Pipkins

[Heatmiser]

Pipkins deserves his own thread.

I made fun of Tre as much as anyone. And I posted he should be cut after he managed to mess up his few jumbo package snaps and special teams snaps. But the Pipkins we have seen against the Chiefs and now the Broncos is not the same guy we had been watching. I tried to watch him as closely as you can on TV and he has been very impressive. Not just holding his own, he has been really good. And he had to flip from the left to the right. These two games he has been finally using his size and athleticism to full advantage. Really hope he keeps it going and happy to say I was wrong and the coaches were right to keep him and not give up when I wanted them to.

Maybe they can work magic on guys like Tillery and Murray too?

TG

[wu-dai clan]

My reverse mojo worked.
J/K.
Heat, I gotta eat some pie too.
Like foreigner.
OT is no longer a PON in my world.
Sean Rhyan. Round 2 maybe. Right side guy. Position flexible.

[jubei]

Pleasantly surprised. But I wanna watch like 5 more games of him this year...see what I did there?...to make a final judgement.

[Hadl2Alworth]

His play WAS horrid earlier in the season. I forget his exact stats but they were depressing. Then he turned it all around in the KC game three weeks back. I'm guessing he was humbled sufficiently to finally relenting to his coaches. Frankly I wish the same thing would happen for Tillery. But I suppose his success at rushing the QB periodically well is getting in the way of his being humbled enough to listen to how he can be better at stopping the run. That's my take on things.

[blueman]

Happy to eat crow, he really turned it around, however it happened. Good on him.

[21&500]

Wait... is Telesco a good GM or bad
I forgot.

[powderblueboy]

Wait... is Telesco a good GM or bad
I forgot.

Pip was in the process of getting replaced anyhow as one of the poster children of bad Telesco picks.

[Parcells]

If Norton is back next week, who do you play at RT?

[Xenos]

Here was Popper’s article on him after the Chiefs game:

https://theathletic.com/3032486/2021/12/23/trey-pipkins-showed-massive-growth-while-filling-in-for-rashawn-slater-vs-chiefs/

Rookie left tackle Rashawn Slater, who was named to the Pro Bowl on Wednesday, missed the Chargers’ Week 15 loss to the Chiefs while on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Third-year tackle Trey Pipkins started in Slater’s place, and this was a major concern entering the game.

Pipkins struggled mightily in eight starts over his first two seasons in the league. He was drafted in the third round in 2019 out of Division II Sioux Falls as a developmental project, and he looked like exactly that when he was called into action because of injuries in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Pipkins was an afterthought on this roster through the first 14 games of the season. When right tackle Bryan Bulaga went down with a core muscle injury in Week 1, it was Storm Norton who took his starting spot. Pipkins worked in as a sixth offensive lineman in jumbo packages through the first six weeks of the season, but he lost that job due to underwhelming play and was inactive for four straight games after the bye week.

And yet on Thursday night in prime time, in the Chargers’ biggest game of the season, with the first place in the AFC West on the line, Pipkins showed up. He played the best game of his NFL career so far. He held his own in pass protection. The Chargers helped him with chip blocks and designed pocket movement, but he was left on an island on multiple occasions and won nearly all of his one-on-one reps. In the run game, Pipkins was polished and physical.

He looked very much like a professional offensive tackle.

Pipkins displayed tremendous growth in pass protection. He is clearly a more confident and sound player in that area. In particular, he was stronger and stouter when both setting and anchoring. He was quicker in his get-off. And he did a great job of mixing up his techniques and being aggressive with his punches in certain situations to throw off the Chiefs edge rushers.

On this rep early in the first quarter, the Chargers faced a fourth-and-goal from the Chiefs’ 5-yard line. Pipkins was matched up with Chiefs pass rusher Frank Clark one-on-one.



As Justin Herbert took the shotgun snap, Pipkins surged out of his stance and was in good position.



Clark attempted to bull rush Pipkins, and Pipkins withstood Clark’s initial move.



Herbert hit the bottom of his drop and stepped up. Clark tried to beat Pipkins around the edge.



But Pipkins reset and walled off Clark again.



This gave Herbert plenty of time to deliver an accurate ball to Donald Parham in the end zone. (Parham suffered a scary concussion on the play when his head hit the turf, and the pass fell incomplete.)



Here is another example late in the first half. The Chargers faced a second-and-8 from the Kansas City 43-yard line. Pipkins was matched up one-on-one with Chiefs pass rusher Mike Danna.



