Speaker 1: The late fifteen to ten touched up Sucker. Welcome to
Speaker 1: Chargers Weekly.
Speaker 2: A new man at the wheel for this week as oarman,
Speaker 2: Chris Harry tied up, so we figured we would lean
Speaker 2: on one of the experts.
Speaker 1: He is expert in field.
Speaker 2: Was with us while we were out of the combine
Speaker 2: in Indianapolis and as we do a combine wrapped today, Lancerline,
Speaker 2: super super cool of you to spend some time with
Speaker 2: us to kind of talk about all these prospects as
Speaker 2: we get ready for the twenty twenty four draft post combine,
Speaker 2: If anything changed, how much it changed For those of
Speaker 2: you that subscribe and listened to Chargers Weekly, you heard
Speaker 2: about a twenty minute conversation we had with Lance. It
Speaker 2: was one of our favorites while we were there, so
Speaker 2: we figured we would invite him back and he was
Speaker 2: kind enough to accept. So Lance, thanks so much. We
Speaker 2: appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's I enjoyed it last time. So looking forward
Speaker 3: to kind of recapping the combine.
Speaker 2: What did anything change like if you could just in
Speaker 2: generalities as we as we kind of you know, pull
Speaker 2: out and take the wide angle view, did you feel
Speaker 2: like anything changed coming out of the combine? That maybe
Speaker 2: you had originally thought about it going in.
Speaker 3: You know, there's some there's some slotting. Yeah. For me,
Speaker 3: how I slot players is a little bit. It's a
Speaker 3: little bit fluid headed into the combine and and I
Speaker 3: start to tighten it up a little bit. After that,
Speaker 3: I moved JJ McCarthy. I had a Bonnix and I
Speaker 3: like Bonnix's season. I thought he had a good season,
Speaker 3: but you know, honestly, money being on the being on
Speaker 3: the field of the combine, I didn't. I didn't love
Speaker 3: the arm of Bonnix. I thought I was going to
Speaker 3: I thought I was going to get more quite frankly,
Speaker 3: and it was just kind of an average arm. And
Speaker 3: when I start piecing everything together, I think, Okay, he's
Speaker 3: going to need to be more of a system quarterback
Speaker 3: where he has to stay inside the system, even though
Speaker 3: he's got some mobility and throws well on the move.
Speaker 3: And so now that kind of and combined with JJ
Speaker 3: McCarthy just kind of as you could really feel that
Speaker 3: there's an energy between him and some of the wide
Speaker 3: receivers that you could feel. And that's not a small
Speaker 3: thing because when it comes to NFL receivers and players,
Speaker 3: they need to have a trust in a young quarterback,
Speaker 3: they need to, you know, they need to believe in
Speaker 3: the personality, believe in the guy's confidence, and I think
Speaker 3: JJ McCarthy just has some of that. And so you know,
Speaker 3: it's a small thing. I moved McCarthy from five to four,
Speaker 3: from Nicks from four to five. But also I think
Speaker 3: Michael Pennix has really created some conversation there at the
Speaker 3: back end of the first Typically, I think you'd look
Speaker 3: at Penis as a second round player, but getting that
Speaker 3: fifth year is maybe even more important for a player
Speaker 3: who's going to be twenty five years old as a rookie.
Speaker 2: So let me let me jump in there real quick glance,
Speaker 2: because yeah, just your evaluation of those two players leads
Speaker 2: me to ask this. The Chargers have pick five in
Speaker 2: the first round, pick thirty seven in the second round,
Speaker 2: so the fifth pick in each of those spots. Thoughts
Speaker 2: on the likelihood that someone would would be willing to
Speaker 2: trade up to number five for McCarthy, And then you
Speaker 2: know how it goes on Day two when those quarterbacks
Speaker 2: maybe don't go at the back end of number one.
Speaker 2: Now you've got a bit of a frenzy to try
Speaker 2: to get up there for knicks for Pennix. Could you
Speaker 2: see each of those picks being in play for that
Speaker 2: trio of quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: Well, I think I think I've felt this from the
Speaker 3: first time I did a mock draft. I could really
Speaker 3: figure out here, like, Okay, the Chargers are going to
Speaker 3: be the most valued spot from a trade up standpoint,
Speaker 3: I think I think hardball and that's that entire front
Speaker 3: office is looking at really a very favorable situation because
Speaker 3: if you lock in on offensive line, there's several offensive
Speaker 3: tackles that you may like. I think that Fuaga, Faltuana,
Speaker 3: I would say, Joe alt and Jacam should all be
Speaker 3: in consideration for the Chargers if they want to look
Speaker 3: at offensive tackle and listen based on how wide receivers
Speaker 3: could go, based on the way that the quarterbacks could
Speaker 3: go and should go, I think it's a great trade
Speaker 3: back spot. As a matter of fact, I'm doing everything
Speaker 3: I can to move back if in fact you want
Speaker 3: an offensive tackle, because I think that the value you
Speaker 3: get from moving back and still picking a player that
Speaker 3: may potentially be first on your board at the offensive
Speaker 3: line spot is just too great not to trade back.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think I think because the Giants are
Speaker 3: going to be a team that they'll try to stay
Speaker 3: quiet about the quarterback position, but the fact is, if
Speaker 3: they're not able to move up, that spot right in
Speaker 3: front of them is a is going to be a
Speaker 3: coveted spot. And that's why I think that the Chargers
Speaker 3: are sitting in a tremendous position at number five. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I think that one money more than anything. Now. The
Speaker 3: second round is trickier just because, as you mentioned, people
Speaker 3: regroup after the first round and so typically pick number
Speaker 3: thirty three and thirty four and maybe even thirty f
Speaker 3: are gonna be the ones that I think could be
Speaker 3: the quarterback spots.
Speaker 2: The you know, we've been focused so much on these
Speaker 2: two positions, lance really three if you put brock Bowers
Speaker 2: in it, right, it's sort of been is it a
Speaker 2: doonsay or Neighbors or is it alt or Latham or Fashanu,
Speaker 2: whichever one, you know, whatever your your preference may be.
Speaker 1: But it seemed like a lot of people.
Speaker 2: Came out of the combine and said, you know what,
Speaker 2: we kind of forgot about defense. We maybe forgot about
Speaker 2: defense a little bit because these prospects are so impressive
Speaker 2: and Dallas Turner puts on a show and even though
Speaker 2: Terry and Earl didn't run fast, he looked really fluid
Speaker 2: and all the drills Quinion, Mitchell throws up two twenty
Speaker 2: five twenty times and runs a blazing fast forty time.
Speaker 2: What about let's just say edge and particularly I think
Speaker 2: Turner and corner, knowing that those are also positions of need,
Speaker 2: like in terms of your grading, how close are let's
Speaker 2: just get let's go with those three names, Mitchell, Arnold.
Speaker 1: At corner and Turner at edge?
Speaker 2: How close would they beat one of those offensive tackles
Speaker 2: if they trade back to eight or eleven?
Speaker 3: You know, it's funny. I think if you trade back
Speaker 3: to eleven, you may there's a chance you could miss
Speaker 3: out on on Turner. Now, Dallas Turner, his workout was phenomenal.
Speaker 3: As you know, Money did some I don't know if
Speaker 3: it's considered historical stuff, but we're talking about a seven
Speaker 3: foot wingspan and a guy who jumped over forty inches
Speaker 3: ran a sub four or five forty like. He did
Speaker 3: some truly freaky things. And I've got a six to
Speaker 3: seven oh grade on him. To give you an idea,
Speaker 3: running it backwards, I've got I've got Chop Robinson, who
Speaker 3: I project as a really good NFL pro but he's
Speaker 3: not ready yet. But I'm still giving them a projection grade.
