Speaker 1: Hey, what is up? Everybody?
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Get the Charge podcast presented by the
Speaker 2: Chargers Podcast Network. My name is Stephen and I am
Speaker 2: the host, and we are so happy to be back
Speaker 2: after a week off. We hope everybody had a wonderful
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving holiday and we obviously we're off. I was on
Speaker 2: a cruise without internet, so I appreciate the flexibility this
Speaker 2: week and excited to be back again talking about the
Speaker 2: Chargers here on this channel with my guy Tyler.
Speaker 1: Tyler, what's up, man? How are you doing this evening?
Speaker 3: I am at peace.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I love my wife, love my dog, love my family.
Speaker 3: I love talking to you every week, of course, so
Speaker 3: I'm at peace. I'm content.
Speaker 1: How are you?
Speaker 3: How'se adjustment back to regular life?
Speaker 2: That was very well said. Yeah, I still like I've
Speaker 2: been off the cruise for forty eight hours and I
Speaker 2: still feel like I'm on the boat. Like you know,
Speaker 2: I was like up and around and moving and stuff yesterday.
Speaker 2: But when I got to work today and I sat
Speaker 2: down at my desk, I was like, man, I still
Speaker 2: feel like I'm like rocking, And it's a weird feeling.
Speaker 2: For those of you have been on a cruise before,
Speaker 2: I don't know if this is normal or not.
Speaker 1: It does not feel normal to me, but it is
Speaker 1: what it is. We'll figure it out all right.
Speaker 2: As usual, we'll have some stuff to recap from the
Speaker 2: Chargers last game, obviously the Chargers coming up short at
Speaker 2: the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, so we'll have some
Speaker 2: things to discuss from that game. And then we've never
Speaker 2: done a Q and A on this feed, and so
Speaker 2: we decided to send out a tweet and we'll take
Speaker 2: some questions. Felt like it was important to kind of
Speaker 2: see where the fan base is at as a collective
Speaker 2: with the Chargers being four and seven and playoff hopes
Speaker 2: basically eliminated at this point, so not mathematically, but it's
Speaker 2: very very small percentage chance at this point. So we'll
Speaker 2: have some things to talk about, and then we'll get
Speaker 2: some of your thoughts that we got on Twitter, so
Speaker 2: appreciate other great questions and we'll get to those in
Speaker 2: a minute here before we get started on today's show.
Speaker 2: As always, Tyan and I are fans of the team
Speaker 2: just like you guys are.
Speaker 1: We've been giving this platform and are very grateful for it.
Speaker 2: But the opinions that we express on this show and
Speaker 2: every week on this show are just out there. They
Speaker 2: are our opinions, not the opinions of the Chargers organization.
Speaker 2: You know, we've been bused to have this platform and
Speaker 2: hopefully it continues and hopefully you guys enjoy the platform.
Speaker 2: So we've had a lot of fun doing this show,
Speaker 2: and we'll continue to have a lot of fun doing
Speaker 2: the show.
Speaker 1: And yeah, it should be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get into this Chargers Ravens game, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty to ten loss on Sunday Night football.
Speaker 1: We talked a.
Speaker 2: Lot on our own channel previously, but we'll have some
Speaker 2: things that we keep kind of in the chamber, so
Speaker 2: to speak, for this show today into and Tyler, we'll
Speaker 2: start with you here on this one. Your biggest kind
Speaker 2: of takeaway maybe about the defense, because I think it
Speaker 2: is it is important to state that the defense had
Speaker 2: a much better performance against the Ravens than they did
Speaker 2: against the Packers, and certainly better than was expected.
Speaker 1: So what's your biggest takeaway.
Speaker 2: Coming off of that defensive performance against the Ravens on
Speaker 2: Sunday Night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we knew there was going to be some sort
Speaker 3: of change up to the rotation. We didn't know how much,
Speaker 3: how much could you adjust who could be benched, who
Speaker 3: could be rotated in Honestly, at most I thought it
Speaker 3: would be Dean Leonard over Michael Davis, and we got that,
Speaker 3: but there were more changes as well, And I'm not
Speaker 3: going to overreact to, you know, a one game sample
Speaker 3: size against a team that's missing Mark Andrews and it's
Speaker 3: a run heavy offense, and OBJ was banged up going
Speaker 3: into it, and so was Zay. But overall you have
Speaker 3: to admit that in terms of what was on the
Speaker 3: field and the defensive coverages, what Brandon Stalely did in
Speaker 3: terms of the rotation and the changeups. While it may
Speaker 3: have been frustrating at different points throughout this season, I
Speaker 3: do believe the decision to go with Dean Leonard and
Speaker 3: Is sang Bassi and Jalen Hawkins all contributed to the
Speaker 3: defense playing a lot more sound than frankly, we've been
Speaker 3: used to seeing for quite some time. So again, it
Speaker 3: is a one game sample size, but it was a
Speaker 3: lot better. And as a unit, the defensive backs only
Speaker 3: allowed one hundred and one passing yards by Lamar, you know,
Speaker 3: linebackers and tu Ley and some other guys allowed the
Speaker 3: rest of it, but still only one hundred one passing
Speaker 3: yards is significantly better than it was last week and
Speaker 3: weeks prior. And you know, guys were beat sometimes and
Speaker 3: Dean Leonard had to battle out there. He was targeted
Speaker 3: ten times, gave up eight catches, But it really just
Speaker 3: felt like if they lost, they were losing one on ones,
Speaker 3: kind of as a natural part of football, because sometimes
Speaker 3: guys win, sometimes guys lose. It didn't feel like these
Speaker 3: these hair pulling out coverage breakdowns like we saw against
Speaker 3: the Packers and Lions. So overall, they played a lot better,
Speaker 3: and I think some of the guys in the front
Speaker 3: seven in particular, obviously Khalil Mack benefited from that tremendously.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Dean Leonard is obviously going to take
Speaker 2: some some lumps. You know, he started without much preparation
Speaker 2: against the Lions, and I thought played pretty well in
Speaker 2: that one. You know, certainly held his own when when
Speaker 2: targeted there. I think you had two forced incompletions, no
Speaker 2: forcing completions against the Ravens, but I thought played solid.
Speaker 2: And you know, the numbers are are are not backbreaking,
Speaker 2: and I think that's such an important aspect of things
Speaker 2: similar to like a backup offensive tackle coming in is
Speaker 2: like can you can you battle? Can you can you
Speaker 2: fight through everything that's going on? And can you avoid
Speaker 2: a potential avalanche game? Like, yeah, he was targeted ten times,
Speaker 2: but you know the fact that he only gave up
Speaker 2: sixty yards receiving. I think it is a pretty you know,
Speaker 2: positive performance from him.
Speaker 1: We know what he's able to do.
Speaker 2: On special teams, and I think this can be something
Speaker 2: going forward that he can kind of hang us hat
Speaker 2: on it as maybe can become a legitimate contributor in
Speaker 2: the NFL. And you know, I think that secondary just
Speaker 2: needed some kind of a spark, and the Chargers defensive,
Speaker 2: you know, brain trust if you will, I think came
Speaker 2: up with a combination that they felt better about and
Speaker 2: and I think so far, so good, and you know,
Speaker 2: we'll see what happens, you know, this week. I don't
Speaker 2: think they'll be tested very much against the Patriots passing attack,
Speaker 2: but they obviously have some some difficult matchups down the stretch.
Speaker 1: You know, they play the Chiefs.
Speaker 2: You know, Russell Wilson and Courtland Sutton have started to
Speaker 2: really figure it out. Obviously, they played Devonte Adams and
Speaker 2: Jacoby Myers. They'll play Stefan Diggs, Gabe Davis, Dalton Concaid
Speaker 2: and those guys against the Buffalo, so they have so
Speaker 2: much tougher matchups down the stretch. But if this unit
Speaker 2: can kind of, if this combination rather can kind of
Speaker 2: stabilize the unit, then I think, you know, the Chargers
Speaker 2: do deserve credit for making that change. I think defensively,
Speaker 2: the biggest story for me has to be what Khalil
Speaker 2: Mack has been able to do, was able to do
Speaker 2: last night, and has been able to do all season long.
