Speaker 1: Hey, what is up everybody? Welcome to the Guilty of
Speaker 1: Charge Podcast, presented by the Chargers Podcast Network. My name
Speaker 1: is Stephen and I am the host as always, and
Speaker 1: joining me is my guy Tyler. Tyler, what's up man?
Speaker 1: How are you doing today?
Speaker 2: Great man?
Speaker 1: How are you? I'm doing fantastic. It was a great
Speaker 1: holiday obviously with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Speaker 1: Watched some great football games yesterday, the Rose Bowl and
Speaker 1: the Sugar Bowl. We're fantastic, So I hope everybody else
Speaker 1: had a good New Year's New Year's weekend as well.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have a bit of a New Year's Day
Speaker 1: themed show today. We're gonna have some New Year's Resolution
Speaker 1: Chargers Edition, and then we also have received some questions
Speaker 1: from you guys, our listeners, and we'll address those today.
Speaker 1: So it should be a fun one. A lot of
Speaker 1: stuff to dive into. A lot of different questions, draft questions,
Speaker 1: coaches questions, regular in off season questions. You guys brought
Speaker 1: it today and I'm really excited to do dive into
Speaker 1: some of these. That being said, Tyler and I are
Speaker 1: fans of the team just like you guys are. We
Speaker 1: are not employees of the Chargers. This is this show
Speaker 1: is dedicated to our opinions and ours alone. They do
Speaker 1: not reflect the opinions of the Chargers organization. We're very
Speaker 1: grateful for this platform and happy to have be covering
Speaker 1: our last game. This is a week eighteen. I can't
Speaker 1: believe the end of the season is here. It's been
Speaker 1: obviously an up and down season for the team, but
Speaker 1: it's been a blast covering the team on the channel
Speaker 1: with you guys, and we appreciate all the great support
Speaker 1: from the Chargers as well as you guys, the listeners
Speaker 1: and the comments and on social media and all that
Speaker 1: good stuff. And it's just kind of a surreal feeling
Speaker 1: that the season is a few days away from wrapping up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it feels like just yesterday we were drafting Bijon
Speaker 2: Robinson at twenty one. Did not happen. He went a
Speaker 2: little bit earlier than that, and everything else is so different. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I've been an up and down season for sure, but
Speaker 2: it's still been fun regardless.
Speaker 1: Yeah, always fun to cover the Chargers. I always fun
Speaker 1: to talk about stuff, watch film. You know, this is
Speaker 1: where football junkies for a reason and excited to dive
Speaker 1: in stuff today. So Like I mentioned, we're gonna do
Speaker 1: a bit of a New Year's Resolution theme for this episode.
Speaker 1: We're going to feature some stuff from the season, stuff
Speaker 1: from you know this upcoming week against the Kansas City Chiefs,
Speaker 1: you know, future resolutions as well. It's it is that
Speaker 1: time of the year, so we tried to make the
Speaker 1: content a little bit more fun today. So, Tyler, what
Speaker 1: is your biggest twenty twenty four New Year's resolution for
Speaker 1: the Chargers?
Speaker 2: The Chargers need to start winning the games that they
Speaker 2: need to win in the fourth quarter and get away
Speaker 2: from the quote unquote Charging that has played them for
Speaker 2: you could say years, you could say decades, you could
Speaker 2: say the entire franchise's history as a team that has
Speaker 2: not won the Super Bowl. You look at the last
Speaker 2: three years under Brandon Staley and the Chargers have twelve
Speaker 2: games where they lost where they had a lead, or
Speaker 2: were tied in the fourth quarter, or lost in overtime,
Speaker 2: and that, frankly, just isn't good enough. And I don't
Speaker 2: know exactly where the Charges pull from to get over
Speaker 2: the hump and win those games, but it could be
Speaker 2: from themselves, from better drafting, better signings, or another head
Speaker 2: coach and a new head coach that brings something different
Speaker 2: that allows them to flip the script in several of
Speaker 2: those moments. So Charges need to be better there. There
Speaker 2: are many things individually that I'd love the Charges to
Speaker 2: improve out of course, but overall, they got to win,
Speaker 2: and in particular these games where they're very very close,
Speaker 2: but close doesn't count. You gotta win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's a good place to start this conversation,
Speaker 1: you know, just being able to have that closer's mentality.
Speaker 1: We saw glimpses of it under the Brandon Stally era, obviously.
Speaker 1: You know, I think the best case there is that
Speaker 1: game in Kansas City in twenty twenty one where you know,
Speaker 1: that aggressive closer mentality was the state leading into the week.
Speaker 1: It just needs to carry out throughout the whole season.
Speaker 1: Like I obviously I watch a lot of Pactoll football.
Speaker 1: It's really the only college football that I am consuming
Speaker 1: throughout the whole year consistently. And this Washington football team
Speaker 1: that's going to play for the National championship next week
Speaker 1: is just incredibly impressive. They have ten straight wins of
Speaker 1: one touchdown or less, Like it doesn't matter who the
Speaker 1: opponent is, what kind of style, the other team brings
Speaker 1: to the table, Like they just have a way of
Speaker 1: making plays in key situations, in clutch moments, whether it's
Speaker 1: last night in the Sugar Bowl, whether it's you know,
Speaker 1: in a rainstorm against ASU, Like there's just a mentality
Speaker 1: that permeates from the coaching staff to the players that
Speaker 1: allows them to make these plays in clutch moments. And
Speaker 1: that's not something that has been around this team. And
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful that that changes with the new regime and
Speaker 1: we can see guys obviously, like justin Herbert, you know,
Speaker 1: more moments like that Raiders game where he was able
Speaker 1: to you know, come back from the finger injury and
Speaker 1: put his stand up on that game, or whether it
Speaker 1: was a Derwin James interception against Darren Waller or whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be. Like we just, you know, these
Speaker 1: players deserve to have more moments like that. For some reason.
Speaker 1: All of the closing moments that I am picturing in
Speaker 1: my head right now are games against the Raiders and Chiefs,
Speaker 1: you know, specifically like one game against the Chiefs, but
Speaker 1: it's a lot of Raiders games. So just whatever happens
Speaker 1: in those games is bring it to the rest of
Speaker 1: the table.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, get it and listen, that contributes to the division, right,
Speaker 2: You're thinking of these these games because they're the division
Speaker 2: games and you've got to win those to win the division.
Speaker 2: And the Charges have struggled there of course, And of
Speaker 2: course you and I were in person in that Week
Speaker 2: eighteen game against the Raiders, so I understand why you're
Speaker 2: pulling from that one. So yeah, I got to be
Speaker 2: better there, for sure.
Speaker 1: I think my resolution for twenty twenty four is to
Speaker 1: have the Chargers find a consistent run game. I think
Speaker 1: there's been far too much pressure on Justin Herbert to
Speaker 1: carry the offense over the last three years for a
Speaker 1: variety of reason. Really four years, if you want to
Speaker 1: go back that far, you know this is this is
Speaker 1: a team that has not been able to find that consistent,
Speaker 1: you know, run game. We saw glimpses of it again
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, glimpses of it last year. We
Speaker 1: saw two hundred and forty yards this in Week one
Speaker 1: this year. But it's it's being able to find that consistency.
Speaker 1: And this is not a singling out of any one person.
Speaker 1: This is, you know, a collective effort, and Kellen Moore
Speaker 1: has preached that from the beginning, it's all eleven guys.