Speaker 3: But then it goes Turner, then Latham, then Brock Bowers,
Speaker 3: then Jayden Daniels, Jared verst Roma, Denze, Caleb Williams, Marvin
Speaker 3: Harrison Junior, and Malik Neighbors. For me, so you.
Speaker 1: Got Turner ahead of those guys.
Speaker 3: What's that?
Speaker 1: You got Turner ahead of those guys.
Speaker 3: I've got turned Turner, Turner. I was working in reverse orders.
Speaker 1: Oh, I got you, We're yeah.
Speaker 3: So Dallas Turner I've got right now is a ninth
Speaker 3: grade to prospect, tied tied for ninth. But basically, I
Speaker 3: think that if you're going to move back, the positions
Speaker 3: you're probably going to be looking at are going to
Speaker 3: be offensive tackle, Terry and Arnold. That might be the
Speaker 3: first spot that a cornerback goes, either Arnold or Quinnyon.
Speaker 3: Mitchell I talked to one team who thought that there
Speaker 3: was a chance that the cornerbacks could fall a little
Speaker 3: bit beyond pick number twelve or thirteen, and he thought
Speaker 3: the pass rushers, the quarterbacks, the wide receivers, and the
Speaker 3: tackles that that was going to be, you know, ay
Speaker 3: a heavy peppering of those positions. He also thought in
Speaker 3: mentioning Brock Bowers have a hard time placing Brock Buoers
Speaker 3: in a mock draft because you know, he's not a
Speaker 3: classic why tight end. He's a he's a very good
Speaker 3: run after catch tight end. He doesn't have great size.
Speaker 3: He's going to test Waalders pro day. When he tests,
Speaker 3: he'll run fast, he'll jump by. But it's hard to
Speaker 3: place brock powers because tight ends have become very very
Speaker 3: difficult based on what they make, what they're you know,
Speaker 3: what they're, what they make, what our second contract is,
Speaker 3: how you're gonna use them. But the team I talked
Speaker 3: to who I think could look at a tight end said, look,
Speaker 3: we think he's going inside the top ten picks because
Speaker 3: he's just kind of a special talent. But when I
Speaker 3: go through the list money, it's hard for me to
Speaker 3: find I think the Chargers would be a great fit,
Speaker 3: but not at five. If you trade back, you open
Speaker 3: the door to Bowers to wide receiver, to a corner
Speaker 3: to defensive end. Like I've tried everything I can. If
Speaker 3: I'm the Chargers to trade back, I really.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting because I think about tight end
Speaker 2: and this is sort of something that we're dealing with
Speaker 2: in a lot of the comments and a lot of
Speaker 2: the pushback because people want they want the wide receiver.
Speaker 1: You know, I get it.
Speaker 2: It's fireworks. It's justin Herbert. You think about all the
Speaker 2: magic that they could make. It could be Jamar Chase,
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow esque or two a Tyreek Hill esque. But
Speaker 2: I just look at the history of Jim Harbaugh and
Speaker 2: I look at how much success he's had. He's won
Speaker 2: everywhere he's been. And if I just go through, like
Speaker 2: if I just go through his history, right, the wide
Speaker 2: receivers aren't putting up giant numbers like Michigan He's got
Speaker 2: Nico Collins and this year I'll have Roman Wilson. You
Speaker 2: compare that to Mazzi Smith, Aiden Hutchinson, Daxton Hill, David Ajabo, Quitty,
Speaker 2: Paie Caesar Ouiz, Ben Brettison, Like he's putting O Lineman,
Speaker 2: He's putting D Lineman. He's putting you know at Stanford.
Speaker 2: Think about all the tight ends that he put into
Speaker 2: the league and Kobe Fleener and Zach Ertz, all these guys,
Speaker 2: Like it's like Hey man, this is what Harbaugh does, right,
Speaker 2: Am I missing something there? Because at the forty nine ers,
Speaker 2: his his number one receiver was Michael Crabtree. He might
Speaker 2: have been a top twenty five receiver in the league
Speaker 2: when he was with the forty nine ers, and then
Speaker 2: Gay went the back to back NFC championship games in
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3: No, and you're not wrong. And since I've been doing
Speaker 3: this for the NFL, at least since twenty fifteen, he's
Speaker 3: had three tight ends drafted. Luke Scoonmaker, who I liked
Speaker 3: a lot last year as the second rounder. He had
Speaker 3: Zach Gentry drafted in the fifth round in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 3: and then in twenty seventeen he had Jake but you remember,
Speaker 3: but was coming off with injury, so he was never
Speaker 3: the same player he was pre injury. But No, I
Speaker 3: think in Stanford you mentioned ones from Stanford who are
Speaker 3: even i'd say better than the ones I just mentioned.
Speaker 3: The tight end is a big part. Now. The one
Speaker 3: thing that's interesting, you know is his tight ends typically
Speaker 3: are going to be blockers as well, right, And I
Speaker 3: think brock Bowers will give you effort, but he's not
Speaker 3: going to be as good as blockers most of the
Speaker 3: ones you mentioned, so he would have to step out
Speaker 3: a little bit on that one. But I don't think
Speaker 3: the offense that I think Jim Harball is going to
Speaker 3: have to do a little bit more offensively. He's going
Speaker 3: to have to open up how he utilizes pass catcher
Speaker 3: and how he diverse bies his offense. But listen, the
Speaker 3: Chargers are a great team to talk about, you know,
Speaker 3: from a historical standpoint with Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers and
Speaker 3: Antonio Gates and an amalgamation of different wide receivers over
Speaker 3: the years, what Tony Gonzalez did for two different teams
Speaker 3: as a big time wide receiver, Rob Gronkowski there was
Speaker 3: not a great outside receiver for most of the time
Speaker 3: that Tom Brady was there, but Grounk was a huge factor.
Speaker 3: Like Travis Kelcey. Same thing right now in Kansas City.
Speaker 3: You look at tight ends and you have to think
Speaker 3: about them as a pass catcher. You can't label them
Speaker 3: tight end. They're pass catchers. And you make a really
Speaker 3: good point that you don't have to. You can get
Speaker 3: excited about wide receivers all you want, but the fact
Speaker 3: is they're going to be guarded by cornerbacks. You get
Speaker 3: a good tight end and they can mismatch players. They
Speaker 3: can mismatch say safety, they can mismatch linebackers. If you
Speaker 3: go too small on them, then they have a size advantage.
Speaker 3: If you go too slow, they have a speed advantage.
Speaker 3: So brock Bowers is a mismatch talent. Where you know,
Speaker 3: the third wide receiver Roma Dunze, for example, if he's
Speaker 3: the one on the board, neighbors is a speed mismatch.
Speaker 3: But I just I think it's a unique opportunity when
Speaker 3: you have a tight end who is the best clearly
Speaker 3: in the class. He just does things that other guys
Speaker 3: can't do, and he makes it harder to match up
Speaker 3: with you if you're the Chargers.
