were very
Speaker 3: happy with his progression over the last four to five seasons,
Speaker 3: and he had a good camp.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I think if I had to guess they're
Speaker 2: gonna play, you know, he's gonna play again, and they're
Speaker 2: gonna want to see a little bit more. Are the
Speaker 2: Rams that bad? You know? Watching the Rams Raiders game,
Speaker 2: they got chewed up and spit out by the Raiders.
Speaker 1: As well, same score, thirty four to seventeen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Rams look like they're gonna be really bad
Speaker 2: this year. So I think you have to be careful
Speaker 2: about putting too much positive spin on the Rams game
Speaker 2: and too much negative spin on this skame. So I
Speaker 2: think we'll see him a little bit. For me, the
Speaker 2: more interesting thing in the San Francisco game, and going
Speaker 2: from Friday through Tuesday at one pm, is what's what's
Speaker 2: the decision with Max Duggan. You know, to me, that's
Speaker 2: that's a very valuable spot. And so with Easton, what
Speaker 2: I'm guessing they really want to see is all right,
Speaker 2: it'll be comfortable with two quarterbacks, because man, we'd like
Speaker 2: to be comfortable with two quarterbacks, so they can plant
Speaker 2: Max on the practice squad and then Easton, you know,
Speaker 2: you can just run with two quarterbacks and that fifty
Speaker 2: just think of that as your fifty third spot can
Speaker 2: be an extra dlignement. Maybe that's you know, Girod Clark.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's an extra wide receipt. Maybe that's Elijah Dotson,
Speaker 2: like that's not Maybe it's an extra safety or court.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's Cam Brown. You know, that's what I'd really
Speaker 2: what I'm hopeful is that Easton can have a really
Speaker 2: good first quarter, get out of there, and then they
Speaker 2: feel comfortable planting to Max on the practice squad and
Speaker 2: that gives you a roster spot.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree, and I think that's the reason he
Speaker 3: didn't see Max at all. That was a little surprising
Speaker 3: you didn't see him at all, But to see Easton
Speaker 3: kind of struggle in that first half. It was good
Speaker 3: to put him back out there. See the growing pantsy
Speaker 3: you can kind of get himself out of it. The
Speaker 3: running back position, like you said, Elijah Dotson game one
Speaker 3: to game two a little bit different. I still think
Speaker 3: Isaiah Spiller showed that burst and they hit that one
Speaker 3: fifteen yard run. That really showed me this is the
Speaker 3: guy that they drafted at the fourth round.
Speaker 2: Of text saying it he's going to get reps. I
Speaker 2: think that's what we've discovered this preseason. He's play. He's
Speaker 2: going to play. It's not going to be like last
Speaker 2: year where he's maybe not active on a couple of
Speaker 2: game days and he's in the rotation. It's not just
Speaker 2: one series in the first half and one series in
Speaker 2: the second. He's going to be part of the rotation.
Speaker 2: And that's you know, so that's where all the people
Speaker 2: that are clamoring for Dotson to make the active roster
Speaker 2: you have to now ask yourself, Okay, what this is
Speaker 2: a team that has its sights fixed on the Super Bowl,
Speaker 2: like winning a Super how many carries is Elijah Dotson
Speaker 2: going to get in a regular season game? If you
Speaker 2: feel and I feel like we know what Joshua Kelly
Speaker 2: is and he's a valuable part of this team. We
Speaker 2: obviously know that Austin Eckler's and the conversation is the
Speaker 2: best all around running back in the NFL. And now
Speaker 2: we're feeling really good about Isaiah Spiller. So then the
Speaker 2: question becomes, Okay, if Elijah makes the fifty three, what's
Speaker 2: his role? You know, what is his role on game day?
Speaker 2: And so now I'm going to ask the question and
Speaker 2: answer it myself. The role is that it's a position
Speaker 2: of attrition, you know, And that's his role is that
Speaker 2: every year the running back takes a high rate of
Speaker 2: injury games missed. So that's why he's on the active roster.
Speaker 2: If he's not feel great about those three guys, as
Speaker 2: long as they can stay healthy. If he is feel
Speaker 2: really good about the depth, I.