Speaker 1: Like I watch a team like the Detroit Lions, and
Speaker 1: their wide receivers block their tails off every single week.
Speaker 1: And obviously they have a great offensive line and some
Speaker 1: very good backs, but it doesn't matter if everybody is
Speaker 1: not doing their jobs. And I think that is again
Speaker 1: a change that I think needs to come to Fruition.
Speaker 1: You know, this season has not. You know, that was
Speaker 1: something that was promised from Kellen Moore and dougnass Meyer
Speaker 1: coming over, and you know the changes that were made
Speaker 1: were not sufficient, obviously, But how many of these games
Speaker 1: over the last three years do the Chargers win if
Speaker 1: they have that consistent run game And it's just been
Speaker 1: moments and finding that consistency for me is really a
Speaker 1: key thing. And how I am looking at like these
Speaker 1: head coaching candidates, How I'm looking at the GMS. How
Speaker 1: I'm looking at what they're doing with Kellen Moore now
Speaker 1: that you know he's kind of taken on a larger
Speaker 1: role of the offense. How am I looking at these
Speaker 1: players over the last few weeks and their potential roles
Speaker 1: for next year going forward on our new coaching staff.
Speaker 1: So we know that justin Herbert is going to be
Speaker 1: a great quarterback regardless of who is coaching him. It's
Speaker 1: about how do you support that quarterback. And the run
Speaker 1: game for me has been severely lacking over the last
Speaker 1: three years, and I will like to see that changed
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and by extension of that, my other resolution, just
Speaker 2: because we're on the same track here. The Chargers need
Speaker 2: to find alignment. And we've discussed this several times between
Speaker 2: the general manager and who they pick and the offensive
Speaker 2: coordinator and how he wants to use those players, particularly
Speaker 2: from the jump. Not every player has to be Pukinakua
Speaker 2: and breaking records and you know, fifteen hundred yards in
Speaker 2: his rookie season. I don't expect that, but the Chargers have.
Speaker 2: It's been so difficult for them. And if you want
Speaker 2: to talk about the run game, you know, the running
Speaker 2: backs and the Titans in particular, it's been difficult for
Speaker 2: these guys to get going from the jump. And if
Speaker 2: you look at their last nine skill position players on
Speaker 2: offense that they've drafted, which is Joshua Kelly, Joe Reed,
Speaker 2: kJ Hill, Josh Palmer, Trey McKitty, Larry Roundtree, Isaiah Spiller,
Speaker 2: Xander Horbath and Quintin Johnston. Those players in year one
Speaker 2: have a combined fifteen hundred and eighty one yards in
Speaker 2: their rookie seasons of those nine players, which averages about
Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy six total yards average for each
Speaker 2: of those players in their year ones, which is about
Speaker 2: ten point three yards total yards per game. These guys
Speaker 2: are not getting going for the jump. And again, not
Speaker 2: everybody has to be Pookinnakua, but these guys need to
Speaker 2: be a lot better. And I think that you have
Speaker 2: to align yourselves more because I think the GM, I
Speaker 2: think Ton Teleusco has picked good players. I think that
Speaker 2: there are coordinators who can make it work with the
Speaker 2: players that they have. These guys come together and it
Speaker 2: doesn't amount to as much as we'd hope. The Charges
Speaker 2: have really struggled to get some of these guys going.
Speaker 2: And that's why I think, you know partially why they
Speaker 2: can't close out these games. And while the run game
Speaker 2: isn't going because they take players that I think when
Speaker 2: we all look at the draft, we go, okay, yep,
Speaker 2: I see that, I see that that's a good player
Speaker 2: that could work. There's some development there, and then they
Speaker 2: get onto the field. And again, these players, those nine
Speaker 2: players average ten point three yards per game total, and
Speaker 2: that's just not good enough. So they got to be
Speaker 2: better in that regard as well.
Speaker 1: And I think when it comes to the draft, like
Speaker 1: there's a certain philosophy in evaluating players and how things
Speaker 1: get done from a front office standpoint, but at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, ay, once the once the selections
Speaker 1: are made, it's it's on the coaching staff to figure
Speaker 1: out ways to develop these players and figure in them,
Speaker 1: figured their specific roles out and allow them to become
Speaker 1: their best selves. And I don't like it's an alignment thing,
Speaker 1: but it's also an execution thing, and it's you know,
Speaker 1: having the right preparation for the draft. It's having the
Speaker 1: right preparation for the plan and being able to have
Speaker 1: the coaches who can execute that plan on a week
Speaker 1: to week basis, on a year to year basis. And
Speaker 1: you know, development is not linear. Obviously, these players who
Speaker 1: are still on the roster can still figure things out,
Speaker 1: like we've we've seen you know, players across the league
Speaker 1: be able to you know, have some struggles in the
Speaker 1: year one, then they figure it out in year two,
Speaker 1: and and that's certainly not impossible for these young guys
Speaker 1: who are maybe struggling right now, but at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, like they're on the team, it's on
Speaker 1: the coaches at this point to figure out how to
Speaker 1: use them properly or or find guys who who can
Speaker 1: and you know, execute that role in a better fashion.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. Another resolution from you, Stephen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna highlight specifically this last week against the
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs as the team closes out the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three season. This past week we saw what I
Speaker 1: think was a very solid to you know, above average
Speaker 1: performance from mister Jordan McFadden getting his first career start
Speaker 1: at left guard. So my resolution for this week is
Speaker 1: to get more positive momentum from the last two draft
Speaker 1: classes against the Chiefs on Sunday. You know, whether that's
Speaker 1: a big Quentin Johnston game, whether that's been a big
Speaker 1: two lead Twoy Polow two game, whether that's in Isaiah
Speaker 1: Spiller touchdown or something of that matter, somebody besides Jordan McFadden,
Speaker 1: I would like to see some real positive momentum to
Speaker 1: close out the season and be able to show whoever
Speaker 1: the incoming coaching staff and GM are this kind of
Speaker 1: game tape and be able to have that evaluation. To
Speaker 1: a lesser extent, we saw a little bit of Dayon
Speaker 1: Henley on Sunday against the Broncos. He, according to Gifts Smith,
Speaker 1: was dealing with a groin injury, but when he was
Speaker 1: on the field there were some real positive moments. He
Speaker 1: was a key piece in defending that quarterback sneak from
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson that led to that stop. He had another
Speaker 1: key tackle against I think it was little Jordan Humphrey,
Speaker 1: you know, later on in that same drive. So maybe
Speaker 1: Dayan is somebody who can come in here. But the
Speaker 1: resolution here is more positive momentum from the young players
Speaker 1: heading into twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: I agree, go anybody listening, go make a Google sheet
Speaker 2: or Excel spreadsheet and just start making up the roster,
Speaker 2: the projected roster for next season. How many blank spaces
Speaker 2: are there? How many question marks are there on that roster?
Speaker 2: Trying to place these guys as you know, are they starters?
Speaker 2: Are they even like the second you know, the backup
Speaker 2: for the team. It's very difficult to do that right now,
Speaker 2: and I don't know that one game is going to
Speaker 2: change that. But like you said, I'd love for the
Speaker 2: momentum to carry into next season. Really start to see okay,
Speaker 2: like maybe maybe we feel better about this particular player,
Speaker 2: Maybe we don't have to reach for this other player
Speaker 2: in the draft, or we don't have to, you know,
Speaker 2: take this position so earlier, spend this much money, or
Speaker 2: whatever it is. Answering those questions would be great. Another
Speaker 2: player that I'd love to have momentum carry into in
Speaker 2: this game and carry into next season is Derwin James,
Speaker 2: who I think had a very very good game against
Speaker 2: the Broncos recently. And I know that, like we're not
Speaker 2: big for Pro Football focused grades necessarily. We like, you know,
Speaker 2: different stats, We like our eyes and what we see.
