2022 Training Camp Thread

[Fouts2herbert]

I think it's fair to say there are a good half dozen+ AFC teams that could make the Super Bowl. But we should be one of them. (Any AFC West team, Buffalo, Cinci, Baltimore, Tennessee... Is how I see it)

I would throw the colts and maybe the dolphins into that mix too, depending on how the changes to their offense pan out, that defense was already playoff caliber in miami…

[Steve]

I wasn't in that class. I remember vividly being so eager to watch him play. I just knew after game one we had a keeper. Year 2 I was convinced we had an emerging superstar.

I agree. I was pretty excited about how he played. He came in a little late and was on a not very good team. He has some fumble problems and he didn't break a lot of long runs. Some of it was just missing the cut, and some were being brought down just as he was breaking into the open. I remember mentioning these, plus pointing out that TCU had played a Veer offense (modified option), so he had a lot of learning to do. And LT, despite have a good rookie year, looked GREAT his 2nd year. He took a good rookie year and just got better.

In his 2nd year, he stopped fumbling, he became a better receiver, his YPC went up from 3.9 to 4.6, he got caught behind the line a lot less and he started doing more in the open field, breaking long runs and just being a lot harder to get down.

It didn't help that all the teams in the AFC West had a really good back. Priest Holmes was hitting his prime for KC. Shanny had Mike Anderston off the bench when Terrell Davis got hurt. Seattle (remember when Seattle was in the AFC West in 2001) had Shaun Alexander and Ricky Waters. Oakland had Tyronne Wheatley and Charlie Garner. It was a couple of years before I think there wasn't all the envy that we had the type of player that everyone else had, when the real problem was the whole team sucked, and it was LT making them look better than they were.

And I don't think it helped that a lot of people were still hurt we didn't take Vick with the 1st pick. Back then, that was kinda a thing.

My point with all of this is while he played well and did carry a bad Chargers team, he didn't come in and look like a HOF back from day one. He didn't pull a Herbert.

[dmac_bolt]

Go back and look at post #894. I brought up that his rookie season didn't convince me that he was elite, and that had much to do with the line in front of him.

thats all true. But your point is not what brought LT into this RB discussion to begin with as you were not the one to bring him in. LT was offered as an example of a RB who was good/not great and then got much better,. The point was that maybe Kelley really could get alot better this off-season. That was the counter to the thesis that RBs are immediately plug and play, most ready spot on the roster out of college, and they are what they are and thats what they will forever be. Which was what the anti-Kelly crowd posted prior to that.

As for LT - Aside from reducing his fumbling, i don’t agree he got dramatically better. I thought he was very special and elite from the first game I saw him play. Chargers had never had a RB like that in my lifetime. The OL wasn’t that good that year and he still got almost 1300 yards. his OL got better after that year, QB play also got better, adding balance. Gates emerged as a TE threat nobody could ignore and key on only the RB. The entire team was ascending through his first 5-6 years. So i disagree with the original LT entry to the thread that he is an example of a RB who was good but not elite and then got much better.

Its all good, Forrest. Relax.

[dmac_bolt]

I thought LT would be great the first game I saw him play for SD. He exceeded my expectations.

Me too.

[jamrock]

I liked our 1980 DL Fred Dean, Big Hands Johnson, Louie Kelcher, Leroy Jones, LB Woody Lowe, etc. Our D got 60 sacks that year.
2022 looks like a more complete team.

Chargers have truly been a super bowl caliber team in those years, the 2006 year as well. It’s funny no one talks about the 94 team that actually went to the super bowl but was probably less talented than the 79-80 and 2006 teams. Luck and breaks have a lot to do with it.

[wu-dai clan]

Chargers have truly been a super bowl caliber team in those years, the 2006 year as well. It’s funny no one talks about the 94 team that actually went to the super bowl but was probably less talented than the 79-80 and 2006 teams. Luck and breaks have a lot to do with it.

Love me some Natrone...and some Boss Ross.