Speaker 3: Think the question Chargers fans have is can you keep
Speaker 3: him on the fifty three initially so you don't lose him,
Speaker 3: because that could be a guy you lose. But again,
Speaker 3: game three is a perfect opportunity to see if that's
Speaker 3: a guy worth keeping on your fifty three initially.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we've we've been through this before. You know,
Speaker 2: we've been We've been through this with Troy May and Pope,
Speaker 2: we've been through this with Tres Newsom, Like we've been
Speaker 2: through the preseason running back that raises his hand and
Speaker 2: you say, ooh, you put them on the practice squad
Speaker 2: and someone might claim him and they don't, you know,
Speaker 2: and rarely do those players get claimed.
Speaker 3: Who is the running back from Tulane that Coach Lynn
Speaker 3: compared to a mac truck?
Speaker 2: Why is the name of s Yeah, that's a scape.
Speaker 1: A lot of like Tres Newsom, Troy May called.
Speaker 2: Him at f one fifty Yeah, and I'm trying to
Speaker 2: and it's it might have been one of those two.
Speaker 2: It might have been anyway those like that's the thing,
Speaker 2: like we think, oh, yeah, no doubt someone's gonna come Clay,
Speaker 2: And maybe they will, you know, maybe maybe the Colts
Speaker 2: come get them because John the Taylor's you know, not
Speaker 2: going to be ready for the first game of the
Speaker 2: season or they trade them whatever. So yeah, someone could
Speaker 2: claim him. But I think that's that's what makes the
Speaker 2: job so hard. So makes putting the fifty three together
Speaker 2: so hard because you've got to play that and you know,
Speaker 2: one of the things that Tom Telesco. During his interview
Speaker 2: with with DJ and Me on this past Sunday against
Speaker 2: the Saints, he brought up a point that people regularly forget.
Speaker 2: He's like, don't forget, guys, we have a staff. We
Speaker 2: have a pro staff that a staff that scouts the
Speaker 2: pro teams. They're out there looking at bubble players that
Speaker 2: will fit us better than maybe some of the guys
Speaker 2: we have. So it's not just our ninety players, it's
Speaker 2: the other guys that might get put on a practice
Speaker 2: squad that fill a position of need for us a
Speaker 2: little bit more than it'd be nice to keep a
Speaker 2: fourth running back, you know, is it another safety if
Speaker 2: Low is still not feeling one hundred percent? Is it
Speaker 2: another corner if Jc's not ready to go, Like, that's
Speaker 2: what you have to start thinking about as well.
Speaker 3: I just the fact that Spiller didn't play at all
Speaker 3: last year and he was a fourth round pick. What
Speaker 3: do you think Dots is going to do this year?
Speaker 3: Sitting on He's gonna sit on the practice squad is
Speaker 3: going to be inactive because they have three guys ahead
Speaker 3: of him. So the wide receiver position is another intriguing spot.
Speaker 3: We've seen Quentin get the necessary reps. Darius Davis's fleshed
Speaker 3: John high Tower played in his first game. Jalen Geiden's
Speaker 3: status is up in the air as we begin September.
Speaker 3: Where do you think they go in terms of wide receiver?
Speaker 3: We know one to four, who's going to be the fifth?
Speaker 3: And do they keep six?
Speaker 2: Well, they're going to keep six because I don't think.
Speaker 2: I don't think Guden's going to be ready, you know,
Speaker 2: just we saw him working off to the side, you know,
Speaker 2: in that final training camp practice yesterday. So if I
Speaker 2: had to guess, I don't think he's going to be
Speaker 2: ready to go, which means it's going to be a
Speaker 2: pick your you know, pick your style of wide receiver
Speaker 2: that you want to make the team. You know, Keeland
Speaker 2: DAWs has caught everything that's been thrown at him, Yes,
Speaker 2: you know, but he is a similar receiver to Mike Williams,
Speaker 2: keenan Allen, big body, you know, runs good routes, sure handed.
