2015 TRAINING CAMP - OBSERVATIONS

[Boltaction]

At least they call the right blocking schemes and the Oline becomes a better blocking unit and the running game picks up. It's obvious the experiment of Watt at center is not working.

[Mister Hoarse]

Wat

[Formula 21]

I think Robinson is way better at center. I also think Huey has proven a better center.

I saw Huey get knocked on his back and run over by the DL. I'm off the Huey bandwagon.

[Coachmarkos]

Short memories...when whoever it was posted the "blocking stats" from the Cardinals game, Watt graded out the highest of all the linemen.

Yes, he needs to stay healthy. He's not so bad, he needs to be benched. Are we going to have another Hardwick situation on the board? From the time he was drafted, people here were trying to replace him.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

I'm Giving Up On People Who've Given Up On Melvin Gordon

It's premature to jump off the Chargers rookie running back's bandwagon

By Derek Togerson



SAN DIEGO, CA - AUGUST 29: Running back Melvin Gordon #28 of the San Diego Chargers carries the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during preseason at Qualcomm Stadium on August 29, 2015 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Updated 2 hours ago


Wow. I knew NFL fans were a fickle bunch but I had no idea it was this bad. OK, be honest now … raise your hand if you’re worried about Melvin Gordon. Just throw a hand up if you’ve even had thoughts that the Chargers reached for him and wasted a Draft pick, he’s not ready for the NFL game, or he’s simply going to be a bust. Go on, don’t be shy.

It’s alright because you are certainly not alone. There is an alarming groundswell of people forming the opinion that Gordon’s preseason performance means the Chargers made a mistake of Ryan Leaf proportions in moving up two spots to grab him in the first round.

I mean, 45 yards on 20 carries with a long run of eight yards and zero touchdowns for a man considered one of the best two running backs (with Todd Gurley) in this year’s Draft class? Are you serious? Jim Brown could put up those kinds of numbers TODAY and he's 79 years old. At least, that’s what I keep hearing from fans and on sports-talk radio and in online comments.

Has it been a little bit disappointing, given all the hype about this kid, not to have seen him rip off a 65-yard touchdown run and announce his presence with authority? Sure, a little bit. But have we all forgotten the preseason is a time for learning? Sure, a little bit more.

But a lack of preseason pop is not an indictment of a man’s career. I’m going to show you four different stat lines from rookie running backs in their inaugural preseasons. Tell me which ones you would like to have:

Carries Yards Average Longest Run
34 146 4.3 18 yds
34 182 5.4 26 yds
18 36 2.0 15 yds
22 37 1.7 9 yds

Which one would you choose? Probably one of the first two guys, right? Good averages, a couple of explosive runs in there, overall they look like potential studs. The second two guys are obviously overmatched and will never figure out the NFL game.

The first guy is Ryan Mathews. The second guy is Darren McFadden. The third guy is Eddie Lacy. The fourth guy is Marshawn Lynch.

Now shall we re-consider which backs we’d rather have on our team?

Preseason numbers for running backs are not necessarily indications of what a back is going to be able to do in real NFL games. In 2008 Chris Johnson had a monster exhibition season with the Titans and parlayed that in to a monster regular season. But Le’Veon Bell carried four times for nine yards in his first preseason with the Steelers. All he’s done in his first two NFL seasons is average 1737 yards from scrimmage.

Sometimes it takes just a little bit of time for a running back to figure things out. Writing off Melvin Gordon after basically three quarters of exhibition football is crazy. I mean, what’s next? Are you going to tell me the Jaguars are moving to San Diego or something?


Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/spor...#ixzz3kcQ54Vj7
Follow us: @nbcsandiego on Twitter | NBCSanDiego on Facebook




Derek Togerson must be a lurker here...

[chargerkdb]

I saw Huey get knocked on his back and run over by the DL. I'm off the Huey bandwagon.

You must be off the Rivers bandwagon too since this happens to him a lot

[Marshall/Boogie]

Derek Togerson must be a lurker here...

Absolutely.

[Formula 21]

You must be off the Rivers bandwagon too since this happens to him a lot

LOL.

[Formula 21]

Carrethers active: Nose tackle Ryan Carrethers played stout against the run and was active in pursuit, finishing with four combined tackles. Carrethers led all San Diego defensive linemen with nine tackles during exhibition play.

This is the guy I'm hoping makes a big splash this year. Like Yuba, I'm a fan of a productive NT.

[Steve]

My issue isn't about production. My issue is that big sloppy guys aren't necessarily productive, as the Texans just found out. Yuba used to feel the size was all it took, and that is just utter bullshit. There have been good NT who are smaller guys. And all the guys he pointed to as examples of current players were guys who were more than just big fat guys, but all the draft picks he liked were just big sloppy guys. He was generalizing that it was the size that mattered.

I don't think anyone is against a productive NT type, but Carrethers was a far better prospect as a NT then a guy like Nix or Danny Shelton, IMHO. Carrethers is not fast, but he can run, and is solid in pursuit. He has size, but he has some quickness, and gets a good push up the middle as a pass rusher. He looked like he was playing on roller skates last year early on, and he has gotten a lot better at staying low and keeping leverage. In short, he is coming along nicely. But he was a better prospect then either of the other two (Nix and Shelton), IMHO, and only cost us a 5th round pick.

The most important thing is we didn't spend a 3rd round pick to get Carrethers (yuba wanted to spend a #1 on him at one point). NT, if they end up being just run down players, are a waste of a high pick. The really big ones who can't run, don't play that much. So why spend a top pick on a one dimensional player who is going to get at most 20-25 plays per game? A 5th round pick for a role player is much better value.

Especially, when the weakness in our run D was, and still is how the guys around the NT play. Just getting a big immovable NT is not going to make us a strong run D. Guys like Ingram, Attaochu/Emmanuel, Butler, Teo, Liuget and Reyes have to do their part too, or you could have Jamal Williams in his prime there and it won't help.

There is this stupid idea that just get some big sloppy guy and all will be well. Well, KC has Poe and their run D sucked last year. They ranked 28th in run D (vs 26th in ours), they allowed 4.8 yards per carry, we allowed 4.6, and they had the best young NT in football, IMHO. That kid is a really good/great NT, and it didn't help shit. Run defense is a team endeavor. If you don't have 11 guys all doing their jobs effectively, then the rest of it is an uphill battle.

Yuba deal was that he felt like that was the big thing we were missing to be a good D, that getting a huge NT would make us a lot better a lot faster, and there is no evidence that it would have helped at all (see KC stats above). If nothing else, we have seen the end of the big run stuffing NT because teams will just play 3 WR formations and get the NT off the field unless they are all around players who can rush the QB too.

The key to having a top NT is finding guys like Ngata, or Poe, big guys who can play with technique and have the physical tools to run, penetrate and get after the QB. But like Ngata suggests, I would think real hard if I had a guy like that whether I wanted to even play him at NT (he played most of his career at DE). It is a lot harder to double team a DE then it is NT, so it allows the guy to make more plays. BUt every team in football is trying to find those guys, so we have to pay a permium price for them if we get one, and if we are wrong, and get a big sloppy guy, they end up being a huge bust like Nix.