2022 Official Chargers Season Discussion

[Bolt4Knob]

Translation.
Great intangibles.
Not a good scheme fit.
The "All-In" with StaleyD + JC
makes it abundantly clear to this fan that our HC has SPECIFIC ideas about defenders.
JMO.

Agreed.

Jones, Nwosu and White
all in that 25-26 year old range
The type of player that a team usually wants to bring back

None were brought back
Tells me Staley has a vision
One the positive side - they brought in JC Jackson, Austin Johnson and SJDay. Khalil might be over 30 but the other three are still that prime 26-28 range

[Boltjolt]

I don't have an interpretation other than he wasn't a good enough fit. I wasnt a fan of Kyzir before last season and he had his best, ..... but I think Nakobe Dean would fit better.

[blueman]

You bring back average players you get an average team. Glad Staley is finding better.

[Bolt4Knob]

You bring back average players you get an average team. Glad Staley is finding better.

Sheeiitt - I would trade Derwin James if the trade was actually for a player of like age that made the team better (not that I am trading Derwin - my favorite player)

I wasn't beholden to any free agent - including Mike Williams. Now, based on the WR market - I am good brining back MW

But the defense was pretty bad last year - especially on 3rd down - so I am good with the changes. Chargers on 3rd down were over 50%. I could barely stand to watch third downs when they needed a must stop. Hell the last half of the year left the room and came back hoping to see the punt team but usually seeing "First and 10"

And Khalil Mack - makes sense. Either it was an older pass rusher: Von Miller, Chandler Jones; younger like Reddick or Nwosu and a guy like Gregory
so I was good with Mack. I didn't feel it for Miller or Jones

[captaind]

Interpretation- We are cleaning house and the leather sofa doesn't match new flooring. In fact, we don't need a sofa. We need loveseats.

Well I hope he can find a deal for 18 months same as cash then.

I'd love to know what the plan is.

[chargeroo]

You bring back average players you get an average team. Glad Staley is finding better.

Replace average with better, I'm all for it.
But who is the better LB he brought in?
This wasn't about the cap since he signed with the Eagles for a very reasonable salary.

[ChargersPowderBlue]

True...sometimes TT hits the jackpot...and sometimes he goes bust (Ballage)

Ballage wasn't really bad. He had more yards that year than Jackson who can't seem to stay on the field.

You bring back average players you get an average team. Glad Staley is finding better.

All 3 of the guys who went to another team were just that, average. Jones, Nwosu, and White. Nwosu was too on and off. I liked White, but do think we can do better at the position he anchored. Jones is the most overrated Charger in the last 2-3 years IMO.

[blueman]

Replace average with better, I'm all for it.
But who is the better LB he brought in?
This wasn't about the cap since he signed with the Eagles for a very reasonable salary.

It’s a passing league. White, oddly, is not a passing down LB.

Also with a better DL, the remaining LBs should all okay better.

[jamrock]

Replace average with better, I'm all for it.
But who is the better LB he brought in?
This wasn't about the cap since he signed with the Eagles for a very reasonable salary.

That’s my thing always. How does any move make us better. Sometimes I think fans expect there to be superstars at every position which is impossible and unrealistic. You need guys who are just solid football players to round out a squad or even provide depth. Kyzir was our best LB Last season and it’s not really close. So how is the LB squad better? Weee going to draft someone better. Hope so

[chargeroo]

It’s a passing league. White, oddly, is not a passing down LB.

Also with a better DL, the remaining LBs should all okay better.

Most said it was a passing league last season too. But we lost games by having teams run over us. Teams will take what you give them. Want a good defense? Be good at both defending the pass and the run, not just one. Our remaining LB's don't give me a fuzzy feeling at all. However, it's not time to tee it up yet so I'll watch patiently to see what they have in mind.

[Xenos]

Here’s Popper’s takeaways from Staley’s meeting today. I’m actually shocked that Staley didn’t think the RB market in FA was that great for a RB2.

https://theathletic.com/3214917/2022/03/28/kyzir-white-te-room-rb2-ol-and-more-takeaways-from-brandon-staleys-presser-at-owners-meetings/

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Chargers coach Brandon Staley spoke with the media Monday morning at the NFL owners’ meetings.

Here are some key quotes, thoughts and takeaways.

1. The Chargers added a few more pieces since we last talked to Staley earlier this month. The most significant of those was the signing of tight end Gerald Everett. Staley offered his assessment of what Everett will add to a Chargers offense that finished fourth in Football Outsiders’ DVOA last season.

“The fit within the offense was what we were looking for,” Staley said. “He gives us a lot of run-after-catch possibilities. He’s really good with the ball in his hands, and I think that he can really get vertical in the seam.”

2. Everett will replace Jared Cook, who was productive last season (48 catches for 564 yards and four touchdowns) but will turn 35 in April. The Chargers clearly wanted to get younger and more athletic at the position. Cook still moves well for his age and has a big catch radius at 6-foot-5. But Donald Parham — who stands 6-foot-8 — is coming back, and he and Cook have some overlap in their skill sets. Everett, who ran a 4.62 at the combine in 2017 and set a career high with 178 yards after the catch last season with the Seahawks, will bring a different dynamic to the room. Cook is a finished product at this point in his career. The Chargers believe Everett has potential to grow within Joe Lombardi’s scheme and blossom further as a player with Justin Herbertthrowing him the ball.