Speaker 2: You know, I felt like when you kind of zoom
Speaker 2: out and watched his performance on tape from last season,
Speaker 2: I felt like he was really, really solid. I felt
Speaker 2: like the tape was better than the numbers looked, And
Speaker 2: a lot of the lack of numbers was teams, you know,
Speaker 2: double teaming him very often and running the football away
Speaker 2: from him, you know, very often. But the film was
Speaker 2: always really good in my opinion. And now this year
Speaker 2: with Joey for some games and two Ley in his emergence,
Speaker 2: you know, Khalil's getting a lot more opportunities to have
Speaker 2: one on one matchups, a lot more opportunities to where
Speaker 2: teams have to run the ball his way, and he's
Speaker 2: having a renaissance season. Like this is one of the
Speaker 2: more underrated stories of the season in terms of the NFL.
Speaker 2: Like he was kind of you know, when the Chargers
Speaker 2: made the trade, it was kind of like, oh, like,
Speaker 2: you know, he's kind of damaged goods, Like he's a
Speaker 2: little bit washed up. He's not the same player he
Speaker 2: once was. Well, this season he's he's playing like an
Speaker 2: elite pass rusher again.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: He has fifty four total pressures according to PFF, which
Speaker 2: is tied for.
Speaker 1: Eighth in the league.
Speaker 2: PFF does not split sacks like Pro Football Reference DOS,
Speaker 2: so PFF has him at fourteen sacks, which is tied
Speaker 2: for first. His productivity radio nine point seven is ninth,
Speaker 2: his seventeen point one win percentage is twelfth. He has
Speaker 2: eighteen total run stops, which is tied for fifth alongside
Speaker 2: two Lee two below two, and his runstop percentage of
Speaker 2: eight point eight percent is tied for eighth. Like, that's
Speaker 2: top twelve at worst across the board. Is pretty damn
Speaker 2: good man, and Khalil Mack has been I think refreshed
Speaker 2: and rejuvenated by playing alongside like I said, you know,
Speaker 2: these edge rushers and having that kind of help, and
Speaker 2: it's a shame that this performance was kind of wasted
Speaker 2: in a loss, because I thought Khalil Mack was the
Speaker 2: best player on the field and in that matchup, and
Speaker 2: probably in the game as a whole, with his two
Speaker 2: sacks and the way he was able to control the
Speaker 2: over line of scrimmage. So this was a vintage Khali
Speaker 2: Mac performance. And it's been a renaissance season for him
Speaker 2: in general, and it's been a lot of fun to
Speaker 2: watch him be able to come in here and dominate games.
Speaker 2: Obviously he had the six SAC game, but just so
Speaker 2: consistent and so reliable. This year has been Klimak for
Speaker 2: this Chargers defensive line, and hopefully he gets the recognition
Speaker 2: that he deserves for the effort that he's put out
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I remember when the Chargers first traded for him, Brandon
Speaker 3: Staley talked about they wanted to bring in guys and
Speaker 3: Cord Lindsley was part of this too. They wanted to
Speaker 3: bring in guys who are prototypes at the position, both
Speaker 3: for what you saw on the field, of course, because
Speaker 3: that is Khalil Mack, but also how you carry yourself
Speaker 3: off the field, and I remember, I believe it was
Speaker 3: last offseason or in training camp. I should say, there
Speaker 3: wasn't a period of time where the Chargers had edge
Speaker 3: rushers that were not healthy and they needed more bodies
Speaker 3: out there. Khalil Mack, I remember him volunteering himself to
Speaker 3: just go against the third string guys or run with
Speaker 3: the fourth string defense or whatever, just because they needed it.
Speaker 3: And he listen, this is Khalil Mack. He's got everything
Speaker 3: he could ever want. He's a former first round pick,
Speaker 3: He's had a great career, he's made plenty of money.
Speaker 3: You know, he's had a great career. He could at
Speaker 3: this point with his contract with so much guaranteed, just
Speaker 3: kind of, you know, do whatever, fat absolutely, and instead
Speaker 3: he took it upon himself to be that guy and
Speaker 3: again the prototype that Brandon Staley was talking about off
Speaker 3: the field as well, and he's clearly been a big
Speaker 3: mentor for tu le Twi below too. I wish we
Speaker 3: had been able to see more of Khalil and Joey
Speaker 3: and Tooley together. Hopefully we still will, but I don't
Speaker 3: know how much more we're going to see of that.
Speaker 3: The interesting part is that it's gone from a season
Speaker 3: where he's playing well too. There's potential here for some
Speaker 3: real greatness to be achieved. I mean, the Chargers have
Speaker 3: not had a player with this many sacks in the
Speaker 3: season throughout the entire to LESCo tenure. I think the
Speaker 3: closest was thirteen with Joey in twenty seventeen. And Khalil Mack. Again,
Speaker 3: some people do like you mentioned, they do great or
Speaker 3: rate sacks differently. Some don't include sacks or half sacks
Speaker 3: or whatever. Yeah, but Khalil Mack currently has fourteen sacks
Speaker 3: according to a Pro Football Focus. Given his current pace
Speaker 3: and trajectory, he is on pace for twenty one and
Speaker 3: a half sacks twenty one point six to be exact.
Speaker 3: So we'll see if it goes up or down from there.
Speaker 3: The all time sack record in a single season is
Speaker 3: twenty two and a half. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: If he gets there.
Speaker 3: You may say that it's not something that's going to
Speaker 3: continue and then he might wear out. But he's been
Speaker 3: plenty productive the last few games, and may I remind
Speaker 3: Chargers fans that he's at fourteen right now and he
Speaker 3: gets to go play the Raiders again in a couple
Speaker 3: of weeks, which is a great way to increase your
Speaker 3: your sack totals on the year. So yes, do I
Speaker 3: think he breaks the all time Yes, they absolutely have been.
Speaker 3: So do I think he breaks the all time single
Speaker 3: season sack record. I don't know, but he's going to
Speaker 3: get very close based on his current trajectory. And whereas
Speaker 3: earlier in the season you say, okay, maybe the one
Speaker 3: game against the Raiders was a bit of a fluke
Speaker 3: with six sacks, and I don't expect that to happen again.
Speaker 3: But now he's stringing multiple games over the last four
Speaker 3: or five games where he has two sacks, two sacks,
Speaker 3: another two sacks. So I do think he will get
Speaker 3: very close to this, and that's something the Charges have
Speaker 3: not had it in a very very long time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's shown that he can find the ability to
Speaker 2: get hot at any moment, you know, similar to like
Speaker 2: a three point shooter in the NBA. You mentioned the sacks,
Speaker 2: like his his pace there is you know, again, six
Speaker 2: sacks is it does a lot for your total here,
Speaker 2: but just from a pure pressure stampoint and you know,
Speaker 2: he's at fifty four right now. Last season he only
Speaker 2: had fifty nine and twenty twenty had fifty nine I
Speaker 2: was seeing twenty twenty one. He didn't play the whole
Speaker 2: season because of his foot injury. But he's on pace
Speaker 2: for over eighty pressures right now, which would be the
Speaker 2: most he's had in a season since he won Defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Year in twenty sixteen, when he had
Speaker 2: ninety eight pressures. So it's not just like he's you know,
Speaker 2: being like inefficient but getting sacks. Like he's been very
Speaker 2: effective and efficient with his pressure output as well. Last season,
Speaker 2: his pre his pass rush win rate was you know,
Speaker 2: pretty similar to what he had in twenty twenty. This year,
Speaker 2: his pass rush ruin rate is his highest in twenty eighteen. Like,
Speaker 2: he is having a truly like renaissance season right now.
Speaker 1: For the Chargers.