Speaker 2: But Derwin James, that was his best PFF game grade
Speaker 2: since November of twenty twenty one, and a top five
Speaker 2: game grade for him in his entire career. That is
Speaker 2: what we need to see against the Chiefs if possible.
Speaker 2: We need to see that kind of Derwin James because
Speaker 2: while we don't love using grades, that grade kind of
Speaker 2: fit what we saw just felt like we were seeing
Speaker 2: Derwin James again. It felt like we saw the best
Speaker 2: version of him and what he was able to do.
Speaker 2: Thankfully not flagged. But he was flying around, rushing the passer,
Speaker 2: hitting very hard, being very physical and aggressive. That's the
Speaker 2: kind of stuff we were used to seeing with him.
Speaker 2: That's why we all fell in love with him in
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen when he instantly took the league by storm.
Speaker 2: And so if we can start getting back to that,
Speaker 2: and if Jerwen James can continue that momentum into next season,
Speaker 2: You're feeling a lot better because I do think Derwen
Speaker 2: James sticks around. I do think he's still a very
Speaker 2: very important piece of this defense moving forward. Being a really,
Speaker 2: really great player again would be fantastic for this defense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, this is this is a guy who
Speaker 1: has been, you know, arguably the face of the franchise.
Speaker 1: You know. Justin Herbert is obviously the franchise quarterback, but
Speaker 1: he's not super public all the time. Derwin has been
Speaker 1: that guy a lot for this team, you know, And
Speaker 1: this is a guy who means so much to this
Speaker 1: locker room, who has consistently been, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the game captains, consistently has been the tone setter. You know,
Speaker 1: me and you were in training camp and there was
Speaker 1: you know, a bit of a defensive struggle there for
Speaker 1: a little bit, and Derwin James was the one to
Speaker 1: rally the guys and you know, uh Sante made a
Speaker 1: play and then it uh Morgan Fox made a play
Speaker 1: and everybody rallied around Derwin James. He's been one of
Speaker 1: the best safeties in the league. He's been a Pro
Speaker 1: bow player, he's been an All Pro player. I still
Speaker 1: believe that player is in there. I still believe that
Speaker 1: that guy can be brought out for an entire season
Speaker 1: in different circumstances. I do truly believe that, and I
Speaker 1: think we saw glimpses of that on Sunday against the Broncos.
Speaker 1: I would love to see that continue. You know, maybe
Speaker 1: he gets that interception that he missed this past week,
Speaker 1: Maybe he gets that on Sunday. I still think that
Speaker 1: he can be a game changing presence, and we're seeing
Speaker 1: the value of a player like him in the Ravens
Speaker 1: with Kyle Hamilton, and Derwin James is a significantly better athlete,
Speaker 1: like objectively, you know, numbers wise, is a much better
Speaker 1: athlete than Cayle Hamilton was. So there's still a place
Speaker 1: in the NFL for Derwin James. I think people are
Speaker 1: a little too harsh probably far too harsh on Derwin
Speaker 1: James this season. And I still think that with the
Speaker 1: right defensive coordinator or head coach who calls plays on defense,
Speaker 1: can get Derwin back to the player that we're used
Speaker 1: to seeing, because I think we've seen glimpses of him
Speaker 1: this season. It's just, you know, I think there's been
Speaker 1: too much on his plate. I think that the penalties,
Speaker 1: maybe there's an injury, I don't know. But I still
Speaker 1: believe in Derwin James. I think that he has a
Speaker 1: big twenty twenty four in store for this Chargers team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree, Derwin James is too good a
Speaker 2: thing to have. I don't say the same kind of
Speaker 2: season because that means it sounds like it was a
Speaker 2: really terrible season. It was not. It just wasn't the
Speaker 2: Derwin James season. It wasn't you know, what would become
Speaker 2: accustomed to. But they're going to have to lean on
Speaker 2: him quite a bit next season because as it currently stands,
Speaker 2: they're going to need at least another outside corner, a
Speaker 2: slot corner, one of the other safeties, potentially another depth corner,
Speaker 2: another depth safety. Like they're going on to have to
Speaker 2: rely on Derwin James so much because he is that guy.
Speaker 2: He is that veteran, he is the high paid guy,
Speaker 2: he is the star on defense. They might not ask
Speaker 2: him to do as much, but they're still going to
Speaker 2: allow him to be out there and be that presence,
Speaker 2: and hopefully he can kind of have the same kind
Speaker 2: of season that Khalil Mack is having where he just
Speaker 2: is that guy out there and driving this defense forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, kinnembercent my last one here. This is kind of
Speaker 1: a resolution, but also kind of a wish, I guess,
Speaker 1: and that's a healthy season for Rashaun Slater in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, because a healthy Rashaan Slater is arguably the
Speaker 1: best left tackle in the sport. And I think we've
Speaker 1: seen him be significantly healthier over the last six weeks
Speaker 1: of the season. Specifically, Duke Manningweather said online a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago that he was dealing with a double high
Speaker 1: ankle sprain, which sounds incredibly painful to me. I can't
Speaker 1: imagine playing a football game consistently every single week on
Speaker 1: a high ankle sprain, let alone a double high ankle sprain,
Speaker 1: whatever that means. I'm not a medical expert. That being said,
Speaker 1: I can see with my eyes quality offensive line play.
Speaker 1: I can look at the numbers and see quality offensive
Speaker 1: line play, and that's what Rashaun Slater has been giving
Speaker 1: this team. You look at his first three weeks of
Speaker 1: the season, he was consistently again being graded objectively depending
Speaker 1: how you feel about PFF, he was consistently being graded
Speaker 1: in the high eighties, which is elite grades for an
Speaker 1: offensive tackle. He allowed three pressures total in the first
Speaker 1: three weeks. And then that's kind of when the injury happened.
Speaker 1: You know, after the Minnesota Vikings game and we saw
Speaker 1: some off play there. You know, there was an eight
Speaker 1: pressure game against the Jets, there was six against the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys. But over the last few weeks, you know,
Speaker 1: going back to the Patriots game, you're looking at one
Speaker 1: pressure allowed there, one pressure allowed against the in the
Speaker 1: first Broncos game, two against the Raiders, zero against the Bills,
Speaker 1: and won this past week against the Denver Broncos. And
Speaker 1: the grades and the pressure numbers, the film is all
Speaker 1: lining up to the player that we know that Rashaun
Speaker 1: Slater can be. This is a guy who was a
Speaker 1: second team All Pro as a rookie. After not playing
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, his final year at Northwestern. This is
Speaker 1: a guy who is arguably one of the highest ceiling
Speaker 1: left tackles in the league. And I want to see
Speaker 1: that guy fully healthy again, man, because when he's been
Speaker 1: out there for the Chargers, it's just been incredibly high
Speaker 1: end tackle play. And you know, the team obviously missed
Speaker 1: that really severely last year as well as when he
Speaker 1: was dealing with the high ankle spring this year. So again,
Speaker 1: kind of a resolution, kind of a hope. But Rashaun Slater,
Speaker 1: I hope has a healthy twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: That would be amazing, man. Rashawn slateror is fantastic double
Speaker 2: high ankle sprain so I believe. Talked to Jamison and
Speaker 2: he said that was just one in each leg, so
Speaker 2: not a double on one leg, but like two legs.
