2023 Official Roster Build Thread - The Initial 53 / Practice Squad

[Velo]

Phillip Rivers, Drew Brees, Dan Fouts, Justin Herbert (1 game)

Short video about Johnny U's mentorship of Fouts in 1973.

[dmac_bolt]

Yep...Bandy DID have ONE memorable play last year...

He had several, unfortunately they were all in preseason games

[Boltjolt]

Short video about Johnny U's mentorship of Fouts in 1973.

Im sure that coach had to be fired lol. What idiot would tell the vet QB not to help the young up and coming QB?

[dmac_bolt]

Short video about Johnny U's mentorship of Fouts in 1973.

I didn’t listen to the video, so let me know if it offered any pearls. Fouts was pretty horrible from ‘73 thru ‘77 (5 years) after that mentorship, Johnny may want to tighten up his mentor thing a bit.

[Boltnut]

Do you think DD will get many snaps as a WR?

I really doubt it unless we have injury problems at WR.

I'm hoping that Kellen Moore has plans for DD that go beyond being the #6 WR and PR.
As many have pointed out, he'll be active every week... as he is the KR/PR guy. If there is a weekly inactive player from the WR corps... it will probably be Jalen Guyton.

I'll post the TCU/Michigan highlights to show how TCU uses their WRs to stretch a defense (both vertically and horizontally).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HKmnriYImE

1) (1:07) 3 WR's stacked left, 1 WR wide right. The RB is to the QB's left. It's what they call a 4X1. The Chiefs use it a lot.
See what it does to the defense...? It skews the whole defense to the offense's left. It leaves the OL/DL matched up in 1-on-1. Out of a 4 WR set... they run. The RB sets up to the left of the QB... but runs to the right. This isn't your typical run formation. An example of DD (and formation) being used in the run game.

2) (1:34) A 5-WR formation. 3 WR's to the left, 2 WR's to the right. DD is the inside slot receiver to the left side. He pushes the seam route... and holds the deep safety in the middle of the field. The pass goes to one of the WR's on the right. He had lots of room because the deep safety couldn't help out on the right side. An example of DD stretching the field vertically. In this particular formation, I can see DD in the right slot, too. Watch #3 (as he drags across underneath). This is how DD could be used to stretch a defense horizontally... out of the same formation.

3) (1:46) A Redzone situation... where you can't stretch a defense vertically. 2 TE's, 2 WR's. TE's are lined up tight left... they have a numbers advantage to run left. WR's are both left. Pre-snap, QJ goes in motion to the left... his defender follows him (and lets Duggan know they are in man coverage). Pause the the tape @1:48... Imagine DD in motion from the slot (instead of QJ). There are 4 legitimate ways to beat this defense... as it is stretched horizontally. You can run right or left (numbers on the left and space on the right). You can pass right (lots of space). Imagine KA or Mike Williams as the outside WR to the right of the formation. An example of DD stretching the field horizontally. Yeah, it's actually QJ that stretches the defense... but I think Kellen Moore would/could use DD in that play design.

I encourage people to watch TCU's offensive tape from 2022. I think Kellen Moore and Garrett Riley (TCU's offensive coordinator) have similar offensive philosophies. I don't think it's a coincidence that 3 TCU offensive players were drafted. Many thought that DD was over-drafted as a KR/PR. But I think it signals that Moore will use DD in the offensive formations. He can stretch a defense both vertically and horizontally. If the Chargers are planning to implement bubble screens, jet sweeps, and WR motion (in the run game to take defenders out of the box)... then DD is your player that possesses the skillset you're looking for.

[21&500]

Wearing Bambi's number....

[Boltjolt]

I'm hoping that Kellen Moore has plans for DD that go beyond being the #6 WR and PR.
As many have pointed out, he'll be active every week... as he is the KR/PR guy. If there is a weekly inactive player from the WR corps... it will probably be Jalen Guyton.

I'll post the TCU/Michigan highlights to show how TCU uses their WRs to stretch a defense (both vertically and horizontally).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HKmnriYImE

1) (1:07) 3 WR's stacked left, 1 WR wide right. The RB is to the QB's left. It's what they call a 4X1. The Chiefs use it a lot.
See what it does to the defense...? It skews the whole defense to the offense's left. It leaves the OL/DL matched up in 1-on-1. Out of a 4 WR set... they run. The RB sets up to the left of the QB... but runs to the right. This isn't your typical run formation. An example of DD (and formation) being used in the run game.

2) (1:34) A 5-WR formation. 3 WR's to the left, 2 WR's to the right. DD is the inside slot receiver to the left side. He pushes the seam route... and holds the deep safety in the middle of the field. The pass goes to one of the WR's on the right. He had lots of room because the deep safety couldn't help out on the right side. An example of DD stretching the field vertically. In this particular formation, I can see DD in the right slot, too. Watch #3 (as he drags across underneath). This is how DD could be used to stretch a defense horizontally... out of the same formation.

3) (1:46) A Redzone situation... where you can't stretch a defense vertically. 2 TE's, 2 WR's. TE's are lined up tight left... they have a numbers advantage to run left. WR's are both left. Pre-snap, QJ goes in motion to the left... his defender follows him (and lets Duggan know they are in man coverage). Pause the the tape @1:48... Imagine DD in motion from the slot (instead of QJ). There are 4 legitimate ways to beat this defense... as it is stretched horizontally. You can run right or left (numbers on the left and space on the right). You can pass right (lots of space). Imagine KA or Mike Williams as the outside WR to the right of the formation. An example of DD stretching the field horizontally. Yeah, it's actually QJ that stretches the defense... but I think Kellen Moore would/could use DD in that play design.

I encourage people to watch TCU's offensive tape from 2022. I think Kellen Moore and Garrett Riley (TCU's offensive coordinator) have similar offensive philosophies. I don't think it's a coincidence that 3 TCU offensive players were drafted. Many thought that DD was over-drafted as a KR/PR. But I think it signals that Moore will use DD in the offensive formations. He can stretch a defense both vertically and horizontally. If the Chargers are planning to implement bubble screens, jet sweeps, and WR motion (in the run game to take defenders out of the box)... then DD is your player that possesses the skillset you're looking for.

We dont have any TCU coaches on offense. DD i think sees little snaps at WR this season anyways.

[sonorajim]

We dont have any TCU coaches on offense. DD i think sees little snaps at WR this season anyways.

Little compared to top 4, as in some? Yes

[dmac_bolt]

Little compared to top 4, as in some? Yes

Given he’s active every week, he’s got a chip and a chair. Look forward to see how he’s deployed.

[powderblueboy]

The video said that the Charger coaching staff didn't want Unitas to 'fool around' with Fouts - meaning fooling around with his head.
Unitas and Fouts were both interviewed and explain the story.

Johnny Unitas was approached by a Charger coach about it & said 'okay', then went and spoke to Fouts about the coaching staff's decision.

Fouts said: 'you got to be kidding me!'

and Unitas said: "no, but don't let it bother you: I don't pay attention to those guys anyways."

Insecurity and an obsession with gaining control is how I read it.

[sonorajim]

Amazing: the Charger coaching staff didn't want Unitas to 'fool around' with Fouts - meaning fooling around with his head.

Some coaching staffs just don't get it .... part of the problem being insecurity.

Johnny Unitas said 'okay' and spoke to Fouts about the coaching staffs decision on the matter.

It was "a coach" that Unitas said he paid no