2021 Official Chargers Season Discusssion

[Panamamike]

No real suprises on the 53. And the possibility of a transaction or two from waiver wire would not surprise either. When HC is deciding on the last roster spots, typically guys who offer a bit more versatility are kept because it provides better overall depth to have players who can do more things.
Players like Vizcaino who can do Kickoff and PK and Hill who can do slot receiver and punt return.

As for depth. RB is the one spot I think the team should really look at waiver wire to improve. Kelly is just a guy. Jackson can't stay healthy and Roundtree is a rookie. Big drop off after Ekeler.

Additional thought.
Special Teams still look like a big question mark and the staff changes has yet to prove coaching is making a difference for that squad. Another year of sub par special teams and I think we need to blame Telesco 100% for the special teams issues over his tenure.

I think you need to see the special teams play out now that the cut downs are made. Coordinating special teams in the preseason with large rosters often ends up being bit of a shitshow.

I would look to upgrade one of our backup running back spots as well.

[jamrock]

21 out of the 53 not on the roster last season.

[Blastttoff]

Yah just in case Herbert and stick goes down, we still get Chase fricken Daniel.


unbelievable. Wasted a spot for tyron Johnson cuz mike will always get injured

[equivocation]

Staley confirms that Norton is the swing tackle and Pipkins is the 9th OL developmental guy.

[jamrock]

Man, I hope they’re both 110% for week 1

Day to day from what? They haven’t even played a down yet.

[blueman]

Staley confirms that Norton is the swing tackle and Pipkins is the 9th OL developmental guy.

Makes the most sense in this thread.

Onwards to DC!!

[AKFlyFisher]

No real suprises on the 53. And the possibility of a transaction or two from waiver wire would not surprise either. When HC is deciding on the last roster spots, typically guys who offer a bit more versatility are kept because it provides better overall depth to have players who can do more things.
Players like Vizcaino who can do Kickoff and PK and Hill who can do slot receiver and punt return.

As for depth. RB is the one spot I think the team should really look at waiver wire to improve. Kelly is just a guy. Jackson can't stay healthy and Roundtree is a rookie. Big drop off after Ekeler.

Additional thought.
Special Teams still look like a big question mark and the staff changes has yet to prove coaching is making a difference for that squad. Another year of sub par special teams and I think we need to blame Telesco 100% for the special teams issues over his tenure.

Special teams talent is a direct reflection of a team's depth. Telesco has done a terrible job the last 3 seasons adding to the teams overall talent. As a result, no surprise that special teams is lacking.

[Panamamike]

Yah just in case Herbert and stick goes down, we still get Chase fricken Daniel.


unbelievable. Wasted a spot for tyron Johnson cuz mike will always get injured

I can't believe everybody is freaking out over an undrafted wide receiver that bounced around with five teams.

I was surprised by the cut for sure. He doesn't play a role on special teams. People are acting like this guy is a crucial cog in our offensive game plan. Meh. I honestly don't think depth wide receivers are all that hard to find at any point during the season if we run into injury problems. Let's see what the next two weeks brings to our 53 man squad and practice squad. I would be surprised if there weren't a couple of changes between now and our first game.

[chargeroo]

I'm a bit surprised we kept that kid, Herbert, he didn't complete a pass in the entire preseason.

[Xenos]

Popper’s analysis of the initial 53. Interesting comments by Staley on Pipkin. HC still thinks he has untapped potential. And he seems to like his work ethic.

https://theathletic.com/2801703/2021/08/31/analyzing-the-chargers-initial-53-man-roster-tough-cut-at-receiver-as-team-keeps-4-running-backs/

The Chargers announced their initial 53-man roster Tuesday afternoon.

I correctly predicted 50 of the 53 players — besting my total of 49 from each of the past two seasons.

Let’s go position by position to dissect where I went right, where I went wrong, and how general manager Tom Telesco and coach Brandon Staley ultimately decided to structure their roster.


Quarterbacks (3)
Justin Herbert, Chase Daniel, Easton Stick

Who’s out: No one

After Saturday’s loss to the Seahawks in the preseason finale, both Telesco, on the TV broadcast, and Staley, in his postgame news conference, hinted that the team wanted to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster. That came to fruition. As I wrote Sunday, this is largely related to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. Keeping two quarterbacks is just too risky. And cutting either Stick or Daniel, with the intention of stashing one on the practice squad, would have made them available to other teams.

