2018 Free Agency

[TTThunder]

Steve,

1.(Sorry for asking...) I recalled you had mentioned some time ago that, drafting a DT is not good for round 1 since they usually don't play as many snaps as other positions (eg. Nickle and dime CBs).

Why are 2 of your top 3 favorite prospects DT?

2. From the mock draft I had seen, it looks like we can get either your #1, #3 or at worst #4 with our #17 pick!

Thanks!!!

[Boltjolt]

Steve probably meant in our defense with Pagano the NT's didnt play as much.

[Steve]

It also depends where in the 1st round you are drafting. The really high (top 10 picks) have a hard time justifying their salary. Everyone expects 10 or 12 sacks per season due to the heavy contract. Usually, the guys who get picked there are a jack of all trades types. They are huge, they have some speed, they are decently quick, they are strong........ But in the end those guys don't tend to be the best pass rushers, which is about the only stat that is kept for DL.

The new rookie salary schedule, top draft picks still have big contract values, but by the time you get out of the top 10 or so, you can live with a guy who is maybe not putting up the other stats, so long as they play the run well.

A guy like Hurst or Donald, smaller, quicker do get pushed around some. You can often run at them, but those guy who have a lot of speed and quickness are the guys who put up the big sack numbers (among the DT). But the stat that gets lost is that while a player like Donald might get pushed around on some plays, he will beat the guy opposite him with quickness and then kill a running team's drive by stopping the RB for a 3-5 yard loss, and those are not something that people take into account that much. And some smaller players who are quick can also stay low and they often are just as good as the big powerful guys. Ultimately it comes down to leverage and small players often can get lower and low man wins.


The huge NT who just eat up space are OK players too. My big thing with Yuba was he just ASSUMED every big guy could do that. He would start to drool any time there was a big sloppy guy and just assume that they guy would make a great run defender. There was a huge NT type from Georgia a few years ago who he swore would have been a much better pick than Keenan Allen. His 2nd year he was forced into the line by injuries (for the saints) and he looked like he was on roller skates. I watched an undersized C push the guy back into the secondary and ended up cutting off the backside secondary pursuit because he still couldn't get off the block 15 yards downfield. The guy was like 350-360, and while I wouldn't call the guy sloppy, he was just not very good.

I am fine draft big powerful DT, but if we spend our 1st round pick on one, lets focus on a guy like Payne. He is pretty big (320ish, although he is listed at 308), but the guy stays low, sheds blocks and just generally manhandles good players opposite him. He can run too. In a lot of Alabama's blitz packages they loop him outside to have contain, and he does a good job despite all the running QB they face. He is never going to be a big sack guy because of his style of play, but he is a useful push the pocket type guy, who runs really nice stunts and games.

I just don't want us to go after guys who are JUST BIG, which is a big part of why I am struggling with Vea. He is at least athletic, but his technique is awful and he is a big project. While the top of the DT crop is decent, I think there is good depth in this draft. Lower round picks need a little more patience in letting them develop, but I think there are later and middle round picks who can come in and be part of the DL rotation while they develop.

[Steve]

Steve,

1.(Sorry for asking...) I recalled you had mentioned some time ago that, drafting a DT is not good for round 1 since they usually don't play as many snaps as other positions (eg. Nickle and dime CBs).

Why are 2 of your top 3 favorite prospects DT?

2. From the mock draft I had seen, it looks like we can get either your #1, #3 or at worst #4 with our #17 pick!

Thanks!!!

If you are thinking NT, they are usually subbed out in the 34D. The 34 DE play the pass rushing DT spots for 34 teams (OLB play the DE spots).

34 NT are generally very large run down specialists. It is very rare that you have a guy who can rush the passer well enough to stay on the field on passing downs.

I don't know how to answer #2, since I don't necessarily look at many mock drafts (or at least waste mental ram to store the results). Just remember that the mock drafts and media guys let the NFL teams do most of the scouting and then they talk to them, getting info. You are at someone else mercy when you let them do the scouting. I watch my own, so they are all guys I like their technique and think they would fit us and what we need. If there is a problem with that, it is that TT doesn't draft by need, so he may not be looking at the same guys I am.

[charger1993]

Well if they do draft Nelson they almost have to move Feeney to Center of Lamp to RT

Why couldn't feeny play LG, and let nelson and lampnhold down the right side.??

[bonehead]

Why couldn't feeny play LG, and let nelson and lampnhold down the right side.??

[charger1993]

Ok i was confused. I was like why is feeny pegged for center and not the other guard spot

[Steve]

A lot of OG can play C too. Feeney was being looked at by some teams as a C. Some of that is need, some of it they just felt it was his natural position. We had Feeney take snaps at C during TC and the 2nd or 3rd preseason game (I can't remember which). Since Pulley was the weak link on the OL last year, it is not out of the question to fill the C spot this way.

As far as Lamp goes, other teams were supposedly looking at him as a C too. He can probably play any position on the OL.

The big thing is unless the "don't draft ANY OG that high thing kicks in, Nelson is going to be gone long before we pick. Even if everyone buys into that nonsense, someone after 10 to 15 will decide he is too good to pass up. I heard someone on NFL network (Mayock?) say he thought Nelson was the best player in the draft, which I would agree with. He just is a big of a wild card in that he isn't going to that high because of the OG thing.

The only certain thing is he won't get to us unless we trade up.

