Unpopular Opinions: Chargers Need To Keep Melvin Ingram For Another Season

[ghost]

Let's Agree or Argue: Chargers need to keep Melvin Ingram for another season

https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/2020/12/21/lets-agree-or-argue-chargers-need-to-keep-melvin-ingram-for-another-season/

The Chargers’ 2020 season is winding down and the offseason is approaching. This is where the hottest team debates start to arise.

With that being said, we went to Twitter and Facebook to ask fans to list their hottest unpopular opinions about the current and future state of Los Angeles.

Let’s dive in!

Edge defender Melvin Ingram is slated to hit the free agency market after this season. While Ingram has been a key piece of the defense for years now, his time in the blue and gold should be coming to an end. 2020 will be the first season in Ingram’s career in which he did not record a sack. His season was cut short after being placed on the injured reserve twice. That is a bad combo for a player entering free agency: injured and unproductive. Given the 31-year old’s production throughout his career, he will have a market. Sure, the injuries might make the market limited and the Chargers could sign him cheap, but I believe he will get more money elsewhere. Plus, Los Angeles has other unrestricted free agents that have proven themselves as worth keeping like Hunter Henry and Michael Davis. Looking ahead, L.A. can roll with Uchenna Nwosu as a full-time starter at weakside defensive end. Or, the team can draft someone in Round 1 like Gregory Rousseau or Kwity Paye to compliment Joey Bosa.

I wrote up why the Chargers could fire general manager Tom Telesco. However, I believe the chances of that are slim compared to them firing coach Anthony Lynn. I do like the idea of putting wide receiver Mike Williams on the trade block. Williams hasn’t shown to be consistently healthy. But would there be much of a market for him? Williams is playing under his fifth-year rookie option in 2021 that is worth a whopping $15.6 million. It’s unlikely the compensation would be a lot, as well. If they decided to cut him before June 1, there is no dead cap hit. While Jalen Guyton and Tyron Johnson have shown flashes, I still wouldn’t past Los Angeles to consider taking a pass-catcher as early as the first round, with someone like Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith or even Kyle Pitts.

Man, the Chargers haven’t had a consistent positional group all season. They have a lot of bodies at the running back position, headlined by Austin Ekeler. It’s unfortunate that Justin Jackson has been injured and Joshua Kelley, the 2020 fourth-round pick, has barely flashed. Kalen Ballage has been a decent midseason pickup and Troymaine Pope has done a fine job in a limited capacity. They rank near the middle of the pack in yards per game with 111.4. However, they might benefit from better play up front in that department, as Los Angeles ranks near the bottom in team run block win rate (67%), per ESPN. L.A. is hopeful that Kelley can be more productive in Year 2 and Jackson can stay healthy. They might have better success with more efficient blocking by potentially a couple of new hog mollies acquired either via free agency or the draft.

[Fleet]

Rather have Kerrigan. I think he may be cheap. Coming off a season where he had to rotate and spell 2 major studs in Young/Sweat. He may be totally motivated and somewhat fresh. Close to the same age as Melvin. Ultra durable. He is the London Fletcher of DEs.

[Bolt4Knob]

No to Ingram - -too old, too slow based on this year. Data also shows the more snaps players over 30 play - historically, that is worse for the team. Not saying there cannot be outliers but I wouldn't bet on Ingram being close to the same player

Need an ascending player - not descending. Joseph and Harris on the defense are enough of the "older players'.

[Topcat]

Well, let's take a look at Ingram's stats...I know he's been hurt, but he HAS played 7 games...let's see...hmmm...how many sacks on the year...ZERO...sorry, adios, Mel...

ingram.JPG

[jubei]

I've also seen him take plays off, basically standing still. I'm a HARD NO on ingram.

[Fleet]

He pulls up in his stupid ride for Hard Knocks. Starts rapping his lame song. Then quickly gets upset about his money. Holds out. Its all about Melvin. It used to feel more about the team with him. But now it doesnt so much.

Give me a lunch pail type. No more Divas. And look for a value guy in the draft. This draft isnt exactly loaded with top end pass rushers.

We also need to get Nwosu better.

[FoutsFan]

He pulls up in his stupid ride for Hard Knocks. Starts rapping his lame song. Then quickly gets upset about his money. Holds out. Its all about Melvin. It used to feel more about the team with him. But now it doesnt so much.

