2023 Official Roster Build Thread - The Initial 53 / Practice Squad

[Boltjolt]

Our top CB, Davis was injured 2nd half v Jax.
6th rd rookie JaSir Taylor had the speed but not the skills.

Yep hard to believe just moving Asante made a big difference but also Jax used different formations as well and we didnt adapt well to them and having Davis out didnt help.

[Trumpet Man]

Popper i have come to like. Iknow that isnt Popper and not sure i care what he thinks as i did watch some of it.

But Popper, ....Asks the tough questions, and in his Youtube Hops with Pops, he calls out those who post "shit posting"....lol. You know, saying dumb things like we have in here, but he calls it out on video.

I dont care that he isnt a Chargers fan, thats actually great, for his takes arent biased and he does a very fair job of reporting. His last Hops with Pops, i saw no mention of the Chargers may cut Keenan but i dont watch the entire hour and 17 minutes either.

I just discovered Popper in the last month. Dude is crushing it. Saw him tell YouTube podcast live chatters to GTFO if they did not like his opinions and he was not a fan boy of the Chargers. Calls balls and strikes. I like it - a lot. Refreshingly honest.

[cmplxgal]

The Chargers are $20M over the cap for next season with 53 players under contract according to OTC (including the 12 players signed to reserve/future contracts), and then they have 26 free agents. How can they possibly put a team together? I would like to re-sign a bunch of the free agents:

Unrestricted free agents (7):

CB Bryce Callahan
DL Morgan Fox
T Trey Pipkins
P JK Scott
QB Easton Stick
LB Drue Tranquill
OLB Kyle Van Noy


Restricted Free Agents (2):

WR Jalen Guyton
TE Donald Parham Jr.


Exclusive Rights Free Agents (2):

K Cameron Dicker
NT Breiden Fehoko


That's another 11, which would give them 64 under contract. Only the top 51 count for cap purposes. And then there are the draft picks. The team has to be cap-compliant by 4 pm ET on March 15. They will have to cut or restructure Mack and Allen, plus cut the obvious candidates (Hopkins, Feiler, Murray?, Everett?). They can't do anything about Bosa's or JC Jackson's contracts according to OTC.


Players under contract right now:


Offense (25):

Quarterback (1): Justin Herbert

Running back (4): Austin Ekeler, Joshua Kelley, Isaiah Spiller, RB Larry Rountree

Fullback (1): Zander Horvath

Offensive line (10): T Rashawn Slater, G Matt Feiler, C Corey Linsley, G Zion Johnson, G Brenden Jaimes, G/T Jamaree Salyer, T Andrew Trainer, C Isaac Weaver, G Zack Bailey, T Austen Pleasants

Wide receiver (5): Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Joshua Palmer, Keelan Doss, WR John Hightower

Tight end (4): Gerald Everett, Tre' McKitty, Stone Smartt, Hunter Kampmoyer



Defense (26):

Defensive line (5): NT Austin Johnson, DE Sebastian Joseph-Day, Otito Ogbonnia, Christopher Hinton, David Moa

Edge rusher (5): Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Chris Rumph II, Ty Shelby, Carlo Kemp

Linebacker (5): Kenneth Murray, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Nick Niemann, Damon Lloyd, Tyreek Maddox-Williams

Cornerback (6): J.C. Jackson, Asante Samuel Jr., Michael Davis, Ja'Sir Taylor, Deane Leonard, Michael Jacquet

Safety (5): Derwin James, Alohi Gilman, JT Woods, Raheem Layne, Mark Webb



Specialists (2):

K Dustin Hopkins

P

LS Josh Harris

[sonorajim]

Yep hard to believe just moving Asante made a big difference but also Jax used different formations as well and we didnt adapt well to them and having Davis out didnt help.

Agreed.
The dismal offensive performance was a major handicap
Lousy red zone, TOP, etc.
The early D set up our scoring. Chargers O was too mediocre 1st half. 3 point 2nd half O was terrible, couldn't even burn any clock.
Hence no more Lombardi, Shane Day.

[jamrock]

Agreed.
The dismal offensive performance was a major handicap
Lousy red zone, TOP, etc.
The early D set up our scoring. Chargers O was too mediocre 1st half. 3 point 2nd half O was terrible, couldn't even burn any clock.
Hence no more Lombardi, Shane Day.

They let them off the mat with the worst 3rd and less than a yard play you could possibly call. Lombardi was fired for that alone

[FoutsFan]

you know as well as most anyone here that there is this thing called the cap, and yes.... who wouldn't want a multitude of talent and skill sets @every position.

we made the decision to resign MW, which looked better after the top receivers were off the board @17 last year, and.... Stalombo didn't make much use of Guyton when they had him, and.... we passed on Kadarius.... and now there's talk of bringing in a speed receiver ?? and Staley is now willing to sit his third round, hand selected wideout in lieu of more speed ??

I am sick of winning the cap SB every year. Some people here would rather have a perfect cap and no playoffs or winning. I would gladly sacrifice the cap and all the cap worshipers for a SB.

[Bolt4Knob]

They let them off the mat with the worst 3rd and less than a yard play you could possibly call. Lombardi was fired for that alone

That call changed the game. Even if they stuff Herbert for no gain - Scott is punting 10 yards further up the field. Maybe he shanks another 34 yarder - maybe he hits a 42 yarder. Field position lost - 18 yards.

I still cannot imagine what he was thinking running that with a guy just off the practice squad. Why wasn't the call a QB sneak with Horvath pushing Herbert forward.

[Fouts2herbert]

Problem being he's a UFA. With our cap situation we could easily be outbid. We didn't sign him in his last year, that's an indication that he's either expendable
or his agent is asking too much to bear.

We all assumed that kyzir and chenna were asking for too much and that didn’t turn out to be the case at all…

[blueman]

They let them off the mat with the worst 3rd and less than a yard play you could possibly call. Lombardi was fired for that alone

Rightfully so. For any OC in that situation, firing offense indeed.

[Boltnut]

I am sick of winning the cap SB every year. Some people here would rather have a perfect cap and no playoffs or winning. I would gladly sacrifice the cap and all the cap worshipers for a SB.

Nobody is trying to win the "Cap SB". We're simply doing Math.

https://overthecap.com/calculator/los-angeles-chargers

[Bolt4Knob]

Nobody is trying to win the "Cap SB". We're simply doing Math.

https://overthecap.com/calculator/los-angeles-chargers

Combined with looking at the value and producitivity of a player at one price point compared to possibly upgrading the position longer term referring of course to Keenan Allen. I get it - he has been a very good player. He is the last vestige of the San Diego Chargers (and Bosa). He is "the Slayer". He has been very reliable. All of that can be true. And it also might be the right move to make now and not a year later - kicking 15m of cap space down the road. Where you release him now, the team saves like 40m of cap space over two years When in all likelihood this is his last year,. Its a tough decision.

The vikings might release Dalvin Cook for cap reasons, along with Thielen and Harrison Smith. Harrison Smith is pretty similar to Allen in terms of longevity to the team. But these are the moves teams make

[dmac_bolt]

We have not seen Salyer at ORT, with help via Slater at OLT on an island.

I do not particularly want an inexperienced ORT next to Zion.

The new O staff need to figure out why Zion regressed as the season went on. Still see a lot of talent there but his back half performance was what it was.