Speaker 2: You know, John high Tower's got speed. You know, he's
Speaker 2: a little bit smaller, he's got speed. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, and remember we've got a fifth wide receiver
Speaker 2: because Darius Davis go to make the team. So you're
Speaker 2: really at five, and then you've now got to figure
Speaker 2: out which of these two guys is going to be
Speaker 2: the six and which one ends up on the practice
Speaker 2: squad and will he be claimed? And I could see
Speaker 2: either of those guys considering just what a passing league
Speaker 2: it's become. I could see either of those guys being claimed.
Speaker 2: I think they are valuable and they could contribute. But again,
Speaker 2: denzil Mims got cut. Yeah, denzil Ms got cut barely
Speaker 2: even played. I think he already found another home if
Speaker 2: I remember right, I think someone scooped him up. But
Speaker 2: so it's you know, and again Mike Williams, Keenan Allen,
Speaker 2: Josh Palmer, Quintin Johnston. Okay, now you're Darius Davis for
Speaker 2: those you know, let's take the top off. And that's
Speaker 2: something that we saw in the preseason. I'm very excited
Speaker 2: about that. Teams had to honor Darius Davis. He's good man,
Speaker 2: he can He's going to get to feeling to hurry
Speaker 2: Jet sweet. But I'm just talking about just sending him.
Speaker 2: You know, as long as there's no press, if you
Speaker 2: can put him in motion and then send him so
Speaker 2: you can't press him off the line, then you know,
Speaker 2: there's your speed element as well, and maybe then Keelan
Speaker 2: Dass comes in and that's how you.
Speaker 1: Put that puzzle together tight end.
Speaker 3: I think we're pretty solid on Gerald Everet, who we
Speaker 3: talked to last week. Trey McKitty, Donald Parhum still and smart,
Speaker 3: and that's the one stone going to make the act.
Speaker 1: You can separate himself from They're.
Speaker 2: Going to be four, and I think he does. I
Speaker 2: do think I think they carry four, you know, and
Speaker 2: who knows though it's you know, there's Trey's done a
Speaker 2: nice job blocking this preseason. He's had a couple of
Speaker 2: really good reps blocking and that's what he's asked to do.
Speaker 2: He's seemed frustrated, I noticed in the Saints game, and
Speaker 2: also I think it happened a couple of times as
Speaker 2: well in the Rams game where he's wide open and
Speaker 2: the ball just didn't find him, and I think that
Speaker 2: was frustrating for him. He wants more opportunities, and I
Speaker 2: think they view and to me, that tells me when
Speaker 2: you're calling in the player, when the play's designed, he's
Speaker 2: not He's dead last in the progression. It's not someone
Speaker 2: that they think is going to contrue a lot in
Speaker 2: the passing game. So what he's been asked to do,
Speaker 2: I thought he's done very well. But Stone Smart. It's
Speaker 2: just so interesting because of how new he is to
Speaker 2: the position and how quickly he's progressed. He's sure handed,
Speaker 2: and that goes a long way when you're a tight end,
Speaker 2: because you're typically banging around, you know, in the middle
Speaker 2: of the field, running those seam routes when you're you know,
Speaker 2: you're trying to to make a play down the middle
Speaker 2: of the field. Now maybe you're wide open, and he
Speaker 2: has shown a knack to create separation, you know, when
Speaker 2: he's getting manned up by a safety or a or
Speaker 2: a linebacker. So if I had to, you know, if
Speaker 2: you ask me, hey, put your name on this and
Speaker 2: sign it, I'd say four. And I think smart makes.
Speaker 3: It's keep theme the offense, the offensive line, the starting
Speaker 3: five or set you We'll clap at center, Foster Surrel.
Speaker 1: Zach Bailey.
Speaker 3: Those are the guys that you want to see have
Speaker 3: a positive game Friday. And then you know, maybe that
Speaker 3: is a position that Tom was referring to. Maybe there's
Speaker 3: a tackler or a guard out there that fits what
Speaker 3: Kellimore and Copy like to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to me, there's there's a roster about between you know,
Speaker 2: Brendon Himss and probably Zach Bailey. I that's and I
Speaker 2: think Bailey's played a lot more and I think he's
Speaker 2: been a little bit more steady through the preseason. So
Speaker 2: the one thing to remember about the Old line and
Speaker 2: why it very well could be the best group in
Speaker 2: the league, is that you've got your backup tackle and Sawyer.