Give me a lunch pail type. No more Divas. And look for a value guy in the draft. This draft isnt exactly loaded with top end pass rushers.

We also need to get Nwosu better.

Back in the day (late 80's then early 90's) we had a guy like that, he was a defensive tackle named Blaise Winter. Dude was complete lunch pail and just gave 100% every snap. We need more like that.

[ghost]

He pulls up in his stupid ride for Hard Knocks. Starts rapping his lame song. Then quickly gets upset about his money. Holds out. Its all about Melvin. It used to feel more about the team with him. But now it doesnt so much.

Give me a lunch pail type. No more Divas. And look for a value guy in the draft. This draft isnt exactly loaded with top end pass rushers.

We also need to get Nwosu better.

Correctamundo.

The only one I see Micah Parsons. This kid's got the eye of the tiger.

[Bolt4Knob]

He pulls up in his stupid ride for Hard Knocks. Starts rapping his lame song. Then quickly gets upset about his money. Holds out. Its all about Melvin. It used to feel more about the team with him. But now it doesnt so much.

Give me a lunch pail type. No more Divas. And look for a value guy in the draft. This draft isnt exactly loaded with top end pass rushers.

We also need to get Nwosu better.

I don't mind that stuff. I just want a guy to play better. He was not good this year. He looked older, slower to me. And looking at hjow he would play next year, I don't think he will get better. He can only get worse. Linval still had a good year so its not like the last year with Mebane when they kept him one year too long - Joseph is fine to keep. He has been dang good

As for Ingram, some team will sign him for more money than they should and he will be cut after one year. The Chargers with Bosa, potentially Murray, James and Dru have "playmakers" - they need somebody opposite Bosa to do just be a good solid football player.

[ghost]

Back in the day (late 80's then early 90's) we had a guy like that, he was a defensive tackle named Blaise Winter. Dude was complete lunch pail and just gave 100% every snap. We need more like that.

Greatest sack dance ever! The Seizure.

Blaise Winter played in this playoff game, as did RB Eric Bieneimy for the Chargers.

[ghost]

Back to the thread: Who Rushes the Passer?

I don't want Melvin Ingram back. What's more important, I don't believe the front office does either. I watch #Chargers media closely, living in Los Angeles, and they removed Mel from all media, web banners, everything, in early October.

[ghost]

FACT: DE Joey Bosa needs a new running partner.

As Fleeter has so aptly pointed-out, there are not alot of top end pass rushers in this draft. That's a fact.

Before we get into specifics, Let's address something I see causing alot of consternation among Bolt fans. This article is superb in addressing that, IMHO.

September 2017, THOUSAND OAKS >> Wade Phillips has been in this position before. Four of the past six times he has switched teams, to be exact. And so, when you ask about his concern transitioning from last year’s 4-3 defense to his vaunted 3-4, a topic that seems to whip fans of his new defenses into a state of nervous hysteria, Phillips calmly brushes off the question. The 70-year-old Rams defensive coordinator could not possibly be less concerned.

“I’ve been in this situation,” Phillips says. “We’ve always come up with something.”

A few months later and a few hundred miles south, the same question is posed to Gus Bradley, and he responds with a grin. The Chargers’ new defensive coordinator is taking his defense in the other direction, from a 3-4 to a 4-3, and not only is he unconcerned about such a transition, he’s seems fairly certain the new defense won’t mean much of a change at all.

“That transition,” Bradley says, “it hasn’t been real tough.”

Years ago, such schematic shifts on NFL defenses meant massive roster turnover, in a time when players were more bound to specific schemes. But as much as coaches and fans alike still attach to the schemes we’ve always known — 4-3, 3-4, 5-2 — those rigid two-number-only systems are less accurate now than they’ve ever been.

As NFL offenses have become more fluid, so too have their defensive counterparts. Linebackers move around, floating from the line of scrimmage to deep zones in the middle of the field. Safeties play like linebackers. Nickelbacks play like safeties. Defensive ends shift inside and out. Tweeners, once a dirty word in draft circles, are now “versatile athletes.” And versatility — on defense as much as offense — is all the rage.

“Defenses are forced to be so multiple now,” says Tony Dungy, the former Colts coach who was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame. “Now, you play a team like the Patriots, and you may see five receivers, three receivers and a tight end, and then the next week, it’s two tight ends and two running backs in a power game. All of these offenses that can play in different ways with different personnel forces defenses to be able to defend differently.”