As Herbert received the snap, Pipkins took a more aggressive horizontal set and shot his hands into Danna’s chest.





The changeup from Pipkins stunned Danna, and he lost his balance.



By the time Danna regained his momentum, Herbert had identified the one-on-one matchup downfield. Mike Williams was single-covered on a go route down the right sideline.



Herbert had plenty of time to deliver the throw. He was not hit on the play. And Williams won the 50-50 ball for a 27-yard gain.





Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi’s game plan was fantastic, and he did plenty schematically to take pressure off Pipkins.

Early in the second quarter, the Chargers faced a second-and-6 from their own 44. Lombardi dialed up a play-action shot play with max protection, keeping eight Chargers in to pass block. He also helped Pipkins out with a chip block on the edge.

Herbert faked the handoff to running back Joshua Kelley before rolling to his right on a half boot.







As Herbert rolled right, Kelley chipped Danna on the left edge. You can see the eight players in pass protection.



Herbert had a clean pocket and plenty of time.



The play was designed for Williams on a go route down the left sideline. But the Chiefs had the route covered with safety help over the top.



Herbert went to his second read and hit tight end Jared Cook for a 12-yard gain.





The Chargers only gave up six pressures in the game, according to Pro Football Focus. And a crucial factor in that was how the Chargers ran the ball. The Chargers ran for 195 yards on 39 carries, and they were able to run the ball effectively early in the game. That kept the Chiefs front off balance and took a ton of pressure off the Chargers offensive line. The successful ground attack kept the Chargers mostly out of known passing situations on third-and-longs.

Pipkins played a big part in the successful rushing performance. He was solid in pass protection, but he really shined as a run blocker.

On this second-and-4 from the Kansas City 12-yard line in the second quarter, the Chargers came out in a spread formation and had a numbers advantage up front. The Chiefs had five players in the box. The Chargers, with Herbert’s running ability, had seven players factoring into the run math, giving them a two-man advantage.



As Herbert took the shotgun snap, Pipkins steamrolled forward and drove Clark off the line of scrimmage.



Justin Jackson took the handoff, and largely thanks to Pipkins’ seal block on the edge, the Chargers offensive line created a massive hole.



Jackson saw the cutback lane and exploded ahead for an 8-yard gain and a first down. The Chargers scored a touchdown on the next play.



At this stage of the season, especially with the COVID-19 surge, contending teams need depth players to step up.

Pipkins did exactly that. He is showing signs that he can turn his elite physical traits into productive play. The Chargers coaching staff — especially offensive line coach Frank Smith and assistant offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett — deserve a ton of credit for the work they have done with Pipkins.

[Parcells]

How good would Pipkins have to be to be in competition with Dielman for greatest turnaround by a Chargers O-lineman? For those of us from the old board, back in 2004 and 2005, Dielman was not a popular guy. Then, he started to figure it out and quickly became beloved. But I’m not sure Dielman was ever as despised as Pipkins was around here.

[Xenos]

His play WAS horrid earlier in the season. I forget his exact stats but they were depressing. Then he turned it all around in the KC game three weeks back. I'm guessing he was humbled sufficiently to finally relenting to his coaches. Frankly I wish the same thing would happen for Tillery. But I suppose his success at rushing the QB periodically well is getting in the way of his being humbled enough to listen to how he can be better at stopping the run. That's my take on things.

I don’t know about being humbled. Everything I read said he was already a humble guy. The problem is that he was an extremely raw prospect who should have been red shirted his first year but then end up playing and developing bad habits. He went through two more different OL coaches after his rookie season, including a shortened offseason in 2020. Frankly, I’m surprised he looks this good despite the team’s best efforts to ruin him. Glad Staley took the long view on him and it’s slowly paying off. Right now, he still needs more consistent games under his belt with less help to see if he has a future as a starter. Otherwise, he’s decent depth at the moment.

[Xenos]

How good would Pipkins have to be to be in competition with Dielman for greatest turnaround by a Chargers O-lineman? For those of us from the old board, back in 2004 and 2005, Dielman was not a popular guy. Then, he started to figure it out and quickly became beloved. But I’m not sure Dielman was ever as despised as Pipkins was around here.

It was more 2005 when Dielman became a starter. Replacing fat Tony Fonoti. He had a bad first year because he was a converted DL. And he ended up wearing down towards the end of 2005 when our season collapsed.