2022 Official Chargers Season Discussion

[chargeroo]

Heyy Roo hope you are feeling well these days... I remember you made this same argument on the ol Chargers message board when I was arguing with you that the Chargers should draft him. Turns out you were exactly right with your assessment and I was wrong!

Thanks, On the other hand, I thought Jackson was a great pick since he never missed a game at Northwestern, and look how that's turned out.

I'm taking it day to day. The Doctors say I'll be in Heaven in less than six weeks but I'm asking God for more time than that. I have about two years on my bucket list so I'm praying for two more years. It's all in God's hands.

[jamrock]

There is guaranteed value in late rounds at EDGE, TE, RB , WR.

And we have all those picks to use...

Draft strategery.

sure, dumpster dive instead of guys that went top 5

[wu-dai clan]

sure, dumpster dive instead of guys that went top 5

What round was Yannick drafted in ?
Maxx ?
Larry English ?
I rest my case.

[wu-dai clan]

There but unless we sign a FA I don't see us needing development guys at Edge and TE without someone there to play and help this year. Rumph didn't play much last year as a 4th rounder.

Go for more than one bite of the apple.

I want a bite of that apple-the tart one that's not ripe yet.

Paschal in round three is excellent value
and a boost for our run defense, to boot.

[jamrock]

What round was Yannick drafted in ?
Maxx ?
Larry English ?
I rest my case.

We’re talking RBs and there are plenty that go in later rounds that are successful NFL backs. But Barkley and Fournette are probably better

[jamrock]

I see Sparky took the mic at the combine today and rambled on for 20+ minutes about a whole lot of what not

[ChargersPowderBlue]

Yeah, it’s that time of year where cloak and daggers are involved lol.

Go to 1:56. That's John Spanos behind the scenes.

[wu-dai clan]

We’re talking RBs and there are plenty that go in later rounds that are successful NFL backs. But Barkley and Fournette are probably better

What round was Ekeler drafted in ?
BTW this is a trick question.
Oh never mind.
I'm gonna go re-listen to Sparky.
There was actually a nugget or two in there.
He can't hold a candle to TT
as far as articulating a nothing burger goes.

[jamrock]

What round was Ekeler drafted in ?
BTW this is a trick question.
Oh never mind.
I'm gonna go re-listen to Sparky.
There was actually a nugget or two in there.
He can't hold a candle to TT
as far as articulating a nothing burger goes.

Yeah I know about Ekeler. What round was LT drafted in? What round was Joshua Kelly drafted? What round was Larry Rountree drafted? We could do this all day.

since Gates was an UDFA we should never waste a pick on a TE again?

[wu-dai clan]

Yeah I know about Ekeler. What round was LT drafted in? What round was Joshua Kelly drafted? What round was Larry Rountree drafted? We could do this all day.

since Gates was an UDFA we should never waste a pick on a TE again?

When I mention noticing late round value at EDGE, RB, TE WR,
that means we can have a good shot at finding real ballers there. It can even involve double dipping.

Staley said today that this off season gives us a chance to become what we wanna look like.
The goal is to be deep and complete.

[Xenos]

Go to 1:56. That's John Spanos behind the scenes.

Don’t need to. It’s in the still of the video already. And thank goodness I’m pass this episode already. You could have ruined it for me.

[Xenos]

Popper’s takeaways from Staley’s press conference today.

https://theathletic.com/3160407/2022/03/02/takeaways-from-chargers-coach-brandon-staleys-combine-presser/

INDIANAPOLIS — Chargers coach Brandon Staley met with the media Wednesday at the combine.

Here are my takeaways.


Some intel on new coaches
Staley spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since making several changes and additions to his coaching staff in February. The Chargers hired Ryan Ficken as their new special teams coordinator, replacing Derius Swinton, who was fired after the season. They hired Chris Gould as a special teams assistant. Gould replaces former special teams assistant Mayur Chaudhari. Tom Arth was hired as a passing game specialist. Mike Hiestand was hired as an offensive assistant. And Brenden Nugent was hired as the team’s new offensive line coach, replacing Frank Smith, who is now the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator.

A few noteworthy nuggets and quotes:

• On Ficken, Staley said: “Felt like his vision really fit with where we’re trying to go as a football team. … He’s great with the players.”