Speaker 2: And although there was like that one tweet from after
Speaker 2: like two weeks when he didn't have a single win
Speaker 2: according to ESPN, it's like, well, now he's at a
Speaker 2: whole bunch of wins, you know, all these weeks later,
Speaker 2: and he's having such a strong season, and and you know,
Speaker 2: this is past rush, this is run defense. This we
Speaker 2: know what he's means to this team as a leader.
Speaker 2: You know, you mentioned what he's his influence has been
Speaker 2: on twoy two below too. Like I got the chance
Speaker 2: to interviewed to Lee on our channel a few weeks ago,
Speaker 2: and Tuley could not stop talking about you know Kmak
Speaker 2: as he refers to him and what he means to
Speaker 2: him and the example he is providing to these young players.
Speaker 2: So you know, again, it's a shame that that performance
Speaker 2: didn't result in a win because that was a truly
Speaker 2: like vintage Khaluo Mack performance. You know, I got a
Speaker 2: little little nervous there after, like the first couple of
Speaker 2: drimes that you know, this this Chargers defense was going
Speaker 2: to be in for a bad spot and it was
Speaker 2: Khalil who basically dragged them to this performance. And I
Speaker 2: think deserves to be praised for his his output. I mean,
Speaker 2: like it's just you know, two sacks against Lamar Jackson,
Speaker 2: and there were several other instances where you know, if
Speaker 2: Lamar is not Lamar, that's probably another four or five
Speaker 2: sack game from Khalil Mack. But credit Lamar two also
Speaker 2: for being just super just an insane athlete in the
Speaker 2: pocket and his capability never ceases to amaze. But Khalil
Speaker 2: was outstanding all night Long set the tone from the
Speaker 2: beginning and definitely.
Speaker 1: Deserves praise for what he's able to put out on side.
Speaker 3: Mak Yeah, and he is a pass rusher by designation,
Speaker 3: so we'll talk about his well brushing the passer, but
Speaker 3: what he does against the run is arguably more, if
Speaker 3: not even more so impressive than what he does as
Speaker 3: a rusher, And what he does against the run has
Speaker 3: been so important this season for the defensive turnaround against
Speaker 3: the run. Has the whole defense been exactly what we wanted.
Speaker 3: Not necessarily, but his commitment to playing the run, which
Speaker 3: is something like the numbers were not good for him
Speaker 3: last season, for really any of the edge rushers against
Speaker 3: the run, they didn't quite have the same numbers. This year,
Speaker 3: he's taking a huge step forward in that regard and
Speaker 3: really committed to it. And he watched that fourth down
Speaker 3: play against the Packers and the Packers try to bounce
Speaker 3: it outside, but Khalil Mackett is caved in the offensive
Speaker 3: line and I think the offensive tackle and the tight
Speaker 3: end and prevented them from able to go out. Sobviously
Speaker 3: tries to cut back in and because Jayden we has
Speaker 3: to cut back in. Nick Williams just waiting right there
Speaker 3: for him. You know, Khalil Mackett is just such a
Speaker 3: presence on so many different plays. You see the backside
Speaker 3: chase downs on certain guys like he's been phenomenal and
Speaker 3: I think he's Him and Keenan out are really having
Speaker 3: special seasons that are almost a bummer or bittersweet to
Speaker 3: see given the trajectory of the entire team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know these are you know, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: You know, proble voting open today. Khalil and Keenan Allen
Speaker 2: are one deserving to make the Pro Bowl even despite
Speaker 2: the team struggles and you know, shifting years here to
Speaker 2: talk about the offense a little bit. You've had some
Speaker 2: time to think about it. Of course, you guys are
Speaker 2: listening to this on Wednesday, so you've had some more
Speaker 2: time to think about it. But the offense, I think,
Speaker 2: you know, deserves discussing again kind of what happened on
Speaker 2: Sunday night. For whatever reason, this team just cannot seem
Speaker 2: to have both sides of the football complement each other. So,
Speaker 2: now that you've had some time to think about it, Tyler,
Speaker 2: what's kind of your your big takeaway from the offensive
Speaker 2: struggles and how they've you know, performed against these you know,
Speaker 2: elite teams and specifically the elite pass rushers who have
Speaker 2: given them them a lot of trouble.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's just it. This This Chargers offensive line
Speaker 3: continues to be I think at this point the biggest
Speaker 3: disappointment this season, and it's either way you look at it.
Speaker 3: In terms of blocking in the run game, the run
Speaker 3: game has not been great. You look at rushing by
Speaker 3: direction for the Chargers in this game and it's you know,
Speaker 3: six yards to the left and three yards behind the
Speaker 3: guard and nine yards off of tackle. There's nothing there.
Speaker 3: There's nothing really to work off of in that regard.
Speaker 3: And then of course the pass protection issues show up again.
Speaker 3: You know, we can't just have this Charger's offensive line
Speaker 3: fold every time there's a good set of pass rushers
Speaker 3: across from them. There are too many good rushers in
Speaker 3: the league, and now defensive tackle there's an explosion of
Speaker 3: great defensive tackles who can rush the passer. The Chargers
Speaker 3: just cannot continue to fold against these teams because there's
Speaker 3: just good rushers across from them. There's a lot of
Speaker 3: talent on this offensive line and they've underperformed so much.
Speaker 3: And Daniel Popper pointed out Justin Herbert in two minute
Speaker 3: drills this year has taken seven sacks or and grounding
Speaker 3: penalties in two minute drills this year, which leads the league.
Speaker 3: And it's obvious in these passing situations that teams are
Speaker 3: finding ways to scheme a guy free, or to confuse
Speaker 3: the Chargers or show something and then drop back their
Speaker 3: defensive tackle like the Ravens did or whoever that was,
Speaker 3: and it hasn't been great. It's been disastrous results for
Speaker 3: the Chargers in situations. That was evidence even when the
Speaker 3: offense was really good in Week one, and it's evidence
Speaker 3: in this past game against the Ravens. And ar Argin
Speaker 3: pointed out that the Chargers are one of the worst
Speaker 3: teams in expected passing situations too, so that would be
Speaker 3: like a two minute drill of half situation that sort
Speaker 3: of thing, or when they're behind like they have to pass,
Speaker 3: and when they're expected to be passing, the offensive line
Speaker 3: is worse. They allow pressure at an average of less
Speaker 3: than two point four seconds, so it's about two point
Speaker 3: three nine seconds at a rate of about forty five percent.
Speaker 3: So in obvious passing situations, when this team needs to
Speaker 3: throw and they're expected to be passing, the pressures are
Speaker 3: arriving forty five percent of the time in about two
Speaker 3: point three nine seconds. That is really bad. That is
Speaker 3: tremendously bad and poor for offensive line that should be
Speaker 3: so much better. One thing I do want to point
Speaker 3: out that I missed initially, Duke Manyweather, who works with
Speaker 3: all three of the Chargers tackles, discussed how the whole
Speaker 3: offensive line has taken a step back and that it's
Speaker 3: been disappointing. One thing that he did point out that
Speaker 3: I did not know is that he said that Slater
Speaker 3: was playing with a double high ankle sprain for about
Speaker 3: eight weeks this season. And we've heard about we've heard
Speaker 3: about the knee and the ankle and the shoulder which
Speaker 3: he's been dealing with. But I did not realize that
Speaker 3: it was a hit what Duke Mannyweather said. His words,
Speaker 3: not mine, a double high ankle sprain for eight weeks
Speaker 3: this season, which is basically what we've been watching, which
Speaker 3: is tremendous. Then that he's been as good overall given
Speaker 3: the bevy of injuries that he's dealt with, but this
Speaker 3: offensive line, it's been disappointing, extremely disappointing. And I understand
Speaker 3: that Corey Linsley is out, but in the general sense
Speaker 3: of one on ones, they're not winning either. And frankly,
Speaker 3: it cost the Chargers and it has cost the Chargers
Speaker 3: at this point almost as much as the defense has
Speaker 3: cost the team as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's not just like the one on one situations.