I am looking for the 2022 Chargers to also overpower opponents.

We have all been itching for this for a long, long time.

Make us proud.

It begins tonight.

[sonorajim]

My friend at UCLA was related to a Chargers position coach. This coaches favorite player was Big Louie.

Louie had a lot of fans. I was one also. Great guy and seriously tough. The stadium rocked with people shouting his name when he made plays.

[Velo]

The last good pass rushing duo the Chargers had were Bosa and Melvin Ingram a few years back. In 2017 that duo had their best sack season, with Bosa getting 12.5 and Ingram 10.5.

But that is nothing compared to the duo of Shawne and Shaun a decade earlier. In 2006, Merriman led the league with 17 sacks. Phillips had 11.5 sacks.

What's interesting is that Merriman and Phillips both had their best career years for sacks in that season. Ditto for Bosa and Ingram in 2017 (though Ingram had 10.5 sacks in 2015 also).

Is this evidence that pairing two top caliber edge rushers, like Bosa and Mack, help them to achieve career best seasons?

Mack's best sack season was in 2015 for the Raiders, when he got 15. That year he played on the right side. A rotation of Justin Tuck, Aldon Smith and Mario Edwards were the 1st teamers the left, and combined for 6.5 sacks. It's a testament to how dominating Mack was at that point in his career, given that the opposing OL didn't have to pay too much attention to the other DE. I don't know enough about the Bears' defense to state who was the primary edge rusher opposite Mack during his seasons there.

But now that both Bosa and Mack - BosaMack - are paired up, do you think either of them (or both) will set new career highs for sacks? How many sacks are you predicting for Bosa? For Mack?

[sonorajim]

The last good pass rushing duo the Chargers had were Bosa and Melvin Ingram a few years back. In 2017 that duo had their best sack season, with Bosa getting 12.5 and Ingram 10.5.

But that is nothing compared to the duo of Shawne and Shaun a decade earlier. In 2006, Merriman led the league with 17 sacks. Phillips had 11.5 sacks.

What's interesting is that Merriman and Phillips both had their best career years for sacks in that season. Ditto for Bosa and Ingram in 2017 (though Ingram had 10.5 sacks in 2015 also).

Is this evidence that pairing two top caliber edge rushers, like Bosa and Mack, help them to achieve career best seasons?

Mack's best sack season was in 2015 for the Raiders, when he got 15. That year he played on the right side. A rotation of Justin Tuck, Aldon Smith and Mario Edwards were the 1st teamers the left, and combined for 6.5 sacks. It's a testament to how dominating Mack was at that point in his career, given that the opposing OL didn't have to pay too much attention to the other DE. I don't know enough about the Bears' defense to state who was the primary edge rusher opposite Mack during his seasons there.

But now that both Bosa and Mack - BosaMack - are paired up, do you think either of them (or both) will set new career highs for sacks? How many sacks are you predicting for Bosa? For Mack?

It points in that direction. There are a ton of variables that can affect the results. We should have a high ranking pass rush coupled with a very good secondary which bodes well for the Chargers D. I'm superstitious about predicting sack #'s for Bosa and Mack but do believe the Chargers will post strong sack / pressure numbers and takeaways.

[jamrock]

Love me some Natrone...and some Boss Ross.

I am looking for the 2022 Chargers to also overpower opponents.

We have all been itching for this for a long, long time.

Make us proud.

It begins tonight.

Natrone meant business

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Its all good, Forrest. Relax.

Oh, I'm so chill the penguins envy me.

[FoutsFan]

I liked our 1980 DL Fred Dean, Big Hands Johnson, Louie Kelcher, Leroy Jones, LB Woody Lowe, etc. Our D got 60 sacks that year.
2022 looks like a more complete team.

1986 Chargers with a rookie (injured) Lee O'Neal 12.5, Lee Wliams 15, BR Smith 11 had 62 sakes. They had a good run D but the pass D if you didn't get sacked would give up a ton of yardage.