Speaker 2: What about it, Let's just say that they think it's
Speaker 2: too rich because you hear about the finances, and look,
Speaker 2: if you stick at five, it's yeah, it's hard to
Speaker 2: pick a tight end. You're talking about a four year
Speaker 2: commitment for thirty four million bucks. You know, brock Bauers
Speaker 2: immediately becomes one of the five highest paid tight ends
Speaker 2: in the league on his rookie contract, and you're trying
Speaker 2: to extract value from that. You pay an offensive tackle
Speaker 2: an average of you know, eight point seventy five million
Speaker 2: bucks for the first four years, then you're feel pretty
Speaker 2: good about that. Same with the wide receiver. Tight end
Speaker 2: is where they start to talk about. But a trade
Speaker 2: back situation with Bowers makes sense. But what about Lance
Speaker 2: the gap because we talk about Travis Kelce and George
Speaker 2: Kittle and Sam Laporta in the second round. If you
Speaker 2: were to wait, it seemed like the one name, well
Speaker 2: two names that kind of came out of the combine
Speaker 2: beyond brought Bauers were Jatavian Sanders and Theo Johnson. Just
Speaker 2: kind of thoughts on the tight end class. It felt
Speaker 2: like people felt a little bit better about the tight
Speaker 2: end class coming out of India than going in because
Speaker 2: last year's class was just so historic when it came
Speaker 2: to pace catchers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you wanted tight end, you should have got one
Speaker 3: last year. I think this year. You know, for me,
Speaker 3: Theo Johnson is right now a little bit better tester
Speaker 3: than he is a player. You see flashes when he plays.
Speaker 3: But honestly, Warren, the tight end who went back to
Speaker 3: to Penn State, was the guy that I thought would
Speaker 3: be an early second rounder and probably the second tight
Speaker 3: end in his class, Jadeveon Sanders, I gotta be honest, money,
Speaker 3: I don't care what he ran. He plays fast, He
Speaker 3: assaults defenses down the seam. He has a big time
Speaker 3: three level weapon. I think when you looked at the
Speaker 3: speed of Xavier Worthy and ad Mitchell in Texas and
Speaker 3: you kind of get lost in the fact that Quinn yours,
Speaker 3: Frankly should have found j Tavion Sanders even more because
Speaker 3: this guy really was a matchup issue. He makes contested catches.
Speaker 3: He's not much of a blocker now, it's I think
Speaker 3: it's more of an effort thing. He has the size
Speaker 3: and you see, he has the strength, He has the
Speaker 3: physical capability to be a better blocker, but the effort
Speaker 3: level needs to improve. But as a pass catcher, I
Speaker 3: think he is a tremendous weapon. As a pass catcher,
Speaker 3: I think I think he would be a guy who
Speaker 3: could really, to me, unlock the potential of the passing
Speaker 3: game and might be something and Frankly, might be something
Speaker 3: that the Chargers could absolutely use in the second round
Speaker 3: because you have guys. Now, granted, you need to get
Speaker 3: younger on the outside, but if you can, if you
Speaker 3: can create an offense that that really forces the defense
Speaker 3: to play the entire width of the field. Then Tavi
Speaker 3: on Sanders is a guy that can outrun eventually his
Speaker 3: play speed, He outruns most coverage, and he gets contested
Speaker 3: catches against smaller targets. So I think Sanders is a
Speaker 3: highly underrated weapon of the tight end group. And to me,
Speaker 3: it goes Bowers is the clear one, but I think
Speaker 3: Sanders is the really clear two as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah. See it's you know, I think people get so fixated.
Speaker 2: It keeps saying people Charger fans, you know, they get
Speaker 2: fixated on on you know, number five and trading down
Speaker 2: and getting all these extra picks, and we know they
Speaker 2: have eight this year, and I'm guessing jeo Orty's like
Speaker 2: to get out of here with more like ten, eleven,
Speaker 2: even twelve. Maybe if you can figure that out, you
Speaker 2: can trade down another rounds. You can trade down from
Speaker 2: thirty seven. If there's players sitting there that somebody wants,
Speaker 2: you can go from thirty seven to forty eight and
Speaker 2: pick up an extra third rounder. Okay, so now you've
Speaker 2: got that. Now you got two third rounders, and now
Speaker 2: you can pick up an extra fourth rounder if you
Speaker 2: trade down from one of those so there are ways
Speaker 2: to do it that don't involve number five. But let's
Speaker 2: just say that that they're stuck, and they're stuck, and
Speaker 2: now we've got to figure out you know, you just
Speaker 2: can't quite extract the value.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I do think there's monetary value out of this as well,
Speaker 2: and I think that may be what people are forgetting.
Speaker 2: I mentioned you stick at number five and that four
Speaker 2: year contract is about thirty five million bucks. You trade
Speaker 2: back to eight and it goes from thirty five to
Speaker 2: twenty six million. You trade down to eleven and it
Speaker 2: goes from thirty five to twenty one million. That's going
Speaker 2: to help you out a lot. It's just it's more
Speaker 2: than just oh, I wish we would have got an
Speaker 2: extra first next year or a second, but and I
Speaker 2: think they'll be able to there's enough heat on these receivers.
Speaker 2: So here's what I'm getting at lance. How big of
Speaker 2: a jump from what they have right now to what
Speaker 2: they would be bringing in the way you've graded the
Speaker 2: talent right, So the offensive lineman they have Trey Pipkins,
Speaker 2: he's got two more years on his deal. He had
Speaker 2: a rough go last year, but he played pretty well
Speaker 2: the year before New offensive line coaches, Nick Hardwick coming in,
Speaker 2: Devlin coming in to lead that group. Obviously you have
Speaker 2: Greg Roman who's going to be coaching up the old
Speaker 2: line when it comes to run blocking and trying to
Speaker 2: figure something out that they have not been able to
Speaker 2: for the last ten plus years on the Chargers. How
Speaker 2: big of an upgrade would you see if it is
Speaker 2: one of those guys, if it's Lake them, if it's Fuaga,
Speaker 2: if it's alt from what they have right now in
Speaker 2: Trey Pipkins, and knowing that you have Slater locked over
Speaker 2: there on the left side, well.
Speaker 3: I mean, look the division you're in. I mean you
Speaker 3: gotta face Max Crosby and he usually comes from that side.
Speaker 3: So I think you've got to get better at right tackle.
Speaker 3: I think it's a big I think it's a big
Speaker 3: upgrade if you depending on certain guys. I think Fuaga
Speaker 3: is more of a pass protection upgrade. I think Joe
Speaker 3: Walt can do all of it is And I think
Speaker 3: for me, Latham is the top guy, because Latham for
Speaker 3: me is good, not great in pass pro, but I
Speaker 3: think he's good. He's very powerful, He's an elite run blocker.
Speaker 3: I mean, he will carve you in so you have
Speaker 3: to remember, now the running game is going to take
Speaker 3: on added significance. I know what Brandon Staley said in
Speaker 3: the past about running, but this is going to be
Speaker 3: an execution of the running game with Harball, and it's
Speaker 3: and it's going to be something that he makes a focus.
Speaker 3: And so when you have a right tackle who can
Speaker 3: absolutely cave people in. Harball got to see Latham play
Speaker 3: up close and personal in that playoff game. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, I would love him at the number five
Speaker 3: spot for Jim Harball. I think Harball would like him,
Speaker 3: would like alt Fuaga is a guy who is wired right.
Speaker 3: I think most of these offensive linemen who could be
Speaker 3: considered are wired right. The problem is money. I don't
Speaker 3: think there's I don't know. I mean, for me, I
Speaker 3: have Latham. I don't know if the Chargers would think
Speaker 3: there's a big enough difference between those top three, top
Speaker 3: four guys that they wouldn't really prioritize moving back. And
Speaker 3: I know that's going to be a comment a lot,
Speaker 3: but I'm not sure there's a significant break now. I
Speaker 3: do think there's a significant break in the wide receivers.
Speaker 3: I think when you look at neighbors and Harrison For me,
Speaker 3: they're the top two. Then comes Adonda, who's just under that.
Speaker 3: I like all three of them for the Chargers. Once
Speaker 3: you get past that, though, it's it's now you've got
Speaker 3: a few more question marks about Brian Thomas Junior. Love
Speaker 3: the speed, but I don't know if he's in the
Speaker 3: same category as those other guys. So when I think
Speaker 3: of it this way, would I like to put Neighbors
Speaker 3: or Harrison Junior? Would I like to try to put
Speaker 3: some pressure on Quentin Johnston? And maybe you know, the
Speaker 3: next guy up, whoever you draft, is going to be
Speaker 3: the replacement for Keenan or Mike Williams, you know, in
Speaker 3: terms of short term and then a certainly long term.