Speaker 2: So if one of the two tackles goes down, he
Speaker 2: just kicks out and now it's much easier to replace
Speaker 2: him with probably a Zach Bailey is now your number
Speaker 2: one guard. So that's kind of a nice thing about
Speaker 2: the Old line. That's where you get your depth. You know,
Speaker 2: very very few teams have two good tackles, and the
Speaker 2: Chargers have three, which is just incredible. Almost no teams
Speaker 2: have three that you would feel good about throwing any
Speaker 2: combination of those two out there. I feel like, you know,
Speaker 2: Sawyer is not going to be leaky if he's with Slater.
Speaker 2: Soler and Pipkins are not going to be leaky, as
Speaker 2: we know if they're out there together. So that's that
Speaker 2: is a huge win for this team going into the
Speaker 2: season to have that kind of depth at that position,
Speaker 2: and I think you hit it on the head, Chris,
Speaker 2: it's it's Foster Surrell, it's Zach Bailey. Obviously you need
Speaker 2: will clap, and then it's McFadden or McK McClendon because
Speaker 2: it was just taken. He's developmental and I can't imagine
Speaker 2: him getting planned on the practice squad.
Speaker 3: You know, our buddy Brendon Thorne, who we've had on
Speaker 3: the podcast talking all things over line, he brought up
Speaker 3: a good point about Foster. He had to go up
Speaker 3: against Nick Bosa, Max Crosby and some other elite pass
Speaker 3: rusher in his three starts last year. Yeah, we heard
Speaker 3: about him going down to Duke Mannyweather and improving this year.
Speaker 3: So listen, when when Nick Bosa and Max Crosby are
Speaker 3: on the menu, it's not gonna go well for you, No,
Speaker 3: you know, for anybody, now, you know. So that's that's
Speaker 3: one thing I think that you can take. Those are
Speaker 3: the reps you take and you say, Okay, I got
Speaker 3: better from that in twenty twenty two and I can
Speaker 3: apply to.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty three. Yeah, Foster's interesting just because and I
Speaker 2: think this is something that, look, you can you can
Speaker 2: take it as positive or negative. I don't know what.
Speaker 2: I'll let you be the judge. I won't give you
Speaker 2: my opinion on it. But you know, Foster was the
Speaker 2: number one ol lignement in California is five star and
Speaker 2: he went to Stanford, so you know there was something
Speaker 2: there that that people saw. And I think people tend
Speaker 2: to chase that. They chase first round, they chase five stars,
Speaker 2: saying Okay, why why couldn't they extract that? What is it?
Speaker 2: What can we do? In the case of Foster, he's
Speaker 2: had a so so preseason. There have been quite a
Speaker 2: few pressures that he's given up. It's been a bit
Speaker 2: of a tough go for He and Austin pleasants at
Speaker 2: the tackle position. And look, it's understandable, right you had
Speaker 2: Zion and Sawyer in the middle there and they've given
Speaker 2: up nothing like they have just been rocks in the
Speaker 2: center of that line. So but that's it's a developmental position.
Speaker 2: Think about Trey year one and year two and then
Speaker 2: Pop year three. It all comes together and I think
Speaker 2: that's where the Foster Sirel project is super interesting and
Speaker 2: comes into play.
Speaker 1: Starting five. Feel great about it.
Speaker 3: I mean, you give Rashaan slater back Corey Lindsley's a rock,
Speaker 3: the two guards, and then Trey coming into his own
Speaker 3: last year hoping for even better in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3: So we talked about these TCU rookie wide receivers drifted
Speaker 3: in the first and fourth round, sandwiched in between. It's
Speaker 3: a pretty good defenders man Henley until he pullout to
Speaker 3: they showed why they were drafted in the second third
Speaker 3: round on Sunday morning.
Speaker 2: Dan was the best player on the field either team.
Speaker 2: He was incredible. It was It was fun to watch him.