As far as which side they will play, I kinda doubt they will necessarily put two rookies (Lamp is essentially a rookie) starting next to each other.

[chargerkdb]

Nelson would have been best O lineman in last draft and IS the best in this draft. He absolutely should not fall as far as 17. Was watching tape of McGlinchey and kept getting distracted by Nelson. He is the real deal

[Steve]

I think McGlinchey probably owes Nelson about half his signing bonus. For such a higher regarded OT, Nelson saves his ass a lot. It is Nelson's ability to help the C and OT that makes he so spectacular. There are OG who are really good at being physical, and Nelson is amazing in that area, but few of those guys have the ability to shift and adjust to the game around them. Nelson dominates his guy and can still help out making the guys around him better.

[Steve]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page...-bill-barnwell

Los Angeles Chargers
1. Pick up the fifth-year option on Melvin Gordon. Injuries have kept Gordon from emerging as a consistently impactful running back, but the Wisconsin product served as the focal point of the offense for a long stretch in 2016, when he was one of the few left standing. Gordon hasn't been healthy enough to justify an extension, but he's good enough to keep around into 2019.

2. Ask Travis Benjamin and Corey Liuget to take a pay cut.Benjamin, the former Browns draftee, hasn't been consistent during his time in California, having racked up 1,244 receiving yards and eight touchdowns over two seasons. He's likely the fourth wideout on the depth chart this season behind Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Tyrell Williams, which makes his $5.8 million salary a luxury. The Chargers can save $4.5 million by releasing Benjamin, money they can better apply to weaker parts of the roster.


Liuget has never lived up to the five-year, $51.3 million deal he signed before the 2015 season, offering enough neither as a pass-rusher or as a run-defender on a unit that ranked 27th in DVOA in the latter category. He wouldn't make anything close to the three years and $26.3 million remaining on his deal on the open market, and the Chargers should be interested in getting a discount, if not moving on from their former first-round pick altogether.

3. Re-sign a group of restricted free agents. While most teams don't have any restricted free agents worth discussing, the Chargers have several worth retaining in wideout Tyrell Williams, safety Adrian Phillips and backup edge rusher Chris McCain. (Cornerback Trevor Williams also is an exclusive-rights free agent, which is a paradox.) The Chargers should be interested in bringing them all back.

Phillips could move into the starting lineup if the Chargers don't re-sign Tre Boston, who racked up five interceptions in his best season as a pro after coming over from the Panthers. The price for Boston might determine whether the Chargers should bring him back, given that they've already invested in Jahleel Addae and Casey Hayward in the secondary and have Jason Verrett signed for one more year at his fifth-year option price of $8.3 million. If the bidding for Boston tops $7 million per year, I would be hesitant to pay up for a guy whom the league didn't really value very much before last season.

4. Lock up Casey Hayward and Denzel Perryman. Speaking of Hayward, the former Packers corner is due for a huge raise after emerging as one of the best cornerbacks in all of football. Hayward's three-year, $15.3 million deal has been one of the biggest free-agent steals in recent memory for the Chargers, as Hayward has gone from being a slot cornerback with the Packers to a guy capable of competing with any receiver in football anywhere on the field.

Hayward, 28, has racked up 11 interceptions over the past two years, and with one year left on that contract, the Chargers are going to have to offer their star corner a new deal as early as this offseason. There's every reason to think the Chargers will need to give Hayward an extension in the five-year, $70 million range to stay in Los Angeles for years to come.

Perryman hasn't been quite as revelatory over the past couple of years. But the Chargers had a significantly better run defense with him on the field, and they got lost for stretches last season while their defensive signal-caller was out injured. The University of Miami product hasn't been able to stay healthy, having missed 15 games over his first three seasons, but Los Angeles has allowed 4.0 yards per carry with Perryman on the field and 4.8 yards per carry with Perryman sidelined.

5. Make a run at one of the top-tier defensive tackles. Teams are going to copy the Eagles this offseason, and as plans go, you can do worse than bombarding the opposing team with dominant defensive linemen. The good news for the Chargers is that they already have one of the best edge-rushing combinations in football with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. The problem: The interior of the line hasn't been as effective.

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley helped build a Jaguars defense that finally crested after he departed, so let's try to get the Chargers a dominant interior piece. Sheldon Richardson and Star Lotulelei are both free agents, and while they're going to help dramatically against the run, Richardson or Lotulelei might not be a third impactful pass-rusher the Chargers could thrive with alongside Bosa and Ingram.

What about Ndamukong Suh? There are rumblings that the Dolphins could cut their highly paid defensive tackle, and while Suh is coming off his least productive season as a pro, it was still good for 4.5 sacks and 12 knockdowns. If that's your worst campaign, you're doing OK. Suh never gets injured and still commands plenty of double-teams. I can see the argument for spending money elsewhere, but if Suh hits the market, he would be a massive upgrade on Liuget on the interior.

[Steve]

Focusing mostly on #5, Lotuleilei did not play all that well in Caronlina the last couple of years. He plays hard, but is not all that productive. Richardson did a good job vs the run in Seattle, but hasn't shown much pass rush in the last couple seasons. The other big name DT will be Mo Wilkerson, but he has been much worse that Liuget and got paid a lot more.

FA that I like all have some marks against them. DaQuan Jones (injury), David Irvin (Concussions/RFA), Justin Ellis (Weight/motivation) and Bennie Logan (price).

[Formula 21]

[Formula 21]