Speaker 3: I think I think wide receiver gives you more bang
Speaker 3: at the number five spot than tap does, just based
Speaker 3: on quick impact relative to the Chargers offense. But to
Speaker 3: your point, you do have to factor in, well, wait
Speaker 3: a minute, now, are you going to get the same
Speaker 3: bang from them in a Jim Harbaugh offense? I would say,
Speaker 3: I would say, you know, you could make the argument
Speaker 3: no historically, but Jim Harbaugh's never had you know, he's
Speaker 3: never had justin Herbert throwing to people either, So I
Speaker 3: think he has to. I think what we have to
Speaker 3: figure out is how much is he going to allow
Speaker 3: Herbert to do what he does best, and how much
Speaker 3: is he going to be centered on run established to
Speaker 3: run take more pressure off of Herbert. I think that's
Speaker 3: the unknown right now.
Speaker 2: You know, the one thing that we've watched year in
Speaker 2: and year out, specifically recently, so you have justin Herbert,
Speaker 2: this incredibly talented quarterback with you know, possibly the strongest
Speaker 2: arm in the league, and and defenses didn't care. We
Speaker 2: saw I wouldn't be surprised if the Chargers saw the
Speaker 2: fewest amount of heavy boxes the league because they couldn't
Speaker 2: run the ball like they just did not you know,
Speaker 2: they they did not care. So I guess I understand, like,
Speaker 2: you know, you have a lighter box because you want
Speaker 2: to protect from the deep pass. But this was different.
Speaker 2: They were pressing. They would creep a safety up because
Speaker 2: they just did not honor that there was going to
Speaker 2: be a enough time to get the ball downfield. And
Speaker 2: b they just knew that they could stop the run
Speaker 2: with the lighter box. I guess that's what I'm getting at.
Speaker 2: I kind of explained it in the reverse they they
Speaker 2: did not need to get a heavy box to stop
Speaker 2: the run. So justin Herbert's deep throws were prevented, you know,
Speaker 2: from being as successful because there were there was constantly
Speaker 2: safety help. They never had to creep up in the
Speaker 2: box because these guys just could not run blocks. So
Speaker 2: for me, if you really want to unlock the offense,
Speaker 2: you have got to start forcing teams to get heavier
Speaker 2: in the box so Herbert can take advantage of it
Speaker 2: instead of having these guys you know, playing off and
Speaker 2: a safety too. Safeties deep and just there was very,
Speaker 2: very limited opportunities for him to push the ball downfield.
Speaker 2: I did a poor job of explaining it, but that's
Speaker 2: I hope you can understand what I'm getting at.
Speaker 3: No, I absolutely understand. I mean, it's you have to
Speaker 3: make them respect a run game and coaches. I know
Speaker 3: it feels like an antiquated notion with fans, but really,
Speaker 3: if you love a passing game, then you have to
Speaker 3: love your running game because once you have safeties that
Speaker 3: start to creep up near the line, once one team
Speaker 3: is imposing their will, linebackers have to play different. They
Speaker 3: start running more, you know, they start running more. Linebacker
Speaker 3: blitzes to slow down the run, you start dropping a
Speaker 3: safety in the box. All of this has an impact
Speaker 3: on the ability to take a safety out of the
Speaker 3: mix from a coverage standpoint and attack the field. And
Speaker 3: so the really good thing that Jim Harbaugh does in
Speaker 3: that regard is it's a run play action, run play action.
Speaker 3: It's almost like the old school Shanahan type stuff, although
Speaker 3: it's more power centric from the way he run blocks.
Speaker 3: It's not the outside zone, but he is. He's committed
Speaker 3: to You play the run, you play off of the
Speaker 3: run in your passing game. Now, is that best for
Speaker 3: Justin Herbert? Maybe not statistically, maybe not in fantasy football.
Speaker 3: Is it going to be best for maybe winning more
Speaker 3: games and the Chargers have won and controlling the tempo
Speaker 3: and being able to have better fourth quarters where you
Speaker 3: close out more games and turn them into wins as
Speaker 3: opposed to close losses. Yeah, it could be, because once
Speaker 3: you established the run and you impose your will, you
Speaker 3: start to convert some of those first downs and you
Speaker 3: don't punt at the end of games, giving teams a
Speaker 3: chance to break your heart again. I've listened to you
Speaker 3: on broadcasts on the radio many at times, and Chargers
Speaker 3: have had their hearts broken late in games, and I
Speaker 3: think that, you know, the philosophy needs to change over there.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, well, and that's why I'm
Speaker 3: excited about the fifth pick because I just truly believe
Speaker 3: that the top twelve, to have the top twelve players,
Speaker 3: top fourteen players in this draft are really good and
Speaker 3: can have a big impact. And man, if you can
Speaker 3: move back, and you talked about it, money, it's not
Speaker 3: going to be impossible to move back twice, not in
Speaker 3: this draft, not coming from five.
Speaker 2: No, no, I mean, that's know Brett Coleman was talking
Speaker 2: about that the Holy Grail. Can you move from five
Speaker 2: to eight and then eight to fourteen something? You know,
Speaker 2: there's there's ways to do it because of the wide
Speaker 2: receivers and you know what Dallas Turner was able to
Speaker 2: do and what Mitchell was able to you know, there's
Speaker 2: there's going to be different positions if you're not too greedy, and.
Speaker 3: You know, and money something that you have to factor in. Okay,
Speaker 3: so what do people trade up for? It has to
Speaker 3: be one of the three or four most important positions quarterback, rush,
Speaker 3: wide receiver, and sometimes corner. So it just so happens
Speaker 3: that or or I'm sorry, offensive tackle. So you got tackle,
Speaker 3: you've got rush, you've got quarterback, and you've got wide receiver. Right,
Speaker 3: these just happen to be four of the most important
Speaker 3: positions at the time. Not only are they important, they're
Speaker 3: loaded in the top sixteen picks. So now it really
Speaker 3: gives you a great opportunity to move back because teams
Speaker 3: are going to want to trade up, They're going to
Speaker 3: want to deal.
Speaker 2: And I think one of the one of the things
Speaker 2: to remember, and we had this last week while we
Speaker 2: were out of the combine about this new staff is,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm not trying to disparage their recruiting, but
Speaker 2: they weren't Ohio State, they weren't Alabama, they weren't Georgia.
Speaker 2: They're Michigan and they're bringing in top twenty, top fifteen classes.
Speaker 2: But these are dudes they developed into NFL players. These
Speaker 2: are good coaches that develop talent. So it's all right
Speaker 2: if you don't if you decide to take that blue
Speaker 2: chip at five, or if you decide to trade back
Speaker 2: twice to eleven and then to sixteen, whatever it may be.
Speaker 2: I feel like this particular staff is able to do
Speaker 2: is able to accomplish what you're looking to accomplish because
Speaker 2: they have a track record of doing that. If that
Speaker 2: makes sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and yeah, it's going to be interesting to come
Speaker 3: from college to the pros. Like, is that an advantage
Speaker 3: for Jim Harball. I can tell you this feels like it.