Speaker 2: He's an athlete. He hits, he diagnoses, and attacks with
Speaker 2: no hesitation. The sack was Derwin esque, just the timing,
Speaker 2: knowing when to fire, how quickly he got through that
Speaker 2: hole before it could collapse, just the sure handedness when
Speaker 2: he arrived at the quarterback. There was that there was
Speaker 2: a tackle for loss that was also found the hole
Speaker 2: in the midst of a ton of mud and was
Speaker 2: able to assess and attack that. And then he had
Speaker 2: a play where he went from opposite hash to sideline
Speaker 2: and ended up making the tackle. I think they maybe
Speaker 2: got a two three yard gain out of it, and it looks
Speaker 2: like something that could have been a big gain or
Speaker 2: he was great. And that's DJ said this on the
Speaker 2: broadcast during the game. You know he he pointed out,
Speaker 2: Brandon likes versatility. Just think about what he had hoped
Speaker 2: to do with Derwin last year if he could have
Speaker 2: got the pieces right, and that's something that Dayon may
Speaker 2: free up so he can play. Dayon can play that
Speaker 2: a dollar or I don't know if Brandon calls it
Speaker 2: dollar or money. So it's some version of that. And
Speaker 2: every defense but that linebacker safety hybrid where you've got
Speaker 2: to be able to carry a tight end or you
Speaker 2: can rush the passer on a blitzer as a second
Speaker 2: level blitzer, like Dayon's gonna fill that gonna You're gonna
Speaker 2: see if he's what we think he can be. Just
Speaker 2: the combo of he and Durwin out there together and
Speaker 2: the offense having no idea where either of them are
Speaker 2: coming from, which one's dropping, which one's coming, where are
Speaker 2: they coming from, It's gonna be fun. Like it's gonna
Speaker 2: be fun.
Speaker 3: So sometimes it'll take half a season enough you're even
Speaker 3: going to get contributions from your first, second, third, fourth.
Speaker 3: We know right now Quentin's going to contribute. Darius is
Speaker 3: going to contribute it a big way Tooley's right behind
Speaker 3: Bosa and Mac and Dayon. I mean the fact that
Speaker 3: Deayon could do so much and then also be a
Speaker 3: special team Dace. Like we know the first four picks
Speaker 3: are going to contribute to this team. Right before the
Speaker 3: third preseason game, Tom Tom and company did pretty good.
Speaker 2: This year, and I'll add one more. Matt Locke's going
Speaker 2: to contribute. He's going to be in that rotation. I
Speaker 2: have no doubt about it. He's good six weeks, really good,
Speaker 2: and you're seeing he cannot be He's not moved with
Speaker 2: the old lineman, and I know he's facing back up
Speaker 2: old lineman, but he is strong at the point of attack.
Speaker 2: He holds, he sheds, he makes tackles, he'll he'll carry guys.
Speaker 2: You'll see, we've seen it. You put a backup in there.
Speaker 2: You know when he was facing the second and third
Speaker 2: level offensive lineman a couple of times they're on skates
Speaker 2: and he is just jamming that guy and collapse in
Speaker 2: the pocket. He's good. He's really talked about him last week. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I think you're talking about four contributors, five probably
Speaker 2: out of this rookie class. And we'll see how you know,
Speaker 2: when when things get real and they're out there against
Speaker 2: the Dolphins or the Vikings. You know, think about those
Speaker 2: first three weeks Dolphins, Titans, Vikings. You got three veteran laden,
Speaker 2: really good teams, smart coaches. You know, we'll see how
Speaker 2: it goes. You know, bright offensive mines obviously, and and
Speaker 2: just Mike Rabel's one of the steadiest head coaches in
Speaker 2: the league and always fields a competitive squad no matter
Speaker 2: who's out there. So it'll get real in a hurry.
Speaker 2: But I do have faith that this rookie class is
Speaker 2: going to contribute in a big way.
Speaker 1: Uh, the other linebackers won't play Knaine and Kendricks anybody
Speaker 1: else at that position that you're you're looking at on Friday.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, look, we have a pretty good it's idea.
Speaker 2: It's I just don't I think in terms of Brandon's defense,
Speaker 2: it doesn't require a lot of that. And it's too
Speaker 2: bad because Blake Lynch has had a really good preseason.