Speaker 2: High ankle sprain. Awful, awful, awful thing to be playing with.
Speaker 2: In addition to the back, the neck recovering sort of
Speaker 2: from the bicep from the previous year, So much stuff
Speaker 2: to have to go through and to be able to
Speaker 2: play through all that, it is incredible. I can't do
Speaker 2: a single thing against Michael Parsons if my life depended
Speaker 2: on it. I can't imagine with a double high ankle
Speaker 2: sprain at multiple injuries. Granted, I'm not exactly as talented
Speaker 2: as Rashawn Slater either. I hope he's healthy because he
Speaker 2: is fantastic, and you and I had the argument that
Speaker 2: he was in terms of where he ranked relative to
Speaker 2: his peers, the best player on the team. Not the
Speaker 2: MVP R that is justin Herbert and Telton, no longer
Speaker 2: justin Herbert, but in terms of who is the best
Speaker 2: at their position. Okay, well maybe now it's Cameron Dicker,
Speaker 2: but Rashawn Slayter is certainly one of those guys. Go.
Speaker 2: I want Rashawn Slater to do well because it is
Speaker 2: just different when he is healthy, when he's excellent, because
Speaker 2: he is excellent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are people out there like talking about the
Speaker 1: off season decisions for the Chargers and like, oh, they
Speaker 1: have a hard decision on Mashaun Slater. No, they don't
Speaker 1: extend him, give him playing check. I will cut you off.
Speaker 2: Do not talk about right tackle movement from Rashaun Slater.
Speaker 2: You have an all pro left tackle. Leave him there.
Speaker 2: It's working great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, big fans of Rashaun Slater out here. He
Speaker 1: can stay healthy next year. And prove veryready. Right, So, Tyler,
Speaker 1: any other resolutions you want to get to before we
Speaker 1: get to some of these questions.
Speaker 2: I just health for the whole team done. Everybody's healthy,
Speaker 2: everybody's perfectly healthy. Let's do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think you can make the same thing I
Speaker 1: just said about Rashwan, about Justin Herbert. No more rib injuries,
Speaker 1: number finger injuries. Yes, healthy twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Four please, I agree.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll take a quick break here and then
Speaker 1: we'll come back to dive into some of these questions.
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Speaker 1: a lifetime awaits only with on location. All right, Tyler, again,
Speaker 1: some of these questions are fantastic. Really excited to jump
Speaker 1: into them. Appreciate everybody who sent these questions. You know,
Speaker 1: we're obviously not able to get to all of them
Speaker 1: that you guys sent in. We'll do our best to
Speaker 1: make sure we provide an answer on social media, but
Speaker 1: we'll get to some of them as possible. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of draft questions in here. Obviously understandable that the
Speaker 1: fan base is kind of pivoted to that area right now.
Speaker 1: Me and you have started watching prospects and it's been
Speaker 1: a lot of fun to dive into. So first question
Speaker 1: here from j webbin oc He said, based on the
Speaker 1: current projected draft order, how many quarterbacks taken are taken
Speaker 1: in front of the Chargers at six? Again, that could
Speaker 1: certainly change. And then based on that answer, who do
Speaker 1: you think the Chargers could take in the draft? So
Speaker 1: for those who are are kind of not paying attention,
Speaker 1: I think it's safe to say at least two Kaylen
Speaker 1: Williams and Drake May are really solidified. They're potentially one
Speaker 1: and two overall. Tyler, do you think there's a chance
Speaker 1: that maybe one of these other quarterbacks could sneak into
Speaker 1: the draft ahead of the Chargers at six?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. So whoever trades up with the Bears at one.
Speaker 2: That's going to be whoever with that quarterback is, and
Speaker 2: maybe it's someone already ahead of the Chargers. Let's say
Speaker 2: it's New England or.
Speaker 1: The Bears at one. What's that or the Bears stay
Speaker 1: at one or the well, I.
Speaker 2: Don't I think with Justin Fields, I think I mean less.
Speaker 2: They want to say Marvin Harris Junior first overall, which
Speaker 2: I guess I would get. Regardless, I think someone ends
Speaker 2: up trading I think they trade out two quarterbacks for sure,
Speaker 2: and I think it ends up being three because you
Speaker 2: have Washington, New England, the Giants, and then you potentially
Speaker 2: could have another team jump in front of those other
Speaker 2: teams to try to move up to take a quarterback.
Speaker 2: So I think three quarterbacks go ahead of the Chargers.
Speaker 2: Whether they are graded as being players that should go
Speaker 2: top five, you know that does it's not always necessarily
Speaker 2: the case. It's the quarterback thing. You could have a
Speaker 2: second round hopefully if you trade out you don't have
Speaker 2: a second round. Great on this quarterback, but some of
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks may not be great, but you gotta trade
Speaker 2: up for one because it's quarterback. So I think three go,
Speaker 2: and I think Marvin Harrison Junior obviously goes before the Chargers,
Speaker 2: probably to Arizona. If they're sticking with Kyler Murray, which
Speaker 2: it seems like, then that's if the If the Cardinals
Speaker 2: are in front of the Chargers, they're taking Marvin Harrison Junior,
Speaker 2: And like you said, I guess the Bears could stay
Speaker 2: put and take them as well. So unfortunately that's not happening.
Speaker 2: I really do think it comes down to the two
Speaker 2: skill position players in brock Bauers and Molik Neighbors. As
Speaker 2: long as those guys you know, are healthy, everything checks out,
Speaker 2: they interview well, the combine's all good. Those guys should
Speaker 2: be top seven ish picks in this draft. They are
Speaker 2: the blue chip, bona fide great players that you can take.
Speaker 2: Nothing is a sure bet, but if you can bet
Speaker 2: on anybody, those two players are wants to bet on,
Speaker 2: and I do think until proven otherwise, I really do
Speaker 2: think brock Bauers is the pick, and I can tell
Speaker 2: you that now on January tewod and as long as
Speaker 2: things don't change in terms of draft order, that's probably
Speaker 2: their pick in a few months because they desperately need
Speaker 2: a tight end. They desperately they don't have one, really
Speaker 2: going into next season and he's a great gosh darn player,
Speaker 2: and when there's a great gosh darn player in front
Speaker 2: of you, you take them. Some guys are just different.
Speaker 2: Rock Bowers is like, I don't know what he's going
Speaker 2: to grade out for you, but he's like a Pinae Sool.
Speaker 2: Some prospects are just really really great, and I know
Speaker 2: there's some position value worry there. So sure it's not
Speaker 2: a tackle like Pine Sool, but there's Brock Bowers and
Speaker 2: then everybody else, and I think I think it's going
Speaker 2: to be him. The Charges desperately need another tight end.
Speaker 2: So it's the easy answer, it's the same answer, but
Speaker 2: I also think it's the right one.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I love Brock Bowers, I love Malik Neighbors. Both
Speaker 1: of those guys are fantastic prospects quickly. On the quarterback thing,
Speaker 1: I do agree that it'll be three. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of momentum around Jayden Daniels being a potential top five
Speaker 1: draft pick. Again, maybe that doesn't equate to him being,
Speaker 1: you know, the fifth highest graded prospect across the board,
Speaker 1: but we've seen this year like how hard it is
Speaker 1: to find a quarterback like these teams are gonna you know,
Speaker 1: there's always quarterback overdraft if the class is good enough,
Speaker 1: and this quarterback class is good enough in my opinion,
Speaker 1: after last night, there's a lot of Michael Pennock's talk.