Speaker 3: It wouldn't surprise me if Harball is digging around on
Speaker 3: guys like Blake Korum. It wouldn't surprise me if he
Speaker 3: said we're going offensive tackle on the first round and
Speaker 3: we'll look at Wrong Wilson in the second. And that's
Speaker 3: not always great. I'd rather you just get the best
Speaker 3: players and you don't want to be too far in
Speaker 3: the bubble. And unfortunately, I think coaches when they when
Speaker 3: they come from college into the pros, they tend to
Speaker 3: go with what they know. And so I do think
Speaker 3: there's going to be players who he recruited. That's something
Speaker 3: else that's not really talked about a lot. But the
Speaker 3: other thing that you have to watch for is players
Speaker 3: coaches who recruited a player that went to another team
Speaker 3: or they they keep that in mind too. Like that
Speaker 3: that plays big into the draft as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that could be Marvin Harrison if it
Speaker 2: goes one, two, three, four quarterback. Sure, you know he
Speaker 2: had to face them every year, and Jim Harbaugh could
Speaker 2: say to Joe Harti's hey man, this guy's a nightmare.
Speaker 2: This guy is an absolute nightmare. He tortured me. I
Speaker 2: stayed up late wondering how we were going to slow
Speaker 2: him down. Just stick and pick and let's not even
Speaker 2: think about it. So that's that's the other thing, right
Speaker 2: It sounds like.
Speaker 3: You're on Are you on the stick and Pick team?
Speaker 2: No, I'm not, just because I have seen this team
Speaker 2: unravel because of depth issues year in and year outlands
Speaker 2: you know where Joey Bosa has really struggled to stay healthy.
Speaker 2: You know, we saw Rashaan Slater two years ago go down. Now,
Speaker 2: Jamari Sawyer stepped in and did an admirable job, but
Speaker 2: it was not a Rashawn Slater job, and we saw
Speaker 2: Like That's the thing about the Jacksonville game is we
Speaker 2: all sort of marveled at how well Justin played, how
Speaker 2: solid Jamari Sawyer was at left tackle. But one of
Speaker 2: the things that I think people failed to see was no,
Speaker 2: they still couldn't run the ball and when they needed
Speaker 2: to win games, when they needed to have a four
Speaker 2: minute drill. That Jacksonville game was a product and it
Speaker 2: was it was magnified, it was amplified. Their inability to
Speaker 2: run the ball showed up in a big way that day,
Speaker 2: as did their lack of depth at corner because once
Speaker 2: Mikey Davis went down and got hurt, they were done.
Speaker 2: And now Trevor Lawrence has taken advantage of them on
Speaker 2: the outside and they can't run the ball. It's three
Speaker 2: and out. They're trying to milk as much clock as
Speaker 2: they can, you know, up twenty seven to seven in
Speaker 2: the second half, and they couldn't do anything about it.
Speaker 2: So I think that's people have to you know, I
Speaker 2: think it's important to acknowledge. Maybe it's not just the starter,
Speaker 2: but how high of a level is, you know, is
Speaker 2: your replacement, because that game, to me, really amplified what
Speaker 2: has been a serious issue for this team the last
Speaker 2: few years with Justin Herbert at quarterback, and that's it's
Speaker 2: been very hard for them to overcome injuries because of
Speaker 2: the lack of depth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the only way you build depth is by
Speaker 3: adding picks, Yeah, making your picks, not leaning on short
Speaker 3: term free agency. And then I think most importantly the
Speaker 3: evaluation processes. For any team that wants to build a
Speaker 3: sustainable winner, you've got to be able to draft well
Speaker 3: in rounds two through five. I mean, it's just it's
Speaker 3: really not up for debate. You don't have to let
Speaker 3: every pick, but in a year that you don't hit
Speaker 3: a fifth, next year you need to hit a fifth.
Speaker 3: And when I say hit, it can just be somebody
Speaker 3: who's quality depth on the roster and good on special teams.
Speaker 2: That's good enough, no doubt, no doubt, And that's that's
Speaker 2: something look to. Tom did a great job of pretty
Speaker 2: much nailing every one of his first round picks, and
Speaker 2: after that there were some really solid players in the
Speaker 2: second and third round, and there were also some misses
Speaker 2: in the second and third round. Like you said, so
Speaker 2: you had two lead that hit, you had chennon Uusu
Speaker 2: that hit, but then you also had some misses, particularly
Speaker 2: on the offensive line. Dan Feeney, Forrest Lamp Like those
Speaker 2: are guys that are in their late twenties right now.
Speaker 2: That you hit on those, in my gosh, you're feeling
Speaker 2: really good about what you have up front. Instead of asking, okay,
Speaker 2: do we need a center guard, right tackle? Is that
Speaker 2: what we're talking about. I have faith that Zion's going
Speaker 2: to be okay. I think this coaching staff he's just
Speaker 2: too big, he's too strong. I've seen it in bursts
Speaker 2: for me not to believe that Zion Johnson's not going
Speaker 2: to be okay. I think he's gonna be fine. You know,
Speaker 2: Sawyer just did not make an adjustment to guard. It
Speaker 2: didn't quite work for him. It just it wasn't quick
Speaker 2: enough and just repeatedly would get beat off the jump.
Speaker 2: So I'm not sure what the solution is there. They
Speaker 2: obviously need a center because Corey Linsley's retiring, and right
Speaker 2: tackle it's been a big peaks and valleys with Trey Lance.
Speaker 2: I'll get you out of here on this. You mentioned
Speaker 2: running back. There's gonna be a There's a lot of
Speaker 2: free agents available. The Chargers are still after letting go
Speaker 2: of Eric Kendricks. At the time we record this, that's
Speaker 2: all that's been done, and there's going to be more
Speaker 2: done to get this number lower. I don't know how
Speaker 2: realistic spending a bunch of money on Derrick Henry or
Speaker 2: Swift or Saquon Barkley, you know how that is? What
Speaker 2: about the group of running backs?
Speaker 1: That you saw.
Speaker 2: We heard they met with Ray Davis. Seemed like he
Speaker 2: had a really good combine. How does this group of
Speaker 2: running backs look to you?
Speaker 3: It's a little light. I think the top running back
Speaker 3: is Jonathan Brooks, who's coming off an ACL tear. But
Speaker 3: I think he's a legitimate high second round pick in
Speaker 3: most drafts, will probably slide into the latter part of
Speaker 3: the second depending on how the medicals go. Jalen Right,
Speaker 3: I thought, really helped himself from Tennessee. Now I like
Speaker 3: Jalen Right, I already liked him, but just running fast.
Speaker 3: When you have size and speed like that, it matters.
Speaker 3: Trey Benson had a terrific combine. I think he clearly
Speaker 3: has has has put himself in the top three and
Speaker 3: depending on how teams take a look at that. So
Speaker 3: that's that's more of a big guy. What's that?
Speaker 1: Trey Benson's a big guy.
Speaker 3: He big guy, about two hundred and twenty pounds, ran fast,
Speaker 3: jumps high. He just sometimes plays a little more finesse
Speaker 3: than he needs to.
Speaker 4: You wanted to.
Speaker 3: Remember that he's big sometime and play big and not
Speaker 3: try to get to clever, especially in the NFL when
Speaker 3: it's much greater speed. He's gonna have to learn to
Speaker 3: finish better. But once you get past Marshaun Lloyd could
Speaker 3: be from UFC, could be a third into the fourth
Speaker 3: round pick, and then it becomes kind of the Ray
Speaker 3: Davis territory, which I think is maybe late three into
Speaker 3: the mid four. He's gouy named Tyrone Tracey, who I'm
Speaker 3: a big fan of, who can run and catch. But
Speaker 3: there's a lot of it's just okay. From a depth standpoint,
Speaker 3: I mentioned Blake Korum I think is a good backup,
Speaker 3: a good second back. Braylan Allen's got a chance to
Speaker 3: be that Will Shipley I like, is the James Cook type,
Speaker 3: kind of a poor man's James Cook. So but it's
Speaker 3: not really loaded up. Unless you go top three or
Speaker 3: four running backs, you may not have the guy that's uh,
Speaker 3: you know. I say that, But then again, Jim Harball
Speaker 3: is like, no, we'll get two guys and we're gonna
Speaker 3: start hammering people. So it just it takes a guy
Speaker 3: like Ray Davis. I'm looking right now. The guys who
Speaker 3: fit that mold would be uh marshawn Oh. I think
Speaker 3: Ray Davis would really fit that. Blake Krum brayln Allen,
Speaker 3: Cody Schrader, like, these are all guys who are going
Speaker 3: to be at the earliest late third and into the
Speaker 3: fifth round.