Speaker 2: I know, I got banged up in that Saints game,
Speaker 2: but he's had a he's been a tackling mache had
Speaker 2: a sack on a blitz Carlo Kemp is an edge,
Speaker 2: not necessarily a linebacker, but he's a smaller edge, so
Speaker 2: he might fit into that outside linebacker. You know, he
Speaker 2: probably fall under the label of an edge. He's been
Speaker 2: really good. Those are guys that they're going to try
Speaker 2: to park on the practice squad and you feel good
Speaker 2: about I think Nicknemon is still shown he's super valuable
Speaker 2: to this team on special teams. And I you know,
Speaker 2: and I think you trust him if you got to
Speaker 2: send him out there because guys get hurt. But I
Speaker 2: think he's still super valuable and as his aimen. You know,
Speaker 2: those are two linebackers that are going to make the
Speaker 2: team because they're foundational p their core four guys, their
Speaker 2: foundational pieces for special teams.
Speaker 1: So three years later, think about this.
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty, we were having legitimate discussions as whether
Speaker 3: or not the Chargers should draft Isaiah Simmons right right
Speaker 3: or Jeff acud Hure percent Simmons gets traded for a
Speaker 3: seventh round. Tick Raday Jonathan Gannon, who's best friends with
Speaker 3: coach Staley, has Kaisier White in Arizona, feels comfortable with him.
Speaker 3: So it does show you that some of these guys
Speaker 3: are expendable. Could you imagine if Simmons was drabbed over
Speaker 3: Justin Herbert.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think that was ever going to happen.
Speaker 2: I don't think so, but yeah, And I think it's
Speaker 2: also a reminder that football is so circumstantial.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 2: You know, who knows if he was If Isaiah Simmons
Speaker 2: was drafted over Justin Herbert and they end up taking
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts in the second round, you know, if that's
Speaker 2: the way it goes, maybe Isaiah Simmons is, you know,
Speaker 2: the second coming of take your pick. I don't know,
Speaker 2: maybe you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't want
Speaker 2: to throw names out there and sound ridiculous, because he
Speaker 2: was just traded for a seventh round pick, but he
Speaker 2: was incredible at Clemson. I mean incredible, guy could do everything,
Speaker 2: and he went to a terrible organization that just I mean,
Speaker 2: look at who is guy to Temple Son Reddick Sore. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they couldn't figure out what to do with him. He
Speaker 2: goes to Philadelphia and the guy's got fifteen sacks. It's
Speaker 2: like he goes home and he's good exactly. So I
Speaker 2: think it's also, you know, before we start piling on Isaiah.
Speaker 2: Let's give him a chance in New York work with
Speaker 2: a great organization now with Brian dabole Unlet's see what
Speaker 2: he can do. But I'm just like man a seventh
Speaker 2: for Isaiah Simmons.
Speaker 1: Well, it's just it's they're they're they're cleaning.
Speaker 3: House of all the previous administrations. They like DeAndre Hopkins
Speaker 3: laughed at it. He said, oh okay for a seventh
Speaker 3: round pick. So Simmons Simmons has he's young.
Speaker 2: The Rams and the Cardinals are in a dead ass
Speaker 2: sprint for Caleb Williams. I mean, that's just that's all.
Speaker 1: There is not It's a two two team division.
Speaker 2: They are both sprinting to the to the finish line backwards.
Speaker 3: Speaking of draft picks that may be questionable, Trey Lance
Speaker 3: is good. Really, it's the Bowl. It's the Bison Bowl.
Speaker 3: It's a stick versus Lance. Yeah, they were back to
Speaker 3: back guys and and Trey is probably gonna have an
Speaker 3: opportunity to put some tape out there to either get
Speaker 3: traded or you know, show the Niners that maybe there's
Speaker 3: still a little bit of hope.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: He'll be going up against the secondary of the Chargers,
Speaker 3: who we know is pretty established.
Speaker 2: Uh, j T.
Speaker 3: Woods is the one guy that I think has made
Speaker 3: some strides this preseason. The big time that that's going
Speaker 3: to contribute is that third safety behind a Loohi and
Speaker 3: third one.