Speaker 1: There's definitely some questionable medical history there. He's also gonna
Speaker 1: be twenty four at the start of next season before
Speaker 1: the Chargers, I think on Penix is a little bit
Speaker 1: much for me, you know, based on those two things.
Speaker 1: But Jayden Daniels, I think his ability as a runner,
Speaker 1: his growth as a passer. He's also older, but I
Speaker 1: think his his ceiling is continuing to point up. I
Speaker 1: think Penix, you're a little bit worried about how far
Speaker 1: his ceiling can get because of the injury history. So
Speaker 1: I think Jayden Daniels is that in play in the
Speaker 1: top six. Maybe that equates to the Charges potentially training
Speaker 1: down and somebody, you know, taking Jayden Daniels there. That
Speaker 1: would be fantastic. So I think ultimately it'll be three quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: It'll be Marvin Harrison Junior for sure off the board
Speaker 1: before the Chargers pick. So that puts the Chargers in
Speaker 1: a great spot. Maybe again you can take you know,
Speaker 1: Brock Bowers, Milik neighbors would be a great selection. Maybe
Speaker 1: you convinced on of these teams to trade up for
Speaker 1: one of the offensive tackles. I know that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people who want the Chargers to take an
Speaker 1: offensive tackle. I happen to really like Olufashanu and JC
Speaker 1: Latham from Penn State and Alabama, respectively, So I think
Speaker 1: the Chargers are in a great spot. My thinking into
Speaker 1: the draft, though, is that you take the highest end
Speaker 1: player at their position and you figure everything else out.
Speaker 1: That to me is Brock Powers. Brock Powers is to
Speaker 1: me the best prospect in this class and outside of
Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison Junior. So if Martin Harrison juniors on the board,
Speaker 1: if you take him, if not, it's Brock Powers all day,
Speaker 1: every day for me. And I know that there's position concerns,
Speaker 1: But if we could go back and redo the draft class,
Speaker 1: how high is Sam Laporter going, How high is Dalton
Speaker 1: and Ky going? And nobody's going to pivot to all
Speaker 1: draft value equates that their second round picks. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's the production, it's the prospect. And I think
Speaker 1: you know, there's justification for Brock Powers going that high.
Speaker 1: I think he's the best prospect not named Marbn Harrison
Speaker 1: Junior in this twenty twenty four draft class.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, Go take the players that make the
Speaker 2: rest of college football look like children. Go take them.
Speaker 2: Those are a good players sometimes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Okay, this is a good question as well
Speaker 1: from Silvestre. If the draft were today, what's bigger the
Speaker 1: need on defense or the need on offense? This is
Speaker 1: kind of taking out where the Chargers are picking here.
Speaker 1: What do the Chargers need more of? Where do they
Speaker 1: need more help at? What's your answer there, Tyler?
Speaker 2: So this surprised me because I thought I was going
Speaker 2: one direction. I believe that their number one need in
Speaker 2: terms of which specific position is the most empty right now,
Speaker 2: is corner or I guess defensive back. That's not even
Speaker 2: really a question to me. But I actually think overall,
Speaker 2: if you have seven picks, I think the offense actually
Speaker 2: needs more help. I think there's more issues in terms
Speaker 2: of holes on the roster on offense than there are
Speaker 2: on defense. And I think that Corey Linsley that situation
Speaker 2: did not help them, and then becoming going from all
Speaker 2: pro to we are not even sure right now at
Speaker 2: this current point in time, I'm not sure that changes
Speaker 2: a bit. The running backs. You know, you go one, two, three,
Speaker 2: four technically, and they all are either gone next year
Speaker 2: or haven't worked out so far. That changes quite a bit.
Speaker 2: So you might need a tight end one, a tight
Speaker 2: end two, or RB one, an RB two, a center,
Speaker 2: a swing tackle, potentially another receiver. I mean, there's a
Speaker 2: lot for the Chargers to have to fill here all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, And so while I think that corner
Speaker 2: is the most obvious need for the Chargers, I don't
Speaker 2: think it necessarily means that defense overall needs the most
Speaker 2: help in the draft.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's fair. I think we're projecting, obviously
Speaker 1: a lot of roster turnover with this these free agency moves,
Speaker 1: and there's gonna be some decisions that have to be made.
Speaker 1: I think that you can make a real argument that
Speaker 1: pass rush in general could be the biggest need that
Speaker 1: the Chargers have. Two Lee obviously is going to be
Speaker 1: on the roster. I think Morgan Fox is going to
Speaker 1: be on the roster. He's still under contract and there's
Speaker 1: really no point in moving off of him because that
Speaker 1: doesn't benefit them. I think Khalil Mack or Joey Bosa,
Speaker 1: one of them will still be on the roster, but
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, like this is a
Speaker 1: league that is really morphing into Like you need four
Speaker 1: high end pass rushers or at least three and one
Speaker 1: other guy who can tribute at a high level at
Speaker 1: an efficient level. And when the Chargers had Joey Bosa healthy,
Speaker 1: Khalil Tuley and Morgan Fox, that was that was their
Speaker 1: best pass rush performances. Obviously, Joey gets injured and then
Speaker 1: things change and Tooley has kind of slowed down a
Speaker 1: bit recently. He's still impacting the run at a very
Speaker 1: high level, but as a pass rusher it's been it's
Speaker 1: been a bit tougher for him over the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: So due to the uncertainty there, I would almost lean
Speaker 1: towards pass rusher being that much of a draft need.
Speaker 1: This is not necessarily it doesn't sound like a great
Speaker 1: cornerback class, but there's a great pass rushing defensive tackle
Speaker 1: in this class. Johnny Newton from Illinois. There's Leatsu Latu
Speaker 1: for the edge rusher from UCLA. There's Jared Verse from
Speaker 1: Florida State. Like, if you're talking about pure draft need,
Speaker 1: I think cornerback is the big biggest position need, but
Speaker 1: based off of where they're potentially taking in the draft.
Speaker 1: I think you could make a real argument that it's
Speaker 1: pass rush.
Speaker 2: That's a point. I definitely think that defensive tackle is
Speaker 2: a position the Chargers. Chargers fans aren't really talking about
Speaker 2: as much that needs to be addressed, and I think
Speaker 2: when you move on to Batch and Joseph Day, that
Speaker 2: really heightens the need for another defensive tackle in this class.
Speaker 2: So all the more reason to trade back because that
Speaker 2: second round range especially, I feel like the last couple
Speaker 2: of years has yielded some really strong defensive tackles in
Speaker 2: the draft, and I think the charge need to take
Speaker 2: advantage of that. But you also need a center, you
Speaker 2: also need a corner. So yeah, trading back would be good,
Speaker 2: and defensive tackle, I think is something they definitely need
Speaker 2: to look into. They could do it in round one.
Speaker 2: Newton is awesome and I totally get it, but round two,
Speaker 2: round three, definitely got to go find somebody else there too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some great defensive tackle play on display yesterday
Speaker 1: for Michigan and Texas, especially if you watch those two games.