Speaker 1: Perfect.
Speaker 3: So it wouldn't shock me if they drafted running backs.
Speaker 3: But they did not put a top, you know, a
Speaker 3: top Day one, Day two, great on any of them.
Speaker 2: Right, just you know, like kind of what what Green
Speaker 2: Day does every year They take a receiver in the
Speaker 2: second or third round or fourth round or what. Just
Speaker 2: take receivers. So for Jim Harbo, take running backs, take
Speaker 2: take two whatever.
Speaker 3: Take running backs. I'm looking at Jason McClelland from Alabama.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's guys on Day three you could find
Speaker 3: that could come in just like Karen Williams did with
Speaker 3: the Rams and become a major factor.
Speaker 2: Lance, you know you're busy, freaking awesome. Really really appreciate
Speaker 2: you doing this. You can follow him on Twitter at
Speaker 2: Lancer line z I E R L e I N.
Speaker 2: He does it for NFL dot Com. All those scouting
Speaker 2: reports that you click on as you prepare for the draft,
Speaker 2: we're written by Lance. He is one of the best
Speaker 2: in the business and we love having him. Certainly appreciate
Speaker 2: you hopping on here. For a post Combine wrap Lance,
Speaker 2: thank you, you got it.
Speaker 3: Thanks buddy.
Speaker 2: All Right, folks bonus content in addition to Lance post
Speaker 2: Combine for the rap on what we saw there in Indianapolis,
Speaker 2: also had a chance to catch up with Chargers Assistant
Speaker 2: general manager Chad Alexander.
Speaker 5: All Right, So one of the best parts of the
Speaker 5: off season is just getting to know the new faces
Speaker 5: around the Chargers organization. Very please be joined by one
Speaker 5: of them. Assistant general Manager Chad Alexander joins us now
Speaker 5: on Chargers Weekly. Chad, first and foremost, Welcome to LA
Speaker 5: even though we're in Indy. How's the adjustment been so far?
Speaker 4: It's been great, you know what I mean. It's just
Speaker 4: we've been there a couple of weeks and we were
Speaker 4: able to kind of hit the ground running and uh
Speaker 4: met a lot of great people within the organization and
Speaker 4: and started a round of draft meetings. It was really productive,
Speaker 4: and it's it's it's been awesome, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: It's been been a really good experience.
Speaker 2: So you spend a lot of time in Baltimore the
Speaker 2: last I think half decade with with the New York Jets.
Speaker 2: Is everything the same, just pick up and take what
Speaker 2: you've done thus far on all these players, and you
Speaker 2: go from the Jets to here, and it's just kind
Speaker 2: of the same work that you've already done pretty much.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's a little different obviously for for for
Speaker 4: several different reasons, but the philosophy is pretty much the
Speaker 4: same because you know, we were we were all kind
Speaker 4: of taught by Ozzie and and and and came up
Speaker 4: under Ozzy and and uh, you know Joe d you know,
Speaker 4: shares that same philosophy and obviously, uh Hortiz does as well.
Speaker 4: So uh, there are some differences obviously within each organization,
Speaker 4: but but the chemistry and the feel of it, the
Speaker 4: feel of it is the same. It really is, and
Speaker 4: it's it's really the same process. So it's it's been
Speaker 4: it's been really good.
Speaker 5: I was gonna say, how seamless is it to just
Speaker 5: you know Joe, you know, how he operates to come
Speaker 5: into the building and you said he's a connector Yeah,
Speaker 5: how has that adjustment been probably just like riding a bike.
Speaker 4: A little bit. Yeah, there's been a little bit of
Speaker 4: an adjustment just in terms of uh, just with new
Speaker 4: people and and and new organization and stuff like that.
Speaker 4: But Joe is an awesome personnel guy, like he first
Speaker 4: of all, he's a great guy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: And then he he does he does a great job
Speaker 4: of connecting the building. He brings the energy every day. Uh,
Speaker 4: he's uh, you know, he's really smart. He's really passionate
Speaker 4: about what he does. So it's really easy to to
Speaker 4: to to kind of to to to pick up and
Speaker 4: and and to move and and and under Joe. He
Speaker 4: he does a great job of connecting the building and
Speaker 4: and as a leader, he does a great job. So
Speaker 4: it's been I wouldn't say seamless because you know, there's
Speaker 4: obviously you know, you gotta grind, you gotta you gotta
Speaker 4: you gotta work at it, and you got you gotta
Speaker 4: be there for a long time. You got to figure
Speaker 4: things out and figure figure out the processes and how
Speaker 4: people do things within the organization. But at the same time,
Speaker 4: it's been it's been awesome. It's been a lot of fun,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. It's been like I said, great,
Speaker 4: great people within the Chargers organization, really talented people, uh
Speaker 4: that want to win. So that that that that's what's
Speaker 4: made it. That's what's made a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: Mention oz Ozzie knew some arguably, you know, in the conversation,
Speaker 2: is the best front office executive in the history of
Speaker 2: the league. Without I guess, I don't think you'll be
Speaker 2: giving up any state secrets here, but he said, it's
Speaker 2: all kind of similar. Yeah, what made Baltimore so good
Speaker 2: and consistent for so many years team building?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it was it's just you know, the
Speaker 4: culture that you know, the culture matters most anywhere you go.
Speaker 4: It's it's the people. It's the quality of the people
Speaker 4: within the organization. And like I said, everybody wants to
Speaker 4: feel like like they're invested, and you know, it's really
Speaker 4: just it's the trust that that that everyone has for
Speaker 4: each other and the accountability. Everyone holds each other accountable.
Speaker 4: And I would say that Ozzie is just he's he's
Speaker 4: really really good in terms of consistency, in terms of
Speaker 4: you know, trusting the process, believing in the process. I've
Speaker 4: never really seen him, you know, rattled in any situation,
Speaker 4: some high pressure situations. Man, he is, he is, He's
Speaker 4: the best. And I really think that, you know, he
Speaker 4: was obviously a Hall of Fame player, but really like
Speaker 4: he's a Hall of Fame executive definitely as well. So
Speaker 4: you couldn't ask for a better situation or a better
Speaker 4: guy to learn under.
Speaker 5: Chad, Your your thoughts on this roster has currently constructed
Speaker 5: obviously the charge route in New York this year from
Speaker 5: a winner night football game, and uh, a lot of
Speaker 5: moving parts, a lot of decisions that need to be made,
Speaker 5: but just you know, first glance, your thoughts on this roster.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I mean, you know, first glance, you know,
Speaker 4: you take a look at the quarterback. You know, it's
Speaker 4: just he's a great player and a great competitor, and
Speaker 4: and you know, we're lucky to to to land it.
Speaker 4: I'm lucky to land at a place that that's got
Speaker 4: a great player at that position like that, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, A young guy who is big guy,
Speaker 4: he's you know, six six, he's got a rocket arm,
Speaker 4: he's really tough, and he's really really smart as well.