“We did want to have three for that reason,” Staley said, “so that you could have an extra guy depending on some close contact tracing or stuff like that.”

Staley added that Herbert, Daniel and Stick are all vaccinated, which means they do not have to isolate if they are deemed a close contact, according to league protocols. Still, rostering three quarterbacks gives the Chargers maximum flexibility in any sort of emergency situation.


Running backs (4)
Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley, Larry Rountree

Who’s out: Darius Bradwell

I missed on Jackson here, and I am kicking myself for it. Jackson suffered a groin injury in the preseason opener and was of practice until Tuesday. I thought another injury for an injury-prone player was the final straw. And I was looking for an additional spot for that third rostered quarterback. But Staley said this on Jackson last week: “He’s an asset for our football team. I know that before he was injured, he was having an outstanding camp, as a runner, receiver and on special teams for us. All I can go by … is how they’ve responded since I’ve been here. What happened before, I wasn’t here for a lot of that. What’s happened in front of my own two eyes, and in front of our eyes, as a staff, that’s what we’re going to take the most into the evaluation process, and I really like what Justin has done for us.” I should have listened. Now that he is on the roster and back practicing, Jackson figures to be a key piece in the offense.


Fullbacks (1)
Gabe Nabers

Who’s out: No one

Nabers was always a lock. He was the only fullback on the roster throughout camp, and he is also a core-four special teams player. Staley referred to him Tuesday as a special teams “general.” Nabers has been dealing with some knee soreness, but he was back in individual drills at Tuesday’s practice.


Wide receivers (5)
Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Josh Palmer, Jalen Guyton, K.J. Hill

Who’s out: Tyron Johnson, Joe Reed, Jason Moore, Michael Bandy, John Hurst

The big surprise here is Johnson, who finished third in the league last season in yards per reception among players with at least 20 targets. I knew Johnson was closer to the bubble than most realized. I had him trending down in my final stock report after the preseason loss to the Rams. But I thought he would claim a sixth receiver spot. In the end, the Chargers opted to only keep five receivers. Hill makes the team as the punt and kick returner. Without Hill, the Chargers would not have a punt returner. They could not rely on Johnson as that player.

“It was a tough one, a really tough one,” Staley said of the decision to cut Johnson. “T-Billy has done a lot for this team in the past, and he did some good things for us in camp, and that was one of the tougher conversations that I had today. I think we have a really deep receiver room. There’s a lot of competition, and I think it’s just one of those things where it’s more numbers, not so much how we feel about him as a player, because I got a lot of respect for his game. But it’s just where we’re at from a numbers standpoint and then the kicking game being a big aspect of those backend receiver roles.”

Reed, a fifth-round pick in 2020, hurt his ankle early in camp. He was not on the field long enough to earn a spot.


Tight ends (4)
Jared Cook, Donald Parham, Tre’ McKitty, Stephen Anderson

Who’s out: Hunter Kampmoyer, Matt Sokol

No misses in the tight end group. Look for Kampmoyer to join the practice squad if/when he clears waivers. Anderson makes the roster as a key special teams contributor.


Offensive line (9)
Corey Linsley, Bryan Bulaga, Matt Feiler, Oday Aboushi, Rashawn Slater, Brenden Jaimes, Trey Pipkins, Scott Quessenberry, Storm Norton

Who’s out: Nate Gilliam, Ryan Hunter, Darius Harper, Tyree St. Louis

No misses here, either. A lot of you were surprised/upset about Pipkins making the roster after the 2019 third-round pick struggled in the preseason. So I asked Staley why Pipkins is on this roster.

“With Trey, there’s still aspects of his game that certainly need improvement, but we felt like he’s been invested in trying to improve,” Staley replied. “What we’re trying to do is solidify him in a comfort zone. He’s been going left and right, right and left, and we just felt like, for now, he’s a player that we can still hang with. And we feel like he’s earned that with us, with how he’s invested in his game. And although he’s had some tough moments that I think a lot of people have seen, there’s been other moments where we feel like, hey, there’s still more in there that we can tap into. So we’re just going to hang tough with him, and he certainly has to improve, but we feel like he gives us depth at that position that we feel like we’ll need moving forward.”