Speaker 2: For me, like the protection plan, that was something that
Speaker 2: I felt like, Kellen Moore and Doug Messmeyer we're going
Speaker 2: to bring as a strength to this team. You know,
Speaker 2: I felt like watching you know, over the summer, watching
Speaker 2: the Cowboys offense across various seasons, I felt like that
Speaker 2: was something that Kellen Moore really was able to do
Speaker 2: at a high level.
Speaker 1: And you know a lot of people.
Speaker 2: Point out like, oh, like the always offensive line has
Speaker 2: always been very good. You know, last season they were
Speaker 2: flip flopping Tyler Smith between left guard and left tackle,
Speaker 2: like the entire season. Tyler Bid has miss missed several games,
Speaker 2: Connor Williams missed several games. Who was playing guard for them?
Speaker 2: You know, It's not like the Cowboys always had perfect
Speaker 2: health along the offensive line. I mean, Tyron Smith arguably
Speaker 2: the best offensive tackle of this generation has had injury
Speaker 2: concerns for like the last four or five seasons, and
Speaker 2: I was always so impressed with how the plan would
Speaker 2: always come together. And a lot of that, of course
Speaker 2: is you know, Ezekiel Allia des Theer's a lot of
Speaker 2: credit there too, as one of the best pass protecting
Speaker 2: block backs in the league. But I was always so
Speaker 2: impressed with all of that, and the operation of things
Speaker 2: has been a struggle for this team. So it's it's
Speaker 2: a really poor combination when you have some injuries obviously
Speaker 2: to to Corey Lindsay and to Rashaun Slater, and then
Speaker 2: you have some individual regression, plus the plan is also bad.
Speaker 2: And it's something that I kept on hoping would improve,
Speaker 2: and I kept on hoping that they would figure out
Speaker 2: a way for this to work more effectively. But we're
Speaker 2: headed into week thirteen and this team can't even get
Speaker 2: off two minute drills Like it's it's an issue that
Speaker 2: like Justin Herbert is going to deserve going to get
Speaker 2: a lot of national blame for. But it's happening in
Speaker 2: every single game. So this is like a collective problem
Speaker 2: for the whole unit. And Joe Reedy pointed this out
Speaker 2: you know, Justin Herbert across his first three seasons had
Speaker 2: ten game winning drives, which which ranked very highly in
Speaker 2: the league. This year he has zero because he's he's
Speaker 2: not even getting the chance to because he's getting sacked
Speaker 2: and like you mentioned, in two point two four seconds
Speaker 2: or whatever, it is every single chance that he has
Speaker 2: to go, you know, on third and fourth down. So
Speaker 2: it's a big time issue. And you know, we got
Speaker 2: a question. You know, the Chargers, of course are ower
Speaker 2: to five in games of three points or less in
Speaker 2: how did the Charges change that? Well, pass protection and
Speaker 2: protecting Justin he is a huge reason why that result
Speaker 2: is own five and not two and three or three
Speaker 2: and two or something like that. And so it's just been,
Speaker 2: like you mentioned, one of the biggest disappointments is how
Speaker 2: much Justin Herbert has been hit the season from a
Speaker 2: unit that I had such high expectations for, and a
Speaker 2: lot of people had high expectations for. This isn't just
Speaker 2: you know, on this show, we were really big fans
Speaker 2: of this unit. You know, a lot of fans were
Speaker 2: very positive about it. Brandon Thorn had them as a
Speaker 2: potential top ten unit heading into the season, so did
Speaker 2: PFF so there were certainly high expectations for this protection
Speaker 2: unit and it is not panned out that way, and
Speaker 2: I think that's a big reason why the charges are
Speaker 2: four and seven right now.
Speaker 3: What would you recommend in terms of maybe the way
Speaker 3: that they use the tight ends in these past blocking
Speaker 3: situations or lack thereof in these situations. I was looking
Speaker 3: at last year to this year and just to see
Speaker 3: if there was any difference. And while Trey mc kitty
Speaker 3: did have a lot of those reps, and of course
Speaker 3: he's not on the team right now, the Chargers have
Speaker 3: dropped in terms of tight end blocking reps in passing game.
Speaker 3: They've dropped from eight point four to one reps per
Speaker 3: game to six point four five, which isn't a lot,
Speaker 3: but that is a difference of two. They are clearly
Speaker 3: taking these guys off the field a little bit more
Speaker 3: in pass blocking situations, and they're trying to go with
Speaker 3: more wide receivers or get a tight end out there.
Speaker 3: What would you suggest in terms of or if they
Speaker 3: can at all given the personnel that they have, in
Speaker 3: terms of the way they use their tight ends in
Speaker 3: these situations, especially the end of game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, having Donald parm and Gard evert out there in
Speaker 2: key situations.
Speaker 1: I think what would help a lot.
Speaker 2: It's tough because a lot of teams prefer to live
Speaker 2: in eleven personnel or even four receiver sets, and and
Speaker 2: you know, at end of game situations you always see
Speaker 2: justin hold up like the one to one.
Speaker 1: You know, he's always in eleven personnel.
Speaker 2: But I think you can treat Gerald ever like a
Speaker 2: receiver in those instances and be a little bit more
Speaker 2: creative from a pass production standpoint. I think also, you know,
Speaker 2: one of the things that the Kyle Shanahan guys all
Speaker 2: do is when if they feel a pressure, like instead
Speaker 2: of trying to, you know, a for it, they will
Speaker 2: just outright say, everybody slide left, everybody slide right, and
Speaker 2: then our back goes the opposite way, or our tight
Speaker 2: end goes the opposite way, and it just makes things
Speaker 2: a little bit easier when you have an outright slide
Speaker 2: call as opposed to try and figuring out who is
Speaker 2: coming from where. And that could be a way that
Speaker 2: this regime can maybe simplify some things and maybe give
Speaker 2: the offensive line some easier answers. But that's really what
Speaker 2: it's about, is you have to find a way to
Speaker 2: make things easier for your offensive line. This is the
Speaker 2: youngest offensive line in the league. You know, they're clearly
Speaker 2: struggling to pick up certain things and key instances. But
Speaker 2: like we said, they also have to do a better
Speaker 2: job in one on one situation. So you know, it's
Speaker 2: probably not something that gets fixed this year unfortunately. You know,
Speaker 2: justin Herbert mentioned after the game, like he can be
Speaker 2: better picking up some things. But you know, this is
Speaker 2: a stylistic change that I think probably happens more in
Speaker 2: the off season unfortunately.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and hopefully they get at least better in early
Speaker 3: down situations in terms of running the ball, so at
Speaker 3: least they're in a third and four. I mean, everything
Speaker 3: just compounds on top of each other. You know, the
Speaker 3: defenses maybe not been so great, so you have to
Speaker 3: try to catch up more, so you have to pass more,
Speaker 3: but you can't run early on so here in these
Speaker 3: third and long situations. You know, the one on Herbert
Speaker 3: was I think third and six and that final fourth
Speaker 3: down play. But still, like the charge need to be
Speaker 3: better across the board, and this offensive line, the whole
Speaker 3: blocking unit in general, it's tough to say they need
Speaker 3: to be revamped because we looked at the beginning of
Speaker 3: the season at this unit as one that was under
Speaker 3: contract for several years. I mean, at minimum it was
Speaker 3: two more years with everybody across the board, and now
Speaker 3: you have three and a half question marks I think
Speaker 3: along the offensive line, which is something I just did
Speaker 3: not expect heading into the year.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we'll have some more offensive line conversation here
Speaker 2: in a bit, and a lot of offensive line questions
Speaker 2: from you guys, which we appreciate. I always appreciate the
Speaker 2: attention along the offensive line is needed for sure. All right,
Speaker 2: before we get to some of these questions, we'll take
Speaker 2: a quick break and then we will come back and
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Speaker 2: experience of a lifetime. Awaits only with on location. All right, Tyler,
Speaker 2: we got a lot of great questions, like I mentioned,
Speaker 2: offensive line related, off season related, you know, some other
Speaker 2: things in here as well, But I want to kind
Speaker 2: of revisit this conversation about Khalil Mack and like where
Speaker 2: he stands from an off season perspective. We just talked
Speaker 2: about how awesome he has been this season, and in
Speaker 2: Falton as well as Nathaniel Erdman wanted to get a
Speaker 2: question in about Khalil Max's future for this team, and
Speaker 2: Brandon specifically wanted to know about an extension for Khalil Mack.
