2021 Official Chargers Season Discusssion

[Lone Bolt]

Thank you, gal! Enjoyed that. Popper predicts we go 9-8. I can see that but I'm hoping for a little better. Glad he'll be doing these chats every Sunday after games once the season starts.

Poppers being a bit of a chicken...our key players stay healthy for most of the season, I see 11 to 12 wins easy. How many games did we lose because our defense didnt adjust, and let the other team we had all but beaten come back? Much improved secondary, especially with James back...much improved oline...a coach who knows how to adjust and gameplan...I see no reason to not be optimistic.

Health is the one caveat...we are a bit thin on the oline, and losing Bosa or James for significant time could be an issue...

But we had a rookie QB, trash oline , and decimated secondary last year..and still SHOULD have won 10 games if our defense could have held onto late game, double digit leads...I think it unlikely we experience the same scenarios this year.

12-5

[dmac_bolt]

I don't think JAX would let us fleece them like that.



Last season I though 9-7 was a lowball prediction. Then we went 3-9. Oof, you never know.
I'm tempering my expectations, so I can be pleasantly surprised.

I always set my prediction unrealistically high with a subconscious agreement I will be fine with less. 12-5 is my mark, but any wildcard slot is fine. Positive Chi. I think missing playoffs is a miss - but I’ll be fine then too. Its football, its entertainment. I am sure I will be entertained, thats all they owe me.

[Bolt4Knob]

Thank you, gal! Enjoyed that. Popper predicts we go 9-8. I can see that but I'm hoping for a little better. Glad he'll be doing these chats every Sunday after games once the season starts.

I think that is pretty fair actually. I have questions about the team

are the OL and if the Special Teams truly are improved.
Along with does Herbert get better and the offense improve or at least not regress
Can the defense improve and can James stay healthy
Can Vizcaino make a clutch kick

[powderblueboy]

Does anyone know anything about Eric Banks? I read very little on him: no combine or pro day numbers.
Staley saw a lot of him last year, and this year in the combined practices. Staley called Banks “our kind of defensive lineman”

He replaces Merrill on the roster, and yet they are very much different. Now, they have no backup for Joseph on game day.

"Health is the one caveat...we are a bit thin on the oline, and losing Bosa or James for significant time could be an issue...." - Lonebolt

I think that is the concern and that is why he is here: Bosa's role being more important than Joseph's and the other edge players being more like Ingram.

[wu-dai clan]

Cinderella Story--HS QB.
Coached up by Penny Hardaway.

Comp: AJ Epenesa/Yetur Gross-Matos.

The good news: No, he has not been working at Home Depot.

The other news: LAR signed Banks when he was working at Locke Hill Feed, Pet, and Lawn Supply in San Antonio, Texas.

This dude will throw offensive linemen around with a powerful, violent, whip-like action, as though they are nothing but bales of hay...Staley likes that.

That's all I got.

[chargeroo]

Cinderella Story--HS QB.
Coached up by Penny Hardaway.

Comp: AJ Epenesa/Yetur Gross-Matos.

The good news: No, he has not been working at Home Depot.

The other news: LAR signed Banks when he was working at Locke Hill Feed, Pet, and Lawn Supply in San Antonio, Texas.

This dude will throw offensive linemen around with a powerful, violent, whip-like action, as though they are nothing but bales of hay...Staley likes that.

That's all I got.

Cinderella Story--HS QB.
Coached up by Penny Hardaway.

Comp: AJ Epenesa/Yetur Gross-Matos.

The good news: No, he has not been working at Home Depot.

The other news: LAR signed Banks when he was working at Locke Hill Feed, Pet, and Lawn Supply in San Antonio, Texas.

This dude will throw offensive linemen around with a powerful, violent, whip-like action, as though they are nothing but bales of hay...Staley likes that.

That's all I got.

What was his time in the "throw two OL to the ground test"?

[Berserker76]

I always set my prediction unrealistically high with a subconscious agreement I will be fine with less. 12-5 is my mark, but any wildcard slot is fine. Positive Chi. I think missing playoffs is a miss - but I’ll be fine then too. Its football, its entertainment. I am sure I will be entertained, thats all they owe me.

I'm with you there, dmac, 13-4 for me. I don't think that's an unrealistic expectation for this crew. An upgraded defense & offensive line was all this team needed. The only real bone-crushing defeat was to the Patriots, and I'm hoping to see us return the favor this year.

[cmplxgal]

Does anyone know anything about Eric Banks? I read very little on him: no combine or pro day numbers.
Staley saw a lot of him last year, and this year in the combined practices. Staley called Banks “our kind of defensive lineman”

He replaces Merrill on the roster, and yet they are very much different. Now, they have no backup for Joseph on game day.

What I don't understand is that Staley explained cutting Broughton by saying they wanted someone bigger:

“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.”

From The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/2801703/2021...running-backs/

OK, so Joseph is 323 and Merrill is 322, while Broughton is only 293. But then they replace Merrill with Banks, who is 274. So the reasoning doesn't hold.

[wu-dai clan]

What I don't understand is that Staley explained cutting Broughton by saying they wanted someone bigger:



From The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/2801703/2021...running-backs/

OK, so Joseph is 323 and Merrill is 322, while Broughton is only 293. But then they replace Merrill with Banks, who is 274. So the reasoning doesn't hold.

Bet you Banks is closer to 290# now. He has great length and athleticism. I believe Broughton was redundant vs JJones, Tillery and Covington in several aspects. Then there is Merrill who we expected to not be claimed.

[Topcat]

What I don't understand is that Staley explained cutting Broughton by saying they wanted someone bigger:

From The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/2801703/2021...running-backs/

OK, so Joseph is 323 and Merrill is 322, while Broughton is only 293. But then they replace Merrill with Banks, who is 274. So the reasoning doesn't hold.

Maybe Brawny Banks is really strong...

[chargeroo]

Maybe Brawny Banks is really strong...

Turns out he's been eating his Wheaties and now he's Big Bad Banks.

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Maybe Brawny Banks is really strong...

He looks like a candidate to be shifted over to DE, if you ask me.