Speaker 2: He had a great game. I know he had one
Speaker 2: bad angle early in the game, but man, he responded
Speaker 2: and you know, had an interception not yesterday day before
Speaker 2: in practice, great interception. And he's really played well. I
Speaker 2: thought he had a really good game that you know.
Speaker 2: The thing with JT was tackling and that was his
Speaker 2: thing at Baylor, and that's why he slid to the
Speaker 2: third round despite leaving the lead, you know, leading the
Speaker 2: NCAA in interceptions and being a four to three guy
Speaker 2: that's long and had you know, on field ball production.
Speaker 2: So how do you slip to the third round. Well,
Speaker 2: that's why he was not a great tackler, and we
Speaker 2: saw that last year and particularly in that Arizona game. Coach,
Speaker 2: you know, just felt like I can't afford that moving
Speaker 2: forward here now you're seeing we saw him. He's been
Speaker 2: physical this preseason. I mean, he had a couple thumpers
Speaker 2: out there on Sunday and it's been fun to see
Speaker 2: because that's if he can get that squared away. Man,
Speaker 2: This dude with high, high ceiling, you know, ball production
Speaker 2: skills at that high safety position. You know, they can
Speaker 2: really come up with a couple two three four interceptions,
Speaker 2: game changing style interceptions in a game.
Speaker 3: You know about any other players, and I should say
Speaker 3: another player that we always see in practice he's productive,
Speaker 3: he can't stay healthy is Mark Webb. This is a
Speaker 3: huge game from Mark Webb as whether or not he's
Speaker 3: gonna make this fifty three.
Speaker 2: That's an interesting one just because I think Raheem Lane
Speaker 2: is one hundred percent in He's He's such a good
Speaker 2: special teams player, so I think it's going to take
Speaker 2: a lot to get him off the fifty three. And
Speaker 2: I don't know if they can carry both Lane and
Speaker 2: Mark Webb. But you know, Mark Webb is another one
Speaker 2: of those. He can play safety, he can play corner,
Speaker 2: he can play nickel, he can you know, he can
Speaker 2: do a lot. And that's why he's so intriguing. He
Speaker 2: just has not been able to stay healthy. So hoping
Speaker 2: he goes out there, plays great shows he can stay
Speaker 2: healthy and you know, make it hard, make it really
Speaker 2: hard on the front office.
Speaker 3: What else we want to see Friday, Buddy, I I
Speaker 3: really I think we're at the point, how where we just.
Speaker 1: Want to get to Miami.
Speaker 3: This is this is almost like this third preseason game.
Speaker 3: Is it's good for maybe to forty eight to the
Speaker 3: fifty three. But I don't I don't know if a
Speaker 3: lot of veterans are going to be traveling and this
Speaker 3: is really just all about kind of filling out your
Speaker 3: final fifteen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. I think the I think those
Speaker 2: you know, last couple spots. I'm a big fan at
Speaker 2: your Rod Clark, big fan. I think he is something
Speaker 2: they need. He's he's a legitimate He's listed at three thirty,
Speaker 2: no chance, no chance, he's three sixty five. If he's
Speaker 2: fifty pounds. He has got hockey assists all over the
Speaker 2: place out there. You know, you watch his tape and
Speaker 2: you will see, man, that guy is. He is strong.
Speaker 2: He's more athletic than you think. So I'd really like
Speaker 2: to see him make this roster. I fall for these
Speaker 2: guys every year, though, you know, I really do. Brendan
Speaker 2: Braden Fojoco, Forrest Merrill. This year, I'm a Gerrod Clark.
