2024 Chargers Draft Superthread - Prospect Discussion - Draft Has Started

[CanadianBoltFan]

Why did we bring in Dissly if not to block? Both the Ravens and 49ers lost to the Chiefs. There is no problem stopping our run game if
there is no passing attack. Teams will just stack the box. Who is Herbert going to throw to? You saw what they did to the 49ers late,
They brought in more people in the box and blitzed on a critical down. How were they able to do this? Their CBs shut down their WRs
which are currently much better than what we have and so is the 49ers O line.

There is reason the NFL is a passing league. It's not going to change anytime soon. Running the football has always been important as
it opens up the passing game. I believe this is what Harbaugh wants. It otherwise does not work in itself. We are not running the football
80% of the time. We hope to stay away from 3rd and long by having a consistent run game. But we win games by unleashing Herbert
and the pass game. So many close games come down to the last possession with less than 2 minutes to go. If we can't pass we're not
winning.

Jim Harbaugh, who played QB in the NFL for 15 seasons, is aware you need a passing game. He is also aware Justin Herbert can throw the ball pretty well. There will be a passing game, except this time there will be a run game instead of no run game and there will be some balance on offense.

We will have new WRs. Fortunately, when they decided to move on from two old WRs making 20+ million a year with cap hits over 30 million, they knew the best WR class in memory was 6 weeks away.

[Boltnut]

Am I suggesting that we not draft a WR...? Of course not. But it certainly doesn't mean that you have to draft them with the #5 pick.
The best rookie WR in 2023 was a 5th round pick.

[charger1_sj]

49ers also have an excellent defense. Not saying we don’t need offense to beat the Chiefs, just noting it. SF was 3rd in points allowed. Chiefs were #2 in Defense PA. They were #15 in offense in reg season (yards and points). They didn’t win the AFCCG or SB by a blowout offense, they won with defense.

Sure but their excellent defense could not stop KC when the chips were down. How did the Chiefs score the winning TD? Not by running the football. Kelce killed the
49ers. Plus the Ravens were on the cusp of beating the Chiefs when their rookie WR who was tearing it up fumbled in the KC end zone. That was a pass play not a run.

[charger1_sj]

What you guys seem to be missing... Dissly can block. But wouldn't it be better to have a RT that could hold their own (both pass blocking and run blocking...? You can send Dissly to the 2nd level to run block a LB or safety if you have a RT that can hold their own. Even in the passing game, you can send him out into patterns and force a defense to cover him. If you exclusively hold him in to pass block, the defense can commit another defender to flood the passing zones/lanes... making it harder to pass (regardless of who you have at WR).

The play-action pass will be the bread and butter of the offensive passing game. Without running the ball efficiently, there will be a restricted passing game. We've seen this... why do we continue to ignore this? Herbert's best year by far was the year we finally ran the ball @4.3 ypc.

You can tell me the Ravens and 49ers lost to the Chiefs. But let's remember how close each got to beating them. The 49ers took them to OT. And if not for 2 turnovers in the redzone, the Ravens might have beat them. Both teams got a lot closer than the Dolphins (great set of WR's). Trying to outscore the Chiefs is a fool's erand. The teams that beat them either ran the ball well or played great defense (or both). Create turnovers against the Chiefs if you want to win... you're not going to win a shootout.

Dissly is worthless in the passing game. One LB can easily cover him. Ideally you have a RT that nobody can beat. That does not exist. That's because
there are these guys called edge rushers. They are drafted to beat OTs and get to the QB. That's their job. There is no perfect answer to elite edge rushers.
You either give the RT help or suffer the consequences. The primary job of the RT is to protect the QB. It's the job of the OGs to open holes for the run game.
The OT has his assignment to take on the DE or edge guy on most run downs. You want a run game then you better invest in OGs.

A much better option is to have a TE that represents a problem in the passing game and run game. There is such a guy. His name is Bowers. If we drop
to #11 which is a possibility I would go with Bowers. I'll be fine with an OT as well. But they better get some playmakers.

[charger1_sj]

Another point to think about is linebackers are getting lighter and faster so it kind makes since to go back to smash mouth football.

We are still going to throw the ball, but we aren't going to push down the field like we did the last several years. They are going to be a lot of short to mid range passes to allow the receivers to get large chunks of yards after the catch. This is why I think QJ is going to have a breakout year this year. He is the perfect Harbaugh receiver.

Sorry but which games were you watching? We did not push down the field. We used short passes mostly to Allen to get 1st downs. The last year we
pushed down the field was when both Allen and Williams were healthy. If you want after the yards catch you run slants and have a pass catching TE that
can break tackles. QJ may be capable of doing that. But he's the only one and his hands are questionable. Herbert can throw a mean ball, not sure how
QJ is going to handle that.