Speaker 1: All Right, we had some similar questions there about those
Speaker 1: topics from Kurtz as well as Swipa and Bartholomew w
Speaker 1: so we'll know we appreciate you guys queestions, but hopefully
Speaker 1: we answer them in some aspect there. Let's get to
Speaker 1: some coaching questions here, Tyler, Bill Bohart asking I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if you have already covered this and I missed
Speaker 1: the podcast episode, but hypothetically, let's say Jim Harbass stays
Speaker 1: at Michigan, do you then pick a GM first and
Speaker 1: allow him to control the hiring process. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of questions out there like this. I just wanted
Speaker 1: to use Bill's questions specifically to talk about this. The
Speaker 1: charters have said that they're going to do both at
Speaker 1: the same time and then whoever is kind of like
Speaker 1: the best candidate, like they'll let that person pick the
Speaker 1: one or the other basically. But Tyler, if Michigan, if
Speaker 1: Jim Harbaugh stays at Michigan, what are your thoughts here
Speaker 1: about pivoting first to the GM.
Speaker 2: I believe that, especially in terms of the demand, there's
Speaker 2: only one GM candidate you absolutely have to go do first,
Speaker 2: and that is Adam Peters. And if that is your
Speaker 2: number one, and I think it seems like unanimously around
Speaker 2: you know, people who the media personalities and people who
Speaker 2: discuss this, and even among fans, Adam Peters is the
Speaker 2: number one candidate out there. I think that's the guy
Speaker 2: you got to go get first. If you do not
Speaker 2: get him, then I do not believe it really matters
Speaker 2: which order you go. I think Adam Peters is the
Speaker 2: only person you go out and you go get first
Speaker 2: and figure out the rest later. If Jim Harbaugh does
Speaker 2: not go to the Chargers, yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Would agree with that. Adam Peters the assistant general manager
Speaker 1: for the San Francisco forty nine Ers. For those who
Speaker 1: don't know he's he's consistently the number one option from
Speaker 1: a GM standpoint. Ben Standig from the Athletic had, you know,
Speaker 1: a great article covering the commander side of things, but
Speaker 1: I've got a lot of great information about the candidates overall,
Speaker 1: and Adam Peters had like this huge blurb of like
Speaker 1: six or seven paragraphs, and every other other one was
Speaker 1: like one or two. You know. There was another survey
Speaker 1: from the Athletic back in September, and Adam Peters was
Speaker 1: the only assistant general manager to get mentioned by agents
Speaker 1: that were surveyed to be one of the top talent evaluators.
Speaker 1: Everybody else was actual like GM candidates. So Adam Peters
Speaker 1: has a lot of fans around the league, a lot
Speaker 1: of poll around the league. So I do tend to agree, Like,
Speaker 1: if you're pecking order, so to speak, is you know,
Speaker 1: Harbaugh's the top candidate for the head coaching side, he's
Speaker 1: off the board if you want to pivot to Adam
Speaker 1: Peters at that point, I'm okay with that. But like
Speaker 1: Tyler said, I feel great about like eight candidates from
Speaker 1: a GM side of things. I think there are such
Speaker 1: a quality pool to pull from, you know, from the
Speaker 1: personnel side of things, and there's not as many openings.
Speaker 1: I think we're going to see three, maybe four GM openings.
Speaker 1: There could be six, seven, eight head coaching opening so
Speaker 1: and there's not eight head coaching candidates I think right now.
Speaker 1: So that I think there's a much deeper pool at
Speaker 1: GM where you could be a little bit more patient there.
Speaker 1: And then of course, if you do hire a coach
Speaker 1: who's tied to a certain GM kennony, maybe you want
Speaker 1: to go that route. So I think I agree, I'm
Speaker 1: cool being a little bit more patient on the GM front.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point to bring up, actually, because
Speaker 2: we've discussed that, especially on offense, there's not a huge
Speaker 2: pool of of head coaches to pull from. There's really
Speaker 2: nobody out there as far as we can tell. We
Speaker 2: haven't seen what happens at the end of the year
Speaker 2: when some other teams make some pretty significant changes at
Speaker 2: head coach. So yeah, that could change things. But for
Speaker 2: right now, yeah, there isn't a ton out there, so
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, I could see head coach being solidified
Speaker 2: if you want. I think Ben Johnson seems to be
Speaker 2: the hottest name in terms of offensive minded offensive I guess,
Speaker 2: not counting hardball offense side of the football, So maybe
Speaker 2: you have to go get him first, But I think
Speaker 2: that Adam Peters is the only one you really have
Speaker 2: to go out and actually get one first because everybody's
Speaker 2: gonna want him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a certain owner in Carolina very much wants to
Speaker 1: hire bench, so that's been very well documented. He was
Speaker 1: delivered a very large fine today, so that's going to
Speaker 1: be a very interesting thing to watch over there. All right,
Speaker 1: next question here, sticking in the coach round here, Ryan Kenzinger,
Speaker 1: you guys think there's any possibility killing Moore is back
Speaker 1: as the play caller next season and would you be
Speaker 1: happy with that? What do you think there, Tyler?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's a chance he's back next year.
Speaker 2: I think that one. Justin Herbert does very much so
Speaker 2: like him, and I think I would understand the Chargers
Speaker 2: looking at what happened the first few weeks of the
Speaker 2: season and going like that was the plan. This, this
Speaker 2: could have been something. This could have been the team
Speaker 2: that threw for four hundred and fifty yards, had four
Speaker 2: touchdowns against the Vikings and Justin Herbert up until that
Speaker 2: point the best game of his career in my opinion.
Speaker 2: You know, the team that dropped thirty four on the Dolphins.
Speaker 2: I think that the Charges could look at that and go,
Speaker 2: we need to go with that, And they're probably looking
Speaker 2: at what Shane Steikin is doing. Man, what if we
Speaker 2: had one more year? Now we don't know Shane Styke
Speaker 2: in in Philly, I think grows more than Shane Styke
Speaker 2: And if the Chargers keptch everything the same. So it's
Speaker 2: not a perfect match there, but I think you look
Speaker 2: at what he's doing and goo, maybe one more year.
Speaker 2: So if the Chargers believe that Kellen Moore can bring
Speaker 2: them what they did the first three weeks, and Justin
Speaker 2: Herbert really likes him, which I believe he does. And
Speaker 2: by the way, like Justin Herbert was improving, I think
Speaker 2: it was his best season until it wasn't with all
Speaker 2: the certain injuries and whatnot. But what he was able
Speaker 2: to do at the line of scrimmage, what he did
Speaker 2: against the Lions, we have not seen that. You know what,
Speaker 2: you think it's the Packers one of his best games.
Speaker 2: You know, him calling things the line of scrimmage, making audibles.
Speaker 2: That's very different. So in terms of Keenan Allen, of
Speaker 2: course than Justin Herbert, I think Kellen Moore could stick
Speaker 2: around because he made those players really really good. Nah
Speaker 2: made them good. Sounds mean, sounds like the other guy
Speaker 2: shouldn't get enough credit. They all worked really well together,
Speaker 2: and so I can understand them keeping him around. So
Speaker 2: I would I would totally understand why.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the vision of the offense feels incomplete
Speaker 1: because of all the injuries. But when it was complete,
Speaker 1: it was a ton of fun to watch. It was
Speaker 1: an objectively top three unit in points EP per play
Speaker 1: success rate, all that stuff, and like you mentioned, it
Speaker 1: really felt like Justin was taking that next step, and
Speaker 1: then all the injuries kind of derailed the season. So
Speaker 1: I think from an ownership standpoint, you know, they came
Speaker 1: out and said, you know, Justin Herbert is our number
Speaker 1: one priority in like supporting him. Well, if he feels
Speaker 1: like Kellen Moore is his best chance at staying supported,
Speaker 1: there's absolutely a chance that Kellen Moore can stick around.