Speaker 2: He obviously is a free agent after the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four season. That's when the contract he signed with the
Speaker 2: Chicago Bears comes up. A lot of people maybe pegged
Speaker 2: him as a cut candidate in the previous offseason, maybe
Speaker 2: pegged him as a cut candidate in the future offseason.
Speaker 2: But in terms of an extension, Tyler, what do you
Speaker 2: think his chances are of getting extended and.
Speaker 1: What do you think that would maybe do for his
Speaker 1: status on the team.
Speaker 3: Very high there. I did believe that Khalil was behind
Speaker 3: Joey Bosa in terms of likelihood to return next season,
Speaker 3: given that for a lot of these guys with the
Speaker 3: big four, right, the two receivers and the two edge rushers,
Speaker 3: they had to make cuts like there are going to
Speaker 3: because his team is going to look different. But Khalil
Speaker 3: Mack has just been a model of consistency and he's
Speaker 3: been healthy and he's been even better. And I don't
Speaker 3: it's risky, right, You don't want to be a year
Speaker 3: too late. You try to be a year early before
Speaker 3: some of these guys hit the cliff. But like I
Speaker 3: talked about Klimax on pace for twenty one and a
Speaker 3: half sacks, if he gets let's say he just gets eighteen,
Speaker 3: I don't know how you don't extend him at that point.
Speaker 3: I don't know how you don't try to keep him
Speaker 3: around longer. Hopefully he can work for the next two
Speaker 3: years beyond, but you have to extend him, and frankly,
Speaker 3: the Chargers, given their cap situation, need to make that move.
Speaker 3: We can have basically the same discussion about Keenan Allen
Speaker 3: as well, who deserves his own extension. And I think
Speaker 3: would still of the four be the priority to be
Speaker 3: extended given his relationship with Justin Herbert. But you know
Speaker 3: that kalim Maak is your edge rusher next year. You
Speaker 3: know that this is a player who has played I
Speaker 3: think eight hundred and sixties snaps last year. He's on
Speaker 3: pace for another nine hundred and fifty this year. He's
Speaker 3: been healthy, he looks good, he plays the run well,
Speaker 3: he plays the pass well. Leader of your team. You're
Speaker 3: getting what you're paying for at this point. The next season,
Speaker 3: it's going to be expensive, but that's why you would
Speaker 3: extend him. The Chargers can make a lot of cuts
Speaker 3: and I think it gets them to nineteen million at
Speaker 3: best in terms of cap space, which the endig to
Speaker 3: talk about emergency situations and the draft classes, et cetera.
Speaker 3: So that's not much. So the next thing you can
Speaker 3: do is to start extending some of these players. There
Speaker 3: is risk, of course, given the age, but you look
Speaker 3: at a guy who's played, he's going to end up
Speaker 3: playing about eighteen hundred nineteen hundred snaps the last two
Speaker 3: years and might be voted to the Pro Bowl this year. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you got to keep him around. And I think that
Speaker 3: him and Tully is your duo, your duo that you
Speaker 3: believe in next season and moving forward. Joey will have
Speaker 3: to wait to see what happens with this injury.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2: With regards to the Big Four, so to speak, I
Speaker 2: think unfortunately some of these decisions have been made because
Speaker 2: of the injuries. Like I think, yeah, you know, Mike
Speaker 2: Williams and his ACL and Joey and his his toe injury,
Speaker 2: his hamstring injury, his foot injury this season have unfortunately
Speaker 2: made that decision for this organization. And also the play
Speaker 2: of klu Mac and Keenan Allen has made the decision
Speaker 2: for them as well. Like you mentioned, you know, you're
Speaker 2: talking about two Pro bowlers, You're talking about two guys
Speaker 2: who are having career seasons, and so I do think
Speaker 2: there is absolutely a very strong argument to extend Khalio
Speaker 2: Mack in the off season, and I think it makes
Speaker 2: a lot of sense for where this team is at.
Speaker 2: I think it makes a lot of sense to have
Speaker 2: that stability at the edge rusher position and not have
Speaker 2: to head into next offseason and say, hey, man, like,
Speaker 2: we've probably got to draft another EDG rusher in the
Speaker 2: top three rounds because Cleo's a free agent after the season,
Speaker 2: because Tuley is the only other guy.
Speaker 1: Well, that just gives.
Speaker 2: Them a lot more flexibility So from a cap perspective,
Speaker 2: you know, according to over the cap, if you do
Speaker 2: extend and Kali Mack in the off season, you could
Speaker 2: you can work up to seventeen million dollars in cap
Speaker 2: space off of that extension. So some of that is
Speaker 2: not always you know, cut and dry when it comes
Speaker 2: to the contract. It depends a lot really on how
Speaker 2: you're able to work the player, the signing bonuses and
Speaker 2: things like that. I'm sure we could ask Gardon in
Speaker 2: the off season and specifically you know what that would
Speaker 2: look like. But from an extension standpoint, I think you
Speaker 2: can look at a guy like Cam Jordan. You know,
Speaker 2: the the edge rusher market has really exploded. Obviously, Nick
Speaker 2: Bosa took a grenade to that market, making thirty four
Speaker 2: million dollars per year. Now, I don't think Khalil Mack
Speaker 2: will cost the top of the market. But if you
Speaker 2: look at a guy like Cameron Jordan, who's in a
Speaker 2: similar kind of tier of pass rusher, you know, being
Speaker 2: one of the best of the business ses Cam Jordan
Speaker 2: is thirty four right now, and Cam Jordan's current contract
Speaker 2: is paying him thirteen and a half million dollars per year.
Speaker 2: So I think that an extension for Khalil. Mack is
Speaker 2: not going to break the bank because he is an
Speaker 2: older player and there is some kind of comparable things
Speaker 2: out there in terms of the contract I think von
Speaker 2: Miller is in his contract with the Bills is probably
Speaker 2: the ceiling which you know, Vaughn was coming off of,
Speaker 2: off of the Super Bowl run and things like that,
Speaker 2: which which really inflated his market. So I do think
Speaker 2: there's a very strong argument for Khalil and for Keenan
Speaker 2: to get these extensions done in the off season. And
Speaker 2: I don't think either one really breaks the bank because
Speaker 2: of their age and because ideally you're convincing them to
Speaker 2: you know, you know, stick around and provide that stability
Speaker 2: for this franchise as they move into a new era.
Speaker 3: Potentially, Yeah, he deserves to stick around. I believe in
Speaker 3: Tully Tupelow too.
Speaker 1: I really do. We all do.
Speaker 3: We've talked about him forty seven thousand times on this channel.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I'm ready to just get rid
Speaker 3: of the entire Edge group and let him be the
Speaker 3: Edge one. I think that's just a bit much right now.
Speaker 1: Could he do it?
Speaker 3: Sure all expectations are off, he can totally do it,
Speaker 3: it'll be all the ripe page of twenty two next season.
Speaker 3: Eventually young and one of the great ones on the way.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think the Khalil Mack stability and what
Speaker 3: he provides, especially what he can do against the run,
Speaker 3: keep him around.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: I think he deserves to be there. If you talk
Speaker 3: about the three best players for the Chargers of this season,
Speaker 3: I think one is Keenan, two is Khalil Mack. At
Speaker 3: this point, I think both those guys deserve the right
Speaker 3: to be called the first and second best players and
Speaker 3: consistent players on the team this year, and both those
Speaker 3: guys deserved the extensions.
Speaker 1: Yeah, completely agree.