Speaker 4: So I mean you know that that, you know, it
Speaker 4: all starts with that, and then and then there's there's
Speaker 4: some other great pieces on the roster as well, obviously,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. So so yeah, it's it's
Speaker 4: it's it's a it's a good situation.
Speaker 2: Definitely, we uh, We kind of heard from everyone that
Speaker 2: that had their press conferences, starting with you know, coach Harball,
Speaker 2: then with with Georgie's and now with Greg Roman running game, physical, Yeah,
Speaker 2: attacked at the at the line of scrimmage. That's something
Speaker 2: that you obviously did in in Baltimore for a number
Speaker 2: of years.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, is that premium picks?
Speaker 4: Is it?
Speaker 2: Like, what what's the best way to make sure that
Speaker 2: that those fronts are as good as they can be?
Speaker 2: How do you how do you build it?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: I mean yeah, I mean you build it. You want
Speaker 4: to make sure obviously that that that you that you
Speaker 4: build it, you know, through the trenches, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean, the old line and D line, strong, strong
Speaker 4: run game, ability to stop the run, and and and
Speaker 4: you know we have we have a great coach who's
Speaker 4: done that everywhere he's been in Jim Harbaugh. So you
Speaker 4: know the same philosophy that that his brother John has
Speaker 4: with with the Ravens. And you know, it's uh, you know,
Speaker 4: I really feel like you know, all all all of
Speaker 4: the all used to be just the left tackle position
Speaker 4: was was considered a premium position or for you know,
Speaker 4: for for for the old line. But I really feel
Speaker 4: like all the offensive line positions or premium positions, and
Speaker 4: so that that's really important to be to be able
Speaker 4: to build that up and and to to create the
Speaker 4: type of identity that you want to create with the
Speaker 4: physicality and the run game and and and that type
Speaker 4: of stuff.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you know, I think about the jet and
Speaker 2: obviously you're there for the last half decade, and you know,
Speaker 2: I remember when when we were going through it and
Speaker 2: Elijah Vera Tucker was a very real possibility Slater ends
Speaker 2: up sliding, you end up getting one of the best
Speaker 2: left tackles. But maybe if you can build on that,
Speaker 2: because we know there's some really good centers in this draft,
Speaker 2: there's some really good guards. So yeah, how has that
Speaker 2: changed in the last let and when did it change
Speaker 2: where you were willing to invest those premium picks in
Speaker 2: those interior alignments.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know that, that's a good question. I think
Speaker 4: it kind of just evolved with uh, you know, everything
Speaker 4: starts with the quarterback, you know what I mean. It's
Speaker 4: it's it's about protecting the quarterback. And some a lot
Speaker 4: of quarterbacks, you know, obviously when they're blindside protected and
Speaker 4: the edges protected. But there's a lot of quarterbacks that
Speaker 4: they prefer like that middle, that the interior line to
Speaker 4: be the most firm part of the of the old line.
Speaker 4: And so you know, it's you got you got to
Speaker 4: make sure that all five are are really really really good,
Speaker 4: really smart. You know, versatility in there, you know, adds
Speaker 4: to their value being able to play you know, multiple
Speaker 4: different positions. But yeah, I think I think it's it's
Speaker 4: it's definitely become you know, all the positions on the
Speaker 4: on line have become premium positions.
Speaker 5: Chad, how important was it to work with John now
Speaker 5: working with Jim knowing that they do have the same
Speaker 5: philosophy because of course the front office has got to
Speaker 5: be a lockstep with the head coach. And you know,
Speaker 5: solom maybe different from Jim, and Jim is you know,
Speaker 5: similar to John but maybe a little bit different. But
Speaker 5: having that experience with John, how how beneficial is that
Speaker 5: for you guys moving forward?
Speaker 4: I think I think it's great. I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: i'd never really i'd met Jim and passing and stuff
Speaker 4: like that, but it didn't didn't really know him and
Speaker 4: obviously worked with John for years and and they're very similar,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, They're all about ball, which
Speaker 4: is you know, you can't ask for anything more as
Speaker 4: a as a personnel guy, you know what I mean
Speaker 4: to come in and you know, Jim, he's I think
Speaker 4: he does a great job of connecting the building. He
Speaker 4: does a great job of you know, building relationships and
Speaker 4: having those discussions. He asked really good questions, and he's
Speaker 4: really smart. He's got a great sense of humor. And
Speaker 4: so it's you know, so far, it's it's been awesome,
Speaker 4: you know, just working with him and being around him
Speaker 4: and and and starting to understand that the stuff that
Speaker 4: he appreciates and he likes. But but yeah, it's it's
Speaker 4: really about toughness, about you know, it's about the culture.
Speaker 4: It's about you know, running the ball, building a strong
Speaker 4: offensive line, and and and both of those brothers definitely
Speaker 4: definitely share that that philosophy.
Speaker 2: When it comes to kind of getting ready for you know,
Speaker 2: the campaign that that'll start, you know with training camp
Speaker 2: and then obviously when games get going, first thing that
Speaker 2: comes up is cap compliance. Second thing that comes up,
Speaker 2: free agency, and then the draft. Just kind of I
Speaker 2: don't know if it's general philosophy or what you've sort
Speaker 2: of subscribed to your whole career. Is there a right way,
Speaker 2: especially when you come in and you're trying to change
Speaker 2: your culture and you're trying to establish something. Is it
Speaker 2: free agency? Is it making sure the rosters right? Is
Speaker 2: it the draft? Like what's the best what's the right
Speaker 2: way to build this thing.
Speaker 4: We've always kind of believed that the draft is like
Speaker 4: the bloodline of your organization and it's the most cost
Speaker 4: effective form to build your team. And and so it's, uh,
Speaker 4: you know, it probably starts with the draft, I would say,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. But but it's like you say,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of moving parts. You know, there's free agency,
Speaker 4: there's you know, undrafted free agency, there's there's trade possibilities,
Speaker 4: there's you know, guy getting guys that are cap cuts
Speaker 4: and stuff like that. It's it's it's, uh, you have
Speaker 4: to you know, kind of cast a wide net. But
Speaker 4: but it's, uh, it's pretty much all encompassing. Like it's
Speaker 4: all the parts you know that that are moving at
Speaker 4: one time, but just being able to try to build
Speaker 4: the roster to the best of your ability and and
Speaker 4: uh and and and bring the right people in you know,
Speaker 4: the right players, definitely, But but you want to you
Speaker 4: want to make sure you bring the right people in,
Speaker 4: you know, in terms of in terms of the players.
Speaker 5: Is it a bit of an advantage the fact that
Speaker 5: Jim is coming from the Big Ten and there's eighteen
Speaker 5: Michigan guys here. There's a ton of Big Ten top
Speaker 5: prospects that he probably has thoughts on intel on that
Speaker 5: you guys can collaborate and talk about.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, that that that's a huge advantage. I mean,
Speaker 4: he has intimate knowledge of all those Michigan guys as
Speaker 4: well as everybody from the staff that they came from Michigan.
Speaker 4: So that's a huge advantage for us. And you know,
Speaker 4: they're a great team. And then you know, obviously they
Speaker 4: won it all and they got a lot of representation
Speaker 4: here in India and they've all learned it. So it's uh, yeah,
Speaker 4: that that's that's a that's an advantage, definitely.
Speaker 2: I would assume, you know, we see it. There's certain
Speaker 2: teams that draft guys from certain schools. You know, for
Speaker 2: whatever reason, there's there's just connection there. As someone that
Speaker 2: has been evaluating these Michigan players, what can you say
Speaker 2: about just sort of what you saw happen there and
Speaker 2: the development and what they were putting into the draft
Speaker 2: year after year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, just I mean just you know, extremely consistent in
Speaker 4: terms of the type of individuals that they that they
Speaker 4: you know, put out every year from on a year.