Speaker 1: And there are definitely some things that I think I
Speaker 1: would like to see changed if Kellen Moore does stick around,
Speaker 1: from like schematic standpoint as well as personnel usage and
Speaker 1: things like that. But it's really tough for me to say,
Speaker 1: you know what this the future of Kellen's status is
Speaker 1: without knowing who the head coach is, because if you
Speaker 1: hire somebody who's an offense of coach, maybe their offensive
Speaker 1: philosophies clash. If you hire a defensive coach, maybe that
Speaker 1: makes Kellen's job a little bit it's safer. You know.
Speaker 1: You look at what the Miami Dolphins did when the
Speaker 1: Aaron Mike McDaniel. They still kept the same defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: because it was kind of viewed as like, well, Mike
Speaker 1: can fix the offense. Somebody that's been in the building
Speaker 1: can stay with the defense and kind of keep things running.
Speaker 1: And I think that could be a possibility in for
Speaker 1: the Chargers, depending on who they hires as the head coach.
Speaker 1: You know, Kellen Moore still has a lot of fans
Speaker 1: around the league. It was reported a few weeks ago
Speaker 1: that the Panthers would still be interested in interviewing him
Speaker 1: for their opening So we'll see. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, if Justin Herbert wants Kellen Moore to
Speaker 1: stick around, I think that has significant pull this time around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree. I wish we got eight games
Speaker 2: of Kellim Moore in that offense because we'd feel a
Speaker 2: lot differently. We'd see what it looked like for half
Speaker 2: of a season and then injuries pile up, of course,
Speaker 2: But yeah, I wish we got more time with that
Speaker 2: offense to really see what they could bring for more
Speaker 2: than just.
Speaker 1: Three Yeah, I agree there, all right. Next question here,
Speaker 1: kind of shifting gears a little bit, Riot or Die
Speaker 1: Chargers asked how do the Chargers go about upgrading their
Speaker 1: secondary How do you business year's free agency and draft
Speaker 1: classes for corners specifically is his second question there? What
Speaker 1: do you think, t Eiler?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it seems like to me, especially after watching
Speaker 2: I haven't watched the Iowa Corner, but watching three of
Speaker 2: the four top corners in this class, it feels I
Speaker 2: don't mean this is a knock, but it feels like
Speaker 2: last year's wide receiver class, where the depth is probably
Speaker 2: going to be very strong, and there's some good guys
Speaker 2: you can get end of round one into round two,
Speaker 2: et cetera. But maybe you don't have to take one
Speaker 2: super early. Maybe you could wait. And there's no real
Speaker 2: like number one guy. There's no Gonzales, there's no Witherspoon,
Speaker 2: there's no joy Porter Junior. Not that those guys you know,
Speaker 2: like McKinstry and Wiggins can't be, you know, really good
Speaker 2: corners and aren't really good prospects.
Speaker 1: They are.
Speaker 2: I just think that those guys were like top seven
Speaker 2: players in their class. I think for me, there were
Speaker 2: top six on my off board. Not that anybody cares,
Speaker 2: but for what it's worth, I really did like those guys.
Speaker 2: I think at this corner class. I didn't watch mckinistry
Speaker 2: specifically yesterday's movie. That changes, but I think you can
Speaker 2: wait a bit. The Chargers need to go get some
Speaker 2: veteran presence, some sort of stop gap in free agency
Speaker 2: that it's tough to find a good veteran that's also
Speaker 2: cheap in free agency because those guys are going to
Speaker 2: be more expensive. But got to find some veteran presence
Speaker 2: out there. I think in free agency to start opposite
Speaker 2: a Sante Siamo junior.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think if you're expanding this a secondary, I
Speaker 1: think the one place I would start is bringing back
Speaker 1: a Loohi Gilman and maintaining some continuity at the safety position.
Speaker 1: Jalen Hawkins has looked pretty good, you know, as the
Speaker 1: safety three, so I think that's something you can continue
Speaker 1: to invest resources in. Obviously you're not handing jobs out
Speaker 1: by any means, but you know, you can probably solve
Speaker 1: the safety position a little bit easier if you keep
Speaker 1: alow He around, and then you can really devote more
Speaker 1: resources to in the cornerback position. You know, Like Tyler said,
Speaker 1: I do kind of agree that this is probably a
Speaker 1: deeper class more than a high end cornerback class. You know,
Speaker 1: I was a big fan of Nate Wiggins of Clemson
Speaker 1: relative to this class, but I don't think he's you know,
Speaker 1: in that same kind of range as the guy who's
Speaker 1: Tyler mentioned as a guy like Sauce Gardner or j. C. Horn,
Speaker 1: But he's a good player. He's a first round corner.
Speaker 1: If you trade down to twelve and you take Nate Wiggins,
Speaker 1: I think that's that's fine. I think that's a fine
Speaker 1: selection there. But at six at seven, I think that's
Speaker 1: probably a little bit too early for the cornerback group.
Speaker 1: So you're probably talking about a second round pick. You're
Speaker 1: probably talking about maybe a third round pick, depending on
Speaker 1: you know, the center position, depending on wide receiver, tight end,
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be, pass rusher. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of question marks obviously surrounding this roster. So I think
Speaker 1: this is a cornerback room that you can definitely add
Speaker 1: to on Day two of the draft. And I think
Speaker 1: you could look at maybe what the Lions did with
Speaker 1: their secondary group this year, where you're adding just a
Speaker 1: bunch of solid veterans and then you drop in a
Speaker 1: second round pick, a top fifty selection wherever that is,
Speaker 1: and I think you feel better about that room. Maybe
Speaker 1: Dean Leonard kind of takes a step forward, Maybe just
Speaker 1: your Taylor can sees take a step forward. Easting. Vassie's
Speaker 1: played well over the last few weeks, so I think
Speaker 1: you just you add as many pieces as you can,
Speaker 1: you let them sort it out in training camp, and
Speaker 1: you drop in a top fifty pick and kind of
Speaker 1: go from there for the second area as a whole.
Speaker 2: Yep, all we need is the NFL to let a
Speaker 2: Brian Branch type player drop all over to the second
Speaker 2: round and we're good to go.
Speaker 1: Somebody that I would be very happy if the Chargers
Speaker 1: had taken at twenty one. Not to say that Clinton
Speaker 1: isn't that guy, but Tyler any of these other questions
Speaker 1: that we compiled to stand out to you? Or running
Speaker 1: a little short on time, so maybe one or two more?
Speaker 2: Sure I can find one. Let's see from Darren and
Speaker 2: more of an ex is another question? Curious because I
Speaker 2: don't keep track necessarily and it's been harder to pay
Speaker 2: attention to the last few weeks. Is it just me?
Speaker 2: Or are there no design RB's screenplays in Kellen Moore's cookbook.
Speaker 2: Can't remember the last time the Chargers ran one for Eckler?