Speaker 2: They've all stayed in the mix, and they have and
Speaker 2: they've all contributed, they've all been super important, you know,
Speaker 2: and I just kind of think about what this team
Speaker 2: doesn't have. They don't have that like they they've got
Speaker 2: the super athletic anterior lineman looks, you know, Bash and
Speaker 2: Austin Johnson. They're big guys. Tito's big. Now, Tito's a
Speaker 2: big dude. But they don't have that three hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty three hundred and sixty pound nose tackle that can
Speaker 2: occupy two blockers and they got no choice but to
Speaker 2: put two on them. So that's a guy I'm really
Speaker 2: keeping an eye. And I think if he has another
Speaker 2: good one, he's already put together two really good games
Speaker 2: and great joint practices with the Saints. I think he's
Speaker 2: one to watch. And yeah, I think that's you know,
Speaker 2: we've already discussed everybody else. You know, Elijah and the
Speaker 2: wide receiver, battle Stone Smart and you met you know,
Speaker 2: Cam Brown. The corner can never have too many corners,
Speaker 2: So maybe keep an eye on him on special teams,
Speaker 2: see if he flashes on that front.
Speaker 3: We as we close camp, the starters are now all
Speaker 3: eyes on week one? How would you assess what we
Speaker 3: saw in camp from the ones on both sides.
Speaker 2: Great team and it's a really good team. I think.
Speaker 2: You know, if you just go through the thirty two
Speaker 2: teams in the NFL and your rank rosters, you know,
Speaker 2: top to bottom, Chargers are They're They're right at the top.
Speaker 2: They are right at the top. They've got talent at
Speaker 2: every single position group, you know, like and they got
Speaker 2: blue chip talent O line, D line, secondary, quarterback, wide receiver,
Speaker 2: running back. That's they have blue chip talent with depth.
Speaker 3: This year, it seems like the depth, the depth at
Speaker 3: the beginning of the year as opposed to last year.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say it's.
Speaker 3: Night and day, but it's definitely significant. Y, you know,
Speaker 3: wide receiver position, the running backs, the corners, having JC
Speaker 3: back with Mikey and and Assante, Like, I do feel
Speaker 3: like guys who had to play last year that maybe
Speaker 3: weren't expected to play.
Speaker 1: That's going to be very valuable to this.
Speaker 2: Team in this subcosm. Yeah, you mentioned h corners with
Speaker 2: Josh here and what he was able to do. Yeah,
Speaker 2: let the lines the lines really are is what flashed
Speaker 2: for me this year is Wow, they got you know
Speaker 2: two Lee's good. You know, they got a little bit
Speaker 2: of depth there now, and that's that's another interesting one
Speaker 2: with Farmer and Brevin. Anna like, they've got some good
Speaker 2: practice squad. Hopefully people don't snatch them up line options
Speaker 2: if they have to kind of pluck from the practice
Speaker 2: squad as well. Now that's something to remember too. Like,
Speaker 2: as I'll wrap it up, Brian keeps looking at his
Speaker 2: watch like we're going too long or something. Jerk. What
Speaker 2: I would say is, don't forget about the sixteen practice
Speaker 2: squad guys, because you're talking about a position you know,
Speaker 2: you're talking about a practice squad that last year was
Speaker 2: leaned on heavily. Heavily those guys contributed, So don't get
Speaker 2: so fixated on the fifty three. Let's not forget last year.
Speaker 2: You know, Moa Hinton, Fojoko, those guys were practice squad guys,
Speaker 2: you know, and they were able to contribute to this team.
Speaker 2: Raheem Lane was up and down from the practice squad,
Speaker 2: big contributors, So that's something to remember. Those sixteen names
Speaker 2: are also super important for what this team wants to
Speaker 2: try to accomplish in twenty twenty three. I get it.
Speaker 3: I think fans are antsy right now because preseason Week
Speaker 3: three it's all right, let's just get to week one.
Speaker 3: We're gonna have Week zero next week with the fifty
Speaker 3: three man roster intact. Maybe we'll answer some questions next
Speaker 3: week before we get to week one, you know, answer
Speaker 3: some questions about the season. Who got cut, who's on
Speaker 3: the practice squad, any guys that may get picked up.
Speaker 3: There's still some free agents out there, so a lot
Speaker 3: probably to develop over the next couple of weeks. As
Speaker 3: we get to Week one against Miami Dolphins, Money, you
Speaker 3: got a flight to catch, I'm gonna hang here, I
Speaker 3: do pregame post game, and you got this guy simulcast
Speaker 3: Friday on CBS. Still, it'll be fun