[charger1_sj]

If I were designing an offense to beat the Chiefs, it would be an offense that can run the ball. I'd put Dissly in the backfield. Help out against Chris Jones in pass protect. Use him as a lead blocker. Certain plays send him out into the flat (bringing a LB or safety with him) to clear out some room in the middle for Hayden Hurst. Pick up the blitz up the middle (increasingly popular in the NFL). Be creative! Don't relegate him to helping out Pip every play on the right side... that's antiquated thinking. The same antiquated thinking that believes college left tackles couldn't possible be used on the right side.

Of course to do that, you need OT's that can hold their own on the outside... and Pip isn't that.

Chris Jones plays DT. A blocking TE is not going to help block him. You need OGs that can disrupt him. A blocking TE will help in the run game
and help protect the QB on blitzes and against elite edge guys. You're talking about using Dissly as a blocking fullback, not a TE, which is fine.
But it has it's drawbacks. No safety is going to follow Dissly in the flat. That's a DE or LB. Pipkins doesn't need help on every play as you project.
He needs help on third and long against elite pass rushers. The easy fix is to have some help. Upgrading to a better OT may help or not.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Am I suggesting that we not draft a WR...? Of course not. But it certainly doesn't mean that you have to draft them with the #5 pick.
The best rookie WR in 2023 was a 5th round pick.

Sure but I dont think we can use Puka as the rule, that is an outlier.

And you wouldnt take Puka over Chase or Jefferson who required first round picks. They are at a diffrent level than a good possession WR.

No we dont have to take a WR at #5....that makes sense in a trade down only though.

If you look at the way the talent in this draft shakes out combined with the chargers roster needs, taking a RT at 5 over elite players like MHJ, Nabers, Odunze is dumb. I dont care if you want to run the ball or not these top 3 WRS look like Chase, Fitzgerald calibre and we wont be in the top 5 again and we dont have a WR1

[Chargers8491]

Sorry but which games were you watching? We did not push down the field. We used short passes mostly to Allen to get 1st downs. The last year we
pushed down the field was when both Allen and Williams were healthy. If you want after the yards catch you run slants and have a pass catching TE that
can break tackles. QJ may be capable of doing that. But he's the only one and his hands are questionable. Herbert can throw a mean ball, not sure how
QJ is going to handle that.

The ones where Herber was getting exploded because he was trying to throw bombs to a WR who was used incorrectly. Those passes to Allen were mostly when they were in 3rd situations. Harbaugh will no doubt use QJ to his strengths and not make him into something he is not.

[beachcomber]

Palmer is capable of 70 catches/1k yards
QJ 40 balls/500 yards
Derrius Davis 30 balls/400 yards

we don't need to add so much.... one WR, one TE.... McCaffrey (20/350) & Sinnott (25/400) should get it done

+ Parham, Will Dissly, Hayden Hurst + RBs + prolly a FA WR as well

[CanadianBoltFan]

The ones where Herber was getting exploded because he was trying to throw bombs to a WR who was used incorrectly. Those passes to Allen were mostly when they were in 3rd situations. Harbaugh will no doubt use QJ to his strengths and not make him into something he is not.

Yes QJ is not a write off if they play to his strengths and use him properly which they did not do last year when they tried to make him Mike Williams going downfield for contested catches.

[beachcomber]

Sure but I dont think we can use Puka as the rule, that is an outlier.

And you wouldnt take Puka over Chase or Jefferson who required first round picks. They are at a diffrent level than a good possession WR.

No we dont have to take a WR at #5....that makes sense in a trade down only though.

If you look at the way the talent in this draft shakes out combined with the chargers roster needs, taking a RT at 5 over elite players like MHJ, Nabers, Odunze is dumb. I dont care if you want to run the ball or not these top 3 WRS look like Chase, Fitzgerald calibre and we wont be in the top 5 again and we dont have a WR1

dumb like a fox.... dumb like taking MW over Ramczyk.... let alone the likes of a Mahomes or TJ Watt

and we all know better than to say so and so wideout looks like the best thing since sliced bread/the second coming of so and so receiver....

[beachcomber]

there is also a very good chance that MHJ is gonna be about the fourth or fifth best receiver outta this class.... statwise the both of Odunze 'n Nabers outperformed him, and there is most always @least one surprise performer out of the receiver ranks most every year.... there is a (good) chance he won't be quite as mercurial as some here are assuming ??