Speaker 4: To your basis, you know, they're gonna be tough. You know,
Speaker 4: they're going to be extremely competitive. You know they're going
Speaker 4: to be you know, great teammates, and you know they're
Speaker 4: going to be really smart. You know. So it's uh
Speaker 4: it you know that as a basis because if they
Speaker 4: if they weren't that, they wouldn't be playing at Michigan,
Speaker 4: you know, So that that's that's an advantage you know,
Speaker 4: definitely coming out of coming out of that those you
Speaker 4: know that that type of program and and coming coming
Speaker 4: to our level, you know what I mean, it makes
Speaker 4: it almost a little bit of a seamless transition for them,
Speaker 4: you know. So and they've had a lot of success.
Speaker 4: So so yeah, that's uh that that they're they're a
Speaker 4: great program, great program.
Speaker 5: Chaz is a tough business man. It's a it's a
Speaker 5: small tight knit fraternity, uh coaches, GMS, scouts. Just the
Speaker 5: fact that you hear, now, how would you describe this
Speaker 5: process for you knowing that you're not gonna be teamed
Speaker 5: up with Joe in l A and and a brand
Speaker 5: new role.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's it's really exciting. Man. I'm just
Speaker 4: you know, really pumped about the opportunity. You know, I'm
Speaker 4: psyched about it, you know. And uh, like I said,
Speaker 4: we've tried to hit the ground running. And you know,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of great people, a lot of talented
Speaker 4: individuals in the Chargers organizations. So just working collaboratively with them,
Speaker 4: and you know, Joe's like I said, Joe's greatly or
Speaker 4: he understands that the best decisions mostly come through discussion,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, and being collaborative and everyone
Speaker 4: you know, kind of coming to a cumulative a decision.
Speaker 4: And it's not about you know, who makes the decision.
Speaker 4: It's not about who's right. It's about being right as
Speaker 4: an organization. So that's that's the cool part about it,
Speaker 4: you know. And and and that was the same way
Speaker 4: with Joe Deeve, It's the same way with Ozzy and
Speaker 4: those guys. They's and Eric the cost it's really it's, uh,
Speaker 4: they don't ask anything from people that work under them
Speaker 4: that they don't bring to the table every day themselves.
Speaker 4: You know what I mean, they're extremely passionate, they're versatile,
Speaker 4: they're humble, they're loyal, they're smart, and uh, you know,
Speaker 4: and and and they're they're able to uh to build trust.
Speaker 4: You know what I mean. Trust is it's a tough
Speaker 4: thing that it's a hard thing to develop, but it's
Speaker 4: easy to lose, you know what I mean? And and
Speaker 4: and those guys are proven through their leadership that they're
Speaker 4: able to able to navigate it. Well.
Speaker 2: Going back to what you were talking about with the
Speaker 2: Michigan players, have you figured out I assume you know
Speaker 2: your patent it and sell it if you if you
Speaker 2: could figure it out.
Speaker 1: Football's tough. You've got to be tough to play football.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you don't put on a plastic outfit and run
Speaker 2: into guys that are twice your size. But have you
Speaker 2: figured out how to find toughness? How to find those
Speaker 2: guys that love football? Is like, how do you figure
Speaker 2: that out?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 4: I think I think here at the Combine is a
Speaker 4: great opportunity to just get to know players, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, to get to know their story, to
Speaker 4: know their their background, their history. There is a lot
Speaker 4: of talented guys here from a lot of different backgrounds
Speaker 4: a lot of different situations, and uh, you get to
Speaker 4: really figure out that their love of the game, you know,
Speaker 4: and and it's also you know, when you go into
Speaker 4: the school during the fall and make the school calls
Speaker 4: and and get the background you know from from the sources,
Speaker 4: and you know, a lot of times you can find
Speaker 4: out that way as well. But but yeah, it's tough,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, It's it's not it's not
Speaker 4: an exact science, but uh, but but if you're able
Speaker 4: to kind of read people and understand, uh, you know,
Speaker 4: what makes him tick, it makes it a little easier.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of ask. It's changed now because we
Speaker 2: have access to everything. We can see everything, Every game
Speaker 2: is televised, you can get film on everything. But I
Speaker 2: remember doing a doing an Oregon State game and was
Speaker 2: talking to Mike Riley and we were talking about Quiz
Speaker 2: Rogers and he told the story of He's like, you know,
Speaker 2: I had no idea who Quiz was. I went to
Speaker 2: get James. And when I went to get James, they
Speaker 2: were like, oh, you got to see his brothers.
Speaker 4: Brothers.
Speaker 2: In that moment, I offered both of them because I
Speaker 2: knew nobody else knew who Quiz was. Do you have
Speaker 2: any can you think of like some of those when
Speaker 2: you showed up at a maybe it's a small school
Speaker 2: and you're scouting someone and then you end up kind
Speaker 2: of stumbling into somebody else.
Speaker 4: Uh well, no, I mean Jacobe Jones is a story
Speaker 4: that I remember definitely, because you know, he was at
Speaker 4: Lane and uh, you know, you go there and they
Speaker 4: practice at night and and shoot, you know, no lights
Speaker 4: or anything like that, and he's out there grabbing everything
Speaker 4: and and and so you know, he was a guy
Speaker 4: that kind of stands out from that standpoint. Uh. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean it. You know every year there are guys
Speaker 4: that that pop up, you know, kind of out of nowhere.
Speaker 4: But but you know, we'll we'll, we'll, we'll find them.
Speaker 4: They'll get on they'll definitely get on our radar, radar
Speaker 4: one way or another.
Speaker 5: You know. I know, it's full speed ahead with work.
Speaker 5: But hey, you're out Los Angeles. Now, what are you
Speaker 5: most looking forward to with the family and getting into La?
Speaker 4: Uh? You know, yeah, I haven't really had an opportunity to,
Speaker 4: uh to spend much time, you know, hanging out or
Speaker 4: anything like that. But just you know, the weather, you
Speaker 4: know you can't be you know what I mean, just
Speaker 4: being being in the Northeast for the most part throughout
Speaker 4: most of my career and now you know, coming out
Speaker 4: to coming out to sunny California. It's it's beautiful. And
Speaker 4: it's been raining for the past couple of weeks, you know,
Speaker 4: but that'll change. Yeah, it'll change. I heard, I heard
Speaker 4: this just a rainy season. So but uh, but yeah,
Speaker 4: definitely definitely looking forward to that and just just hanging
Speaker 4: out and you know, looking forward to the kids coming
Speaker 4: out and and and enjoying that as well. And got
Speaker 4: it right here.
Speaker 1: I see the beach.
Speaker 4: It's ready, exactly, no doubt. Yeah, try to bring the
Speaker 4: powder Blues. There we go.
Speaker 1: Congratulations.
Speaker 4: I appreciate that. I appreciate I appreciate your time. Man,
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2: So I'll do it our post combine edition of Chargers Weekly.
Speaker 2: Remember next week, this team is going to probably look
Speaker 2: drastically different when we do this on Thursday. The beginning
Speaker 2: of the league year is Wednesday, March thirteenth. Already saw
Speaker 2: Eric Kendricks let go. And you're going to have some
Speaker 2: redone contracts, some trades movement, maybe outright release. But there
Speaker 2: are going to be a number of things that are
Speaker 2: done between now and when we start this pod a
Speaker 2: week from today, because Wednesday, March thirteenth, four pm Eastern,
Speaker 2: beginning of the league year. So keep your eyes on
Speaker 2: all the Chargers social media spots to keep up the
Speaker 2: speed with everything that's going on in this constantly changing
Speaker 2: landscape of a Chargers roster with all these new folks
Speaker 2: in the front office,