On paper, Phillips and Bradley are taking their defenses in different schematic directions. But as NFL schemes trend more toward positionlessness, base defenses have, more or less, lost their schematic uniqueness, anyway. Nickel defenses are on the field more than half the time. And for two of the NFL’s most innovative defensive coaches, that’s meant creating defensive systems that aren’t bound by the standard schemes they once were.

“I can say there was never a situation where a player was a good player who couldn’t play (on my defense),” Phillips says.

For Robert Quinn, the first day was the hardest. In his six years with the Rams, Quinn had never rushed the passer without first putting his hand in the dirt. But here he was standing upright, crouched into an outside two-point linebacker’s stance for the first time in his career.

In his 3-4 defense, Phillips seeks to exploit 1-on-1 matchups. He lines up both outside linebackers on or near the line of scrimmage, forcing offenses to account for both, while only one or both — or sometimes neither — rushes. For Quinn, it was awkward at first. But after a few practices, as he settled into the new footwork, he realized his job was essentially the same as it’d been before as a 4-3 defensive end.

“I made it simple for myself,” Quinn says. “They’re really just letting me go out there and play.”

That’s been Phillips’ mantra with his most talented defenders in each stop as a coordinator. It’s no coincidence that, in those six teams’ first season with Phillips, he’s helped them to the playoffs. In 1989, after Phillips was hired, the Broncos went from 20th to 1st in scoring defense. In 2002, the Falcons went from 24th to 8th. In 2004, the Chargers were the 11th-ranked scoring defense, after finishing 31st the year before. And in his next two jobs — Houston (2011) and Denver (2015) — Phillips’ defense jumped from 29th and 16th in scoring defense, respectively, to fourth in his first season after changing to his 3-4 defense.

Players credit the quick transition to the way Phillips teaches his scheme, breaking it down to the most fundamental levels, before teaching the basics over and over. The scheme is secondary to the gap responsibility of each player.

“With some schemes, that’s complicated,” says Mark Barron, who’s shifting to play 3-4 inside linebacker this season. “It might not seem like it makes sense. But everything makes sense right off the bat with his schemes. Anyone who’s played football for awhile, it feels like common sense.”

For the Chargers, the change has come even more naturally. Last year was the only one Joey Bosa ever spent in a 3-4 defense. Switching back to a 4-3 meant kicking out to the defensive end role he had at Ohio State, which, when compared to his role further inside in the 3-4, was second nature.

“It’s going great,” Bosa says. “For me, it’s not too much of a change. My techniques aren’t changing too much. I’m just playing the edge.”

Melvin Ingram, the other half of the Chargers’ young pass-rush duo, will have a slightly different role as a weakside linebacker. But it didn’t take long to convince him on a new position, either. He gave his vote of confidence the first day he reported. By preseason, he was already settled in.

“I’m really just doing the same thing I was doing in any other defense I’ve been in since I’ve been in the league,” Ingram said.

Matt Longacre was less certain how he might fit into Phillips’ 3-4 defense. The Rams reserve lineman is not exactly a prototype of the NFL’s hybrid defense revolution. Whereas Quinn is blessed with long arms and an uncommon athleticism, which fits right into today’s NFL, Longacre admits he’s not as lucky.

“It was a little bit of a struggle, at first,” Longacre says. “That longer length, as you can tell, I don’t have that.”

Coaches discussed moving him inside to 3-4 defensive end. But after a month, as he found his bearings at outside linebacker, everything clicked. The principles of his new and old positions had been the same all along. Phillips decided to keep him in the rotation at outside linebacker.

“It’s been a lot easier adjustment than I thought it would be,” Longacre says.

As the Rams and Chargers settle in for their first season with new defensive coordinators, both Los Angeles defenses have said as much. What was once a minor concern to players unsure how they’d be featured in new schemes is now an afterthought.

With defenses becoming hybrid and players more positionless, it’s not the schemes, Phillips says, that are important. It’s the personnel.

To Phillips, it’s the same as it ever was.

“We’re going to run a 3-4,” he said. “How we run it, depends on our players. We’re going to try to utilize our talent. That’s what we’ve done everywhere we’ve been, and we’ve been pretty successful so far.”

https://www.dailynews.com/2017/09/05...mes-with-ease/