• Staley and Arth first coached together at Division III John Carroll University in 2013. Staley said Arth “was in demand” once he was fired as the head coach of Akron in November. “It’s just awesome to partner up again and have him team up with our offensive staff,” Staley added.

• Nugent spent the past seven seasons with the Saints and coached with Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi from 2016 to 2020. It is clear that relationship was a factor in this hire. Staley said he first met Nugent in 2011 when Nugent was coaching at William & Mary. “He’s been around a lot of really good offensive football and a lot of good offensive lines,” Staley said. “That offensive line in New Orleans has been one of the integral parts of their success.”

• Hiestand has a defensive background as both a player and coach. He spent the past three seasons as a defensive assistant for the Broncosunder Vic Fangio. Staley, of course, coached under Fangio for three seasons and runs a similar defensive scheme. Hiestand, though, will be coaching on the offensive side for the Chargers, primarily offensive line and tight ends, according to Staley. Hiestand’s father, Harry Hiestand, has been a longtime offensive line coach in college and the pros and is currently the offensive line coach at Notre Dame. Harry Hiestand coached a number of NFL linemen at Notre Dame, including Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson, Ronnie Stanley and Mike McGlinchey. Staley did say, however, that he believes Mike Hiestand can coach on either side of the ball. “Just really felt like he could add a lot to our offensive football staff, just knowing where we come from on defense and our belief system having been a big part of what Vic was doing in Denver,” Staley said.

• John Timu was promoted from Alex G. Spanos Coaching Fellow to defensive assistant. Staley said Timu — who played for Staley on the Bears in 2017 — had garnered interest from teams “that were after his services.”


Building the defense
Staley’s defense did not live up to expectations last season. The Chargers finished 26th in DVOA, Football Outsiders’ efficiency metric. They struggled to stop the run. They struggled in coverage. They struggled on third down. It was the primary reason they did not make the postseason despite having a top-five offense, led by Justin Herbert.

The Chargers will be investing in that unit this offseason, both through the draft and in free agency. Staley specifically mentioned two position groups the organization would be focusing on.

“On defense, up front and then in the secondary are going to be some areas that we look at,” Staley said. “The goal of this offseason for us is to become a complete team and a deep team. Those two words you’re going to hear me say a lot.”

The Chargers secondary depth was a glaring problem last season. They dealt with injuries and attrition, and the depth defensive backs — like cornerback Tevaughn Campbell and safety Trey Marshall — were exposed.

I expect the Chargers to move on from veteran slot corner Chris Harris Jr., who is set to become a free agent when the new league year begins March 16. That will leave a hole in the starting lineup. The Chargers played with five or more defensive backs on the field on 73.6 percent of their defensive snaps last season. The nickel corner — or Star, as Staley calls it — comes on in those groups. They will likely need to find a replacement for Harris.

Staley mimicked what general manager Tom Telesco said on Tuesday: Asante Samuel Jr.could potentially move inside to the slot in 2022.

“Asante gives us that flex,” Staley said. “I think when we evaluated him, we felt like that was something that he could do. He proved that he could do it in camp to an extent, but based off who we had, the best thing for Asante was to play outside, knowing that we had Chris, and I think that allowed Asante to get off to a really good start as a player instead of, hey, maybe being pulled in too many directions early. I think now Asante is a lot more ready for that, a lot more prepared.”

If that is the plan, the Chargers have more options as far as bringing in more corner talent. They do not necessarily need to target players with slot flexibility. That opens the door for some intriguing free agents like J.C. Jackson, D.J. Reed, Darious Williams and Donte Jackson.

“Corner is definitely going to be something that we’re looking at,” Staley said. “We’re always going to be looking at it as long as I’m the head coach.”

Overall, this offseason presents a bona fide opportunity for Staley to reshape the defensive personnel in his image. In 2021, he was mostly working with holdovers from the previous coaching regime. Former Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley runs a very different system than Staley, both schematically and philosophically.

With $56.3 million in projected cap space, according to OverTheCap, the Chargers can target pretty much any free agent they want. And I expect them to use a lot of that space to revamp this defense.

“What we’ve undertaken here and what’s ongoing is just establishing our way of playing from a personnel standpoint,” Staley said of his defense. “This offseason will allow us to look the way that we want to look.”