Speaker 2: Have those been missing? It's more of an asking you
Speaker 2: question if you happen to know, I guess we could
Speaker 2: have dialed up Argent and phone a friend here to
Speaker 2: see how many screens the Chargers have actually run. But
Speaker 2: even outside of ARB's screens, it feels like the Chargers
Speaker 2: have run fewer screens in general. Tends to be more
Speaker 2: like we were frustrated that Quentin Johnson was not getting
Speaker 2: the ten screens that they would run every week to
Speaker 2: start the season too. Mike Williams to Josh Palmer, to
Speaker 2: Keenan Allen to Gerald Everett. So I feel like, overall
Speaker 2: that's that's gone away, But I could be wrong.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, according to Pro Football Focus, Austin Eckler has
Speaker 1: thirty one targets behind the line of scrimmage. Obviously, not
Speaker 1: all of those are going to be screens. That's a
Speaker 1: decent amount for him. Obviously, they check downs things like that.
Speaker 1: I think that they're a part of the playbook. I
Speaker 1: would like to see more of them, especially with the
Speaker 1: East and stick around. I would like to see more
Speaker 1: screens for Darius Davis. I do agree that that's a
Speaker 1: part of the playbook that I would like to see increased.
Speaker 1: I love when Kella Moore does run a screen. We've
Speaker 1: seen Tariris Davis have huge plays off of the screens.
Speaker 1: We see Nasin Eckler have big plays off of the
Speaker 1: screens when they're there and when they're called. I think
Speaker 1: they're fantastic plays and they're very well designed and executed
Speaker 1: for the most part. But I do agree, I think
Speaker 1: that needs to be a greater emphasis going forward.
Speaker 2: Yes, for one game, for.
Speaker 1: One game, and then if Kellen's back next year, for
Speaker 1: next season.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: All right, did you have another one there that you
Speaker 1: wanted to hit on? Oh?
Speaker 2: I get to do another one. Okay, So who are
Speaker 2: some of your favorites from Mackenzie? By the way, who
Speaker 2: are some of your favorite coordinator candidates? So of course
Speaker 2: it's it depends on who the head coaches, But who
Speaker 2: are some of the names that keep popping up in
Speaker 2: your mind? We've discussed before, et cetera, to help round
Speaker 2: out this staff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think when you're looking at coordinator names, I
Speaker 1: think my eye is kind of drawn towards, you know,
Speaker 1: like quarterbacks coaches as well as like defensive line coaches.
Speaker 1: We've talked a few, and I'll let you hit on
Speaker 1: some of the defensive line guys. But from an offensive standpoint,
Speaker 1: I'm super intrigued by Gerard Johnson, the quarterbacks coach in Houston.
Speaker 1: The Chargers interviewed him for the offensive coordinator position last year,
Speaker 1: and he's only added to his resume working with C. J.
Speaker 1: Stroud and Houston as well as getting a positive game
Speaker 1: out of positive two game stretch out of case Keenum.
Speaker 1: So that's somebody that I'm super interested in as a
Speaker 1: potential offensive coordinator candidate. Obviously, Bobby Slowick is a potential
Speaker 1: head coaching candidate. That pairing would do very well for me.
Speaker 1: You know, I think there are some other ones too,
Speaker 1: But I'll let you hit on some of the defensive
Speaker 1: guys that we've talked a bit about. Specifically, the gentleman
Speaker 1: in Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Oh goodness, yes, that's my coordinator crush is Terrell Williams
Speaker 2: from Tennessee, the assistant head coach last defense slash defensive
Speaker 2: line coach for the Titans, even got to be the
Speaker 2: head coach for a game in the preseason against I
Speaker 2: believe the Bears this past year. Excellent defensive line ties
Speaker 2: to Khalil Mack from Los Angeles would love him there
Speaker 2: as far as offense goes, Tanner Engster in the Lion's
Speaker 2: pass game coordinator, brought him up last year as a
Speaker 2: potential oc option. I think again, like many others. He's
Speaker 2: only built his resume with another really good year. Chris Coseric,
Speaker 2: of course, the forty nine Ers defensive line coach. That's
Speaker 2: a pretty popular one. A lot of ties to the
Speaker 2: forty nine ers, including one Adam Peters, Cowboys secondary coach
Speaker 2: and pass game coordinator Joe Witt Junior, he'd be great.
Speaker 2: And then I think with so many ties to this guy,
Speaker 2: and with so many potential first year head coaches, I
Speaker 2: think Dolphin's QB coach and past game coordinator Darryl Bubble,
Speaker 2: with his experience, would be a good person to lean on.
Speaker 2: We've talked about these guys quite a bit more than
Speaker 2: welcome to go back to our channel and watch our
Speaker 2: Big Four episode and other rankings and such. Yeah, those
Speaker 2: guys really stick out to me. But there's plenty of
Speaker 2: good options.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think also on the defensive side, Al Harris,
Speaker 1: the secondary coach in Dallas, is going to be a
Speaker 1: hot commodity. He's somebody who's done awesome work there from
Speaker 1: a secondary perspective, it sounds like he's going to be
Speaker 1: sounds like some of these head coaches that were potential,
Speaker 1: like d cooc options or a lot of them are
Speaker 1: potentially keeping their jobs. So we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 1: Speaking of defensive line coaches, we brought them up on
Speaker 1: our show again. Tyler mentioned that you can check him out,
Speaker 1: but Jacques ces Air, former Charger, is building a very
Speaker 1: positive coaching career found there in Houston right now as
Speaker 1: the defensive line coach. Will Anderson is doing some great things.
Speaker 1: Is down there as a pass rusher. I forget his
Speaker 1: first name, Collins, the defensive tackle. I think Malik, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Malie Collins. You know, so, Jaxi's Air has been kind
Speaker 1: of a budding defensive line coach. I love the idea
Speaker 1: of getting a defensive line coach as a coordinator because
Speaker 1: it just, you know, ads that emphasis up front in
Speaker 1: the trenches. Trell Williams would be a great option. Jaxi's
Speaker 1: as well fits that mold, and I think it'd just
Speaker 1: be really cool is to get, you know, a former
Speaker 1: Charger who's in coaching in the NFL. Would be cool
Speaker 1: to see him brought back to coach the Chargers in
Speaker 1: some capacity.
Speaker 2: Yes, the Chargers fans are definitely clamin ering for a
Speaker 2: former Chargers player to be a coordinator for the Chargers,
Speaker 2: but he's there for the defense will be just fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Hunber all right, I think that'll do it for
Speaker 1: us today. Tyler, any final thoughts before we head.
Speaker 2: Out, Nope, man, just happy new year. Happy to hear
Speaker 2: to all you guys because you need to follow us life,
Speaker 2: subscribe comments, say good things, they bad things, whatever. Comments
Speaker 2: all has helped the channel grow, so we'll take anything
Speaker 2: you got.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and sincerely, I do appreciate all the great work
Speaker 1: from the Chargers and their production team. Eddie and Greg
Speaker 1: specifically have worked Wonders with us all season long producing
Speaker 1: the show. We are super appreciative of their work and
Speaker 1: Megan and everybody on the social team putting out our content.
Speaker 1: It's been a true treat to cover this season. Obviously
Speaker 1: we wish there were more wins, but it's been a
Speaker 1: ton of fun working with the best production team in
Speaker 1: the league. And sincerely mean that so appreciate all you
Speaker 1: guys for listening. Appreciate you guys for supporting. Like Tyler said,
Speaker 1: check us out on our own channel as well. We
Speaker 1: do appreciate all the support over there. As always, I
Speaker 1: will see you at this time next week. As always,
Speaker 1: full time