3. Staley said the Chargers are still considering bringing in an additional tight end. They had four rostered tight ends last season, though Tre’ McKitty was inactive for the first six games of his rookie season as the team eased him back into action. McKitty was still dealing with some lingering effects of knee surgery he underwent during the 2020 college season at Georgia. Lombardi spoke very highly of Stephen Anderson last season. Anderson is still a free agent. Ideally, the Chargers would find a tight end who has fullback flexibility. Anderson filled that role last season, but it is not necessarily the strength of his game.

“We’re still open to the possibility of Stephen,” Staley said. “You know the type of player he was for us, that glue guy. … You can’t have enough tight ends for me because gaps and vertical threats make you a lot more challenging to defend. So we’re always going to be looking for that position. I really value that position. I feel like from a defensive standpoint the teams that can play with two tight ends and make it look like a bunch of things, that makes it really tough on you. So we’re going to always be looking for that position because I think it gives you an advantage structurally.”

4. The second running back spot behind Austin Ekeler remains unfilled. Staley said the Chargers inquired into the free-agent market, and he did not rule out signing a running back in the coming weeks and months. But it sounds like the Chargers are going to instead invest in a running back in the draft. The team also still has Larry Rountree and Joshua Kelley on the roster.

“We looked in free agency. It wasn’t that deep of a group and, again, just really assessing value,” Staley said. “Just felt like working through the draft would be a better option for us, and we’re still going to explore that post-draft because I think what you’re seeing now is you can onboard these guys in a lot of different stages. But it’s definitely a position that we’re going to be looking for in the draft, and we’ll see if it materializes. But we want to give Austin that complementary style and then the young guys that we have on our team, we expect them to improve and we still believe in those guys. I think competition is going to bring out the best in Josh and Larry, too.”

5. The draft approach feels slightly risky to me. The Chargers need someone reliable behind Ekeler — as a runner, receiver and pass protector. And there is no guarantee that someone between the rookie, Kelley and Rountree will emerge as that dependable option. The Chargers could alleviate some of that risk by investing in a more polished back earlier in the draft, like with their third-round pick. At the same time, though, Staley has harped on value all offseason long, and drafting a running back in the top 100 is not a great allocation of resources considering the holes elsewhere on the roster.

6. I asked Staley about any potential concern over trusting a young player with the crucial role behind Ekeler. “We’re trying to onboard guys for that position for the future,” Staley said. “If you take a look at that position in the league historically, guys that you get after their first contract don’t do as much for you as the ones that you draft. So I think it’s a young man’s position, for the most part. And I think that we’re going to just continue to look that way to build our team.”

7. The Chargers opted not to re-sign linebacker Kyzir White, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles over the weekend. In the end, it came down to positional value. Staley does not value linebacker as much as other positions on his defense, like edge rusher, defensive back or even interior defensive line. He engineered the league’s best defense with the Rams in 2020 working around minimal talent at linebacker, and that has informed his roster-building philosophy. White’s cap hit will end up at around $3 million. The deal is worth up to $5 million with incentives. For better or worse, the Chargers decided that was too much to allocate, even though they have space to spend. They have linebackers on the roster they like — Drue Tranquill, Kenneth Murray, Nick Niemann and Amen Ogbongbemiga. And they can add another much cheaper linebacker in the draft.

“So much respect for Kyzir,” Staley said. “He had an outstanding season for us, and I think it’s probably my first time where the challenging side of the NFL comes in when you’re building a team. There’s decisions you have to make that sometimes don’t line up with the people you really value joining up with. I think that’s just one of those decisions. … Moving forward we feel really good about the guys that we have and then we have a draft in front of us and a full training camp. So it’s a position that we feel like we can add through the draft and then possibly through the season. And the group that we have, we feel like that group’s going to improve in a big way.”

8. The Chargers added to their specialist group by signing former Packers punter JK Scott a week ago. For now, Staley said it is Scott’s job to lose, though he added there’s always a possibility of adding competition.

“If the value’s there with a specialist position, you’re going to look for it,” Staley said. “But as of right now he’s going to be the guy.”

Chargers defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley was on the Alabama staff in 2016 and 2017 when Scott was a punter there. New special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken played against Scott in the NFC North when he was an assistant special teams coach for the Vikings.

“We’re excited about this guy. … I’ve got a lot of confidence in his tools,” Staley said. “We feel like we really know this guy. We feel like it’s a good opportunity.”

9. One major hole remaining on the roster is at returner. Staley said the team will be addressing that need “here shortly.” That could be re-signing Andre Roberts. That could be looking elsewhere in free agency. That could be in the draft.

10. When asked about the Chargers’ offensive line, Staley mentioned Matt Feiler’s “flexibility” to move from left guard out to right tackle. That remains a possibility — more so than last season. And it gives the Chargers some options in the draft, as I wrote last week. They could draft a guard and kick Feiler out to right tackle. They could draft a tackle and keep Feiler at left guard. In the end, every team is looking for quality tackles, and it is perhaps the most challenging position to fill in the NFL. They opted not to invest in free agency. Again, value remains the buzzword.

“We’re in a good position,” Staley said, “and definitely looking to strengthen that because we want to be a line of scrimmage team.”

[Bolt4Knob]

Here’s Popper’s takeaways from Staley’s meeting today. I’m actually shocked that Staley didn’t think the RB market in FA was that great for a RB2.

https://theathletic.com/3214917/2022/03/28/kyzir-white-te-room-rb2-ol-and-more-takeaways-from-brandon-staleys-presser-at-owners-meetings/

Didn;t like his answer at RB. Rountree and Kelley really have not proven they are ready for the NFL. Granted, Rountree was a 6th - would expect more from Kelley by now
That said - cannot be gun shy about drafting another player and give them snaps.