Speaker 2: There as an extended question from this particular topic. Let
Speaker 2: me sure I get this one right. Philip wanted to
Speaker 2: know about soft rebuilds, that's kind of what the or
Speaker 2: competitive rebuild that some people have been coined in other instances.
Speaker 2: He wanted to know if there were any specific examples
Speaker 2: of who's pulled one off successfully before and what kind
Speaker 2: of the blueprint for this Charger team, obviously in a
Speaker 2: dire need of some cap space and potentially resetting from
Speaker 2: a financial standpoint, I think the first instance that you
Speaker 2: can look at is the Minnesota Vikings this year and
Speaker 2: what they've been able to do coming off of a
Speaker 2: division championship last season and they won eleven or actually
Speaker 2: I think it was thirteen games or whatever it was,
Speaker 2: and what they were able to do in the offseason,
Speaker 2: you know, offloading contracts like Eric Kendrix and some of
Speaker 2: those other decisions that they made, you know, reducing Did
Speaker 2: Hunter's contract, reducing Harrison Smith's contract. And I think that's
Speaker 2: kind of the blueprint that you're potentially looking for in
Speaker 2: a successful competitive rebuild. If you look at the opposite end,
Speaker 2: I think you're looking at a team like the Tennessee Titans,
Speaker 2: who figured trading AJ Brown would kind of launch them
Speaker 2: into that next new era, and it unfortunately has.
Speaker 1: Not gone so well for the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 2: You know, Mike Rable kind of is very stuck on
Speaker 2: being competitive and they're kind of in that no man's land.
Speaker 2: So doing a competitive rebuild is a dicey task for
Speaker 2: any general manager. But I will say the blooprin obviously
Speaker 2: starts with having a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 1: That's the key thing.
Speaker 2: And it's much easier when you have a guy like
Speaker 2: Justin Herbert to kind of have a soft reset as
Speaker 2: opposed to trying to do it with a guy like
Speaker 2: Ryan Tannehill, and then you're drafting Leakue Willis.
Speaker 1: And all this other stuff that has to go right
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree there, And I was looking at specific
Speaker 3: situations like that where and it seems like the quarterback
Speaker 3: was in.
Speaker 1: Place how long?
Speaker 3: How long did they know this quarterback was going to
Speaker 3: be in place for dependence? They didn't really know for
Speaker 3: sure at the time. But one is the post Wentz
Speaker 3: Eagles with Jalen Hurtz, who didn't play a whole lot
Speaker 3: his rookie season, but they figured, okay, he could be
Speaker 3: the guy they were able to. Now the first year
Speaker 3: of the rebuild, I think they had four wins, which
Speaker 3: wasn't great. So of course you want the Chargers to
Speaker 3: have more than four wins. But I also think that
Speaker 3: Herbert is significantly further along than Hurts at that time
Speaker 3: what the Eagles did and have done so well. Or
Speaker 3: two things. One, manipulate the draft board. We see this
Speaker 3: all the time. Hollie Roseman, I'll go up three, I'll
Speaker 3: go back six, I'll go back ten, I'll take your receiver.
Speaker 3: I'll do whatever. But there's always smart ways that they
Speaker 3: acquire either a couple of picks or one significant pick
Speaker 3: and find ways to move around the board and just
Speaker 3: get exactly what they need while also accumulating picks. It's
Speaker 3: strange that the Eagles can pick the best players but
Speaker 3: not have to really move up or sacrifice anything for them.
Speaker 3: It's it's a wizardry thing that is rare in the
Speaker 3: NFL these days. But what they also do is they
Speaker 3: do a very good job of bilo and it's easier
Speaker 3: said than done, of course, but they can look at
Speaker 3: a Hassan Reddick, who we were dying to have on
Speaker 3: the team and go, okay, three years, forty five million dollars,
Speaker 3: and that's a fricking steal given what he's been able
Speaker 3: to do in Philadelphia. You talked about like even they
Speaker 3: just trading for Kevin Byer recently. You talked about the
Speaker 3: Titans that cost nothing. You know, you go for Bradbury
Speaker 3: at corner that's seven million dollars. You go get Kayjerre
Speaker 3: White for three million dollars. They do take some swings,
Speaker 3: and they do give pay their guys quite a bit,
Speaker 3: but they also find ways to really just keep adding
Speaker 3: with these by lows, so accumulating picks buying low. That's
Speaker 3: kind of the way it's going to have to be
Speaker 3: for the Chargers. And if you really want to get
Speaker 3: a lot of picks, go ahead and look at the Rams.
Speaker 3: Who are you know, they obviously won the Super Bowl,
Speaker 3: they went all in and then now they're retooling and
Speaker 3: they just destroyed the Cardinals. That the Cardinals are a
Speaker 3: great team, but they destroyed them. And they picked fourteen
Speaker 3: rookies in the draft this past season without our first
Speaker 3: round pick. You know, they found their own different way
Speaker 3: to maneuver and get guys that are contributing. Obviously we
Speaker 3: talk about you know, everyone knows Pooka Nakua at this point,
Speaker 3: but they picked a Villa. They pick Byron Young, the
Speaker 3: pick Kobe Turner, they picked Nickcampton, War mcclenn and Davis Allen, Nikua,
Speaker 3: Trey Tomlinson, Zach Evans, like all these guys, they just
Speaker 3: found a way to maybe not all of them hit. No.
Speaker 3: No drafts is one hundred percent perfect.
Speaker 1: But if you go.
Speaker 3: Fourteen at bats and you hit six of them and
Speaker 3: those are your six starters, you are very you know,
Speaker 3: significant rotating players. We're doing a great job there. So
Speaker 3: I think that either of those teams, you know, the
Speaker 3: Rams will see how competitive they become. But they're getting
Speaker 3: a lot out of their rookies and they are on
Speaker 3: heading in the right direction. And then the Eagles post went.
Speaker 3: So I would look at kind of those you know,
Speaker 3: Rams finding a way to be this f them picks
Speaker 3: team to let's have all them picks team, And it's
Speaker 3: just the adjustments there that have really paid.
Speaker 1: Off for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you're strapped with cash, you need those extra
Speaker 2: picks to have that kind of flexibility. And you know,
Speaker 2: we were in Las Vegas for that specific draft and
Speaker 2: we were staying with your aunt and uncle, and your
Speaker 2: uncle is a Vikings fan, and your uncle is all
Speaker 2: mad that that draft class because Queszy kept on trading
Speaker 2: back and trading back, and every time the Vikings had
Speaker 2: come up, it was like, oh, they're trade. But that's
Speaker 2: a great way to you know, recoup some draft value.
Speaker 2: You know, loading up on these draft picks is so
Speaker 2: important when you're strapped with cash because it just gives
Speaker 2: you that much more flexibility. So I think that's a
Speaker 2: great call there. All Right, we'll get to some of
Speaker 2: these offensive line questions. Nick Skipper, Ewing Fighter, Pilot, and
Speaker 2: Meerkat Manor all had a very specific offensive line question
Speaker 2: and kind of trying to dive into the root of
Speaker 2: the regression here. So we'll start with Nick Skipper. He
Speaker 2: wants to know if the offensive line issues have been
Speaker 2: caused from moving the guards around in the off season. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Zion Johnson played primarily on the left side in college.
Speaker 2: Last season with the Chargers, he was on the right
Speaker 2: side pairing with Trey Pipkins. Jamari Sawyer has primarily left
Speaker 2: side in college as well. He played left tackle for
Speaker 2: the Chargers last year, albeit he was training on both
Speaker 2: guard spots for the Chargers in last off season. So
Speaker 2: how much do you think that switch has contributed to
Speaker 2: Zion regressing the way he has and Jamari maybe not
Speaker 2: clicking into places as quickly as we would have helped
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: I think it has to.
Speaker 3: You can't help but add that to part of the
Speaker 3: reason that they are I've regressed at this point. And
Speaker 3: Duke Manyweather has been a big advocate for not switching
Speaker 3: guys around. One not switching the don't just switch guys
Speaker 3: from tackle to guard just because you feel like it.
Speaker 3: There has to be a legitimate reason. And two, don't
Speaker 3: move guys left right, left, right, left right. I mean,
Speaker 3: we saw Piney Seoul his rookie year and in the
Speaker 3: preseason they're like, Okay, we're going to take your right tackle,
Speaker 3: movie to left, and we'll movie the left and we'll
Speaker 3: go to right. And it was kind of a back
Speaker 3: and forth for him that didn't quite work so well
Speaker 3: for him initially. Then he got to be his generational
Speaker 3: self and got accustomed to everything and in a very
Speaker 3: good scheme, and then things obviously progressed for where now
Speaker 3: he is one of the best tackles in the league.
Speaker 3: But it took some time, and then back and forth
Speaker 3: does not help. So I think with Zion, I think
Speaker 3: with Jamari it does not help. I think Jamari is
Speaker 3: suffering the worst from it because he had the biggest
Speaker 3: change from left tackle out of nowhere after practicing guard
Speaker 3: all last year, to left tackle for the entire season
Speaker 3: to not to write guard, and unfortunately he's playing next
Speaker 3: to Trey Pipkins, who has not been great, and then
Speaker 3: will Clap for most of the season, which is not
Speaker 3: a knock on Will Clap. It's just not Cordy Linsley.
Speaker 3: We've all been talking about this. Corey Lindsley's not out there.
Speaker 3: These Guards are going to be worse because of it.
Speaker 3: That was evident the moment anytime last year where Corey
Speaker 3: Linsley went out, things just changed for the Guards, it
Speaker 3: changed for Zion. It just was not the same. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I do think the flip flopping has not helped. You know,
Speaker 3: you learned so much and then having to switch sides
Speaker 3: is just a bit of a soft reset, if you will,
Speaker 3: to their start to the NFL. So it's almost like
Speaker 3: a rookie season one and a half for them right now,
Speaker 3: which is part of the struggles. I do expect more
Speaker 3: from them. It has been disappointing, but it does play
Speaker 3: a party.
Speaker 2: I'm not necessarily shocked that Jamaris has had a more
Speaker 2: of a struggle, you know, adapting to guard life, because
Speaker 2: you know, he was playing offensive tackle at Georgia. He
Speaker 2: was playing offensive tackle as a rookie and that's a
Speaker 2: tough switch in general. Then also, like you mentioned, you know,
Speaker 2: switching sides completely, So I'm not shocked. Like you mentioned,
Speaker 2: I did expect and I do expect better of him.
Speaker 2: The Zion thing has been definitely more frustrating for me. Obviously,
Speaker 2: anybody who listens to the show knows how we felt
Speaker 2: about him coming into that draft class and what he
Speaker 2: was able to do last season as a rookie.
Speaker 1: So I think it plays a part.
Speaker 2: I think expecting Zion to you know, kind of click
Speaker 2: back into place, switching back to his more natural side
Speaker 2: is a fair expectation. And I do think that there's
Speaker 2: some just technique things that have maybe changed this year.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's a pure coaching issue orf
Speaker 2: that was something that was an off season thing for him,
Speaker 2: but you know, his technique is failing him more so
Speaker 2: than it did last year. Last year was a lot
Speaker 2: of just kind of like stunts and games and things
Speaker 2: like that. So I think that's that's the thing more
Speaker 2: with Zion is is I think we've maybe got to
Speaker 2: get back to the drawing board from a technique standpoint
Speaker 2: and get him back to that consistency, you know, feeling
Speaker 2: that he had obviously in college and during his rookie season.
Speaker 2: I think also, you know, people have to remember he's
Speaker 2: only played football for like six years. This isn't a
Speaker 2: guy who grew up playing football.
Speaker 1: He grew up playing golf.
Speaker 2: You know, went to Davidson College to play golf, so
Speaker 2: definitely deserves criticism. I think both of them deserve criticism
Speaker 2: that I'm not here trying to say that they are blameless,
Speaker 2: but I think the context of it is important to
Speaker 2: talk about because these are guys that ideally are able
Speaker 2: to get back to form, get back to expectations next year.
Speaker 2: Right now, we have some question marks about them in
Speaker 2: terms of their long term status next year. Like you,
Speaker 2: you want them to be able to find that confidence
Speaker 2: again and be able to prove that they can be
Speaker 2: building block players that we thought they could be heading
Speaker 2: into this season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're going to be your starters next year. I
Speaker 3: would assume Zion is definitely going to be Jamori. I
Speaker 3: don't see why you wouldn't. But I think they'll be
Speaker 3: a competition with McFadden next year and potentially some their
Speaker 3: interier offensive lineman. But I think those are your two
Speaker 3: guys that your quote unquote stuck with and I feel
Speaker 3: good about that. But they need to be better than
Speaker 3: they have been, for sure. One player. Just switching to
Speaker 3: another question here, because we are talking about expectations for players,
Speaker 3: and I think everyone knows kind of where I'm going
Speaker 3: with this one question from Ryan, how can the Chargers
Speaker 3: change cues or Quentin Johnston's role to get more out
Speaker 3: of him, because it's been it's been tough sledding, and
Speaker 3: before tonight's game, I don't think anything changes. Addison's already
Speaker 3: ahead of him. We're recording on Monday. But there are
Speaker 3: nineteen receivers and tight ends that have more receiving yards
Speaker 3: rookies that I'm more receiving yards than Quentin Johnson does
Speaker 3: through eleven games so far. And you know, to me,
Speaker 3: that's not even necessarily just a should have taken Zay,
Speaker 3: should have taken Addison situation, that's a could we have
Speaker 3: found anybody else at any other point? I mean, the
Speaker 3: guys that are first and second in yards are not
Speaker 3: say Flowers and Jordan Adison. Again, Addison, we'll see after tonight.
Speaker 3: But it's tanked ol, it's pukuin Akua and these guys,
Speaker 3: and you look at Michael Wilson, Jaden Reed, Don Tavian Wicks,
Speaker 3: all these guys are involved, and the one person that
Speaker 3: cannot get involved consistently is Quentin Johnston. The X rays
Speaker 3: came back negative on his ribs, so thankfully he avoided
Speaker 3: something worse there, but he didn't play basically in the
Speaker 3: second half of the last third or so of that game.
Speaker 3: But he also wasn't involved at all to begin with.
Speaker 3: It's been to me this kind of trio failure, if
Speaker 3: you will, of evaluation, because I'm not sure anymore what
Speaker 3: they saw from him in terms of how his specific workload,
Speaker 3: skill set, what he could do would translate to the NFL.
Speaker 3: But then I think we have a failure of course
Speaker 3: of the scheme so far and what this person is
Speaker 3: the questioner is asking about, how can we get him
Speaker 3: more involved, and so far that has not been the case.
Speaker 3: And then, of course Quentin Johnson owes plenty of the
Speaker 3: blame himself. You know, you can prescribe certain amount of
Speaker 3: percentages to all three of those guys in different ways,
Speaker 3: but it has led to a very very disappointing rookie season.
Speaker 3: And if you listen to you know, Reception Perception and
Speaker 3: Matt Harmon talk about these guys and these receivers, Quentin
Speaker 3: Johnson's score and his routes that he runs is like
Speaker 3: second worst that they've ever had on their website, and
Speaker 3: it is around names like Jalen Reagor and his rookie season,
Speaker 3: which is sort of ironic, if you will. So, I
Speaker 3: don't know, man, it's been frustrating, But what do you
Speaker 3: I guess, how do you see more touches for Quent Johnson?
Speaker 3: How do you get more out of him?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think that's a fair thing.
Speaker 2: And again we talked a little bit about this on
Speaker 2: our show, Like, I think you can be real about
Speaker 2: what Quentin's struggles have been and also try to figure
Speaker 2: out how to get the most out of him because
Speaker 2: he's on the team, Like anybody who's a fan of
Speaker 2: the team should root for him to figure it out
Speaker 2: and root for the team to figure it out because
Speaker 2: you know, you invested a first round draft pick in him.
Speaker 2: I think objectively, like you look at what was working
Speaker 2: for him, you know, in particular against the Bears and
Speaker 2: against the Jets and against the Lions. I think one
Speaker 2: of the things there is his reps from the slot.
Speaker 1: You know, in those.
Speaker 2: Games it's not a ton, but he was basically getting
Speaker 2: about six reps from the slot a game, which is
Speaker 2: around twenty percent of his routes. You look at the
Speaker 2: Green Bay game and he ran one rep from the slot,
Speaker 2: and this past week against the Ravens, he had zero,
Speaker 2: and it's just the way that you're able to manufacture
Speaker 2: touches for him. And I was hoping that the Bears
Speaker 2: game was going to be kind of a launching point,
Speaker 2: so to speak, of the rest of his season. And
Speaker 2: the key thing there was all of the crossers that
Speaker 2: he was running. You know, he had two, he had
Speaker 2: a little drag, had a little short crosser, and he
Speaker 2: was able to get yards after the catch. And and
Speaker 2: that's the kind of role that you need to let
Speaker 2: him just really really do well with, is find something
Speaker 2: that he can and has the confidence to execute, and
Speaker 2: if that's short area yards after the catch, great because
Speaker 2: you just you're able to build up the confidence and
Speaker 2: then go from there into other areas. Right now, they're
Speaker 2: using him as a strict almost strictly as a X
Speaker 2: receiver to stretch the field, which is Mike Williams's role.
Speaker 1: He's not Mike Williams.
Speaker 2: Everybody who watched him knew that coming into the season,
Speaker 2: and so it's just been frustrating to know what we
Speaker 2: all watched from Quentin Johnston watched in the in training camp,
Speaker 2: and then they're not using him in any of those
Speaker 2: ways to get him going, and and yes, obviously I
Speaker 2: wish that he could just you know, you come into
Speaker 2: his role and he and he's great and everything's perfect,
Speaker 2: but you have to be able to execute touches for him.
Speaker 2: And I think that that's the biggest My biggest complaint
Speaker 2: right now is you've found a way that worked for
Speaker 2: him to get the ball, You've found a way for
Speaker 2: him to get confidence going, and then you completely abandon
Speaker 2: that three weeks later and you go back to what
Speaker 2: was not working previously. So again, you can definitely recognize
Speaker 2: that contin has had some struggles, but you also, I think,
Speaker 2: need to recognize that the Chargers offense has not done
Speaker 2: a good enough job getting him involved and being able
Speaker 2: to take advantage of his skill set as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he shares plenty of responsibility for the struggles so far.
Speaker 3: He has to make the catches, he has to separate.
Speaker 3: The separation versus man has not been great. It's not
Speaker 3: been great versus his own Plenty of blame there, for sure.
Speaker 3: Some of it's easier to see than others in very
Speaker 3: key situations like against the Packers, some not as much.
Speaker 3: But the Chargers, they clearly have a player in my
Speaker 3: opinion who doesn't seem like his confidence is quite there,
Speaker 3: his feet underneath him in the NFL, and it just
Speaker 3: feels like it would be better to reassess and reevaluate
Speaker 3: and just give him the floor, give him something to
Speaker 3: work with to stand on that he is comfortable with,
Speaker 3: and then if you want to develop him into Mike Williams,
Speaker 3: which he was not at all coming out of college.
Speaker 3: And we said it a million times, fine, but it
Speaker 3: has to start with the floor and the foundation of
Speaker 3: understanding who Quenton Johnson is and what he's good at.
Speaker 3: You know, it's a terrible comparison, but we can't ask,
Speaker 3: you know, Wandale Robinson to go be your jump ball
Speaker 3: X receiver guy for the Giants or whatever. Like I'm
Speaker 3: not saying these are the two of the same players,
Speaker 3: but that's you cannot force, you know, the square pregate
Speaker 3: of the ron hole situation. You got to get him
Speaker 3: going with what he's comfortable with and then build from there.
Speaker 3: They're they're trying to, it seems, force him into a
Speaker 3: role or make him someone that he is just not.
Speaker 3: Can he develop into that? Sure, keep going, spend years
Speaker 3: working on that, honing your craft, et cetera. But give
Speaker 3: him the floor to feel confident and feel successful to
Speaker 3: do rather than just because it really looks very defeating.
Speaker 3: He looks very defeated out there in situations. I'm sure
Speaker 3: he feels awful about some of the issues and what's
Speaker 3: been said publicly, you know, his role, not being able
Speaker 3: to get out there in the fourth quarter against the
Speaker 3: Ravens in a do or die sort of game. So
Speaker 3: I hope they find something for him, because they at
Speaker 3: least need to find a role for him. Otherwise we're
Speaker 3: looking at a whole different draft next year where we
Speaker 3: are making very difficult conversations about wide receiver.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I like the way that you put that.
Speaker 2: I think the Chargers mission for Quentin Johnson over the
Speaker 2: next the final six weeks of the season is two
Speaker 2: races floor, established some kind of confidence setting into next season,
Speaker 2: establish some kind of pattern for his usage that he
Speaker 2: can spend the rest of the offseason, you know, building
Speaker 2: off of as opposed to trying to rebuild everything. Like
Speaker 2: I think you want to have this these final six
Speaker 2: games be a sort of you know, springboard into a
Speaker 2: strong sophomore season. Ideally obviously for Quentin Johnson, I think
Speaker 2: that's on the coaching staff You've got to be able
Speaker 2: to figure out ways to manufacture touches for him like you,
Speaker 2: Like all due respect to Alex Erickson, you can't be
Speaker 2: feeding Alex Erickson touches in favor of Quentin Johnson like
Speaker 2: you need to feed Quentin Johnson touches. I'm not asking
Speaker 2: to target him ten times a game, but there's no
Speaker 2: reason why you shouldn't be able to manufacture three or
Speaker 2: four touches every single game for him. And honestly, the
Speaker 2: same probably goes for Darius Davis. Like you, you are
Speaker 2: really struggling in the talent department. I think both of
Speaker 2: those guys should be able to contribute more than they
Speaker 2: have been, and I think both of them have shown
Speaker 2: the ability to do that. I mean, I feel like
Speaker 2: it's been a month since we saw a Darius Davis screen,
Speaker 2: Like it's just been a little frustrating when you have
Speaker 2: some offensive struggles that hey, like, let's give let's get
Speaker 2: some easy ones going here with our guys who can
Speaker 2: create after the catch. And that also goes for Gerald ever,
Speaker 2: so I'm just going to lean into those same kind
Speaker 2: of conversations. I think, in general, Mikes, things easier for
Speaker 2: you as an offense, so we are definitely a little
Speaker 2: over our plan time today, so we appreciate all the questions.
Speaker 2: There were some other ones here that we wanted to
Speaker 2: get to. Taylor Marquez had a great question, Andre Castillo
Speaker 2: had a great question. There was Dayan Henley's season in
Speaker 2: the chat, as well as Steven Gillard who had a
Speaker 2: great question that we wanted to get to.
Speaker 1: So we apologize.
Speaker 2: We'll be sure to interact with you guys and get
Speaker 2: those answers out there, but we do appreciate all the
Speaker 2: great questions here that we propose to tonight.
Speaker 1: So Tyler, any final thoughts before we head out for
Speaker 1: the evening.
Speaker 3: I'm onto New England.
Speaker 1: On to New England.
Speaker 2: So hopefully you guys are enjoying the show. We are
Speaker 2: obviously very appreciative of the support. Make sure like the video, subscribe,
Speaker 2: comment all that good stuff, Tell a friend, and we'll
Speaker 2: be covering this team regardless.
Speaker 1: Of what happens. You know, come what may, as they say, so.
Speaker 2: Really appreciate everybody, Appreciate Greg Kim for producing the show,
Speaker 2: as always, appreciate all you guys for tuning in.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time, and as always, hold up