The starting offensive line: LT Rashawn Slater, LG Matt Feiler, C Corey Linsley, RG Oday Aboushi, RT Bryan Bulaga. Norton is the swing tackle. Jaimes is the swing guard. Quessenberry is the backup center. Pipkins, at this stage, remains a developmental piece.


Defensive line (5)
Justin Jones, Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery, Christian Covington, Forrest Merrill

Who’s out: Cortez Broughton, Breiden Fehoko, Joe Gaziano, Willie Yarbary

This was my worst position group. I had two misses here. I kept both Broughton and Fehoko on my projected 53-man, while I left Merrill off. Broughton and Fehoko were both waived, and Merrill, an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas State, made the team. With the Chargers keeping four running backs, three quarterbacks and, as we will get to later, 10 defensive backs, they needed to create a roster spot somewhere. And they did that by only keeping five defensive linemen, not six like I predicted. Covington is the depth piece on the perimeter. Merrill is the depth behind Joseph at nose tackle.

Broughton had an outstanding camp. Him not making the 53-man was one of the biggest surprises of Tuesday’s announcement.

“I thought he performed,” Staley said of Broughton, a 2019 seventh-round pick. “I think where we were at from a depth standpoint and what we needed inside, we needed a bigger interior guy, just a little bit stronger of a player who could play more in the middle in the run front, and I think that’s what it came down to.”

Staley added of Merrill: “This guy just kept getting better and improved his game quite a bit. I felt like his production during camp was something that stood out to us. Every time he got an opportunity, there was production. There wasn’t just a guy who was doing the right thing; this guy was making plays, too. I felt like he was our style of guy.”


Edge defenders (4)
Joey Bosa, Uchenna Nwosu, Chris Rumph, Kyler Fackrell

Who’s out: Emeke Egbule, Jessie Lemonier, Davin Bellamy

Egbule had a chance to make the roster before he suffered an injury that kept him out of the second preseason game. That lost time was crucial, as I wrote Sunday. Nwosu and Fackrell will split time opposite Bosa. Rumph is a depth piece who will be a major factor on special teams.


Inside linebackers (5)
Kenneth Murray, Drue Tranquill, Kyzir White, Nick Niemann, Amen Ogbongbemiga

Who’s out: Cole Christiansen, Nate Evans

Ogbongbemiga, along with Merrill, is one of two undrafted free agents to make the roster. He proved enough to the coaching staff before suffering an AC joint sprain in the second preseason game, and that is why I had him on my projected 53-man. “This guy is instinctive,” Staley said of Ogbongbemiga. “He can really see the game.”


Defensive backs (10)
Derwin James, Nasir Adderley, Chris Harris, Michael Davis, Asante Samuel Jr., Brandon Facyson, Mark Webb, Alohi Gilman, Tevaughn Campbell, Kemon Hall

Who’s out: John Brannon, Donte Vaughn, KJ Sails, Ben DeLuca

I had nine of these defensive backs making the roster. I left Hall off. Staley said they decided to keep Hall because of his special teams capacity and versatility to play both inside and outside at corner. The same goes for Campbell, who I had on my projected 53-man. Free-agent acquisition Ryan Smith remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list, so he does not count toward the roster. Staley said placing Smith on IR is a “possibility.” If the Chargers place Smith on IR, he must miss a minimum of three weeks. Then he is eligible to return to the active roster.


Specialists (3)
K Tristan Vizcaino, P Ty Long, LS Matt Overton

Who’s out: K Michael Badgley, LS Cole Mazza

I felt like Vizcaino would win the kicker battle because of his leg strength, and that proved correct.

“It was a really tough conversation with Badg because we felt like it was a really even competition,” Staley said. “Ultimately what convinced me and Tom and our coaching staff about Tristan was just, this guy’s got real talent. This guy’s got real leg strength. We feel like he’s got a lot of ability, and he’s at the beginning of his football journey. And we felt like there’s a product in there that if we can continue to tap into that development, that there’s just a really talented player there. And then the kickoff aspect of the job was really important. We feel like he’s got a really special kickoff leg. We felt like directionally, hang time, he can create an advantage for us in the field position game.”

[Topcat]

We're going to be damn happy to have Pipkins if our first 8 OL go down.

That's like saying you'll be happy to jump into a leaky lifeboat after the Titanic goes down...

[Bolt-O]

Gilbert Manzano's analysis, with Staley press conference : https://www.ocregister.com/2021/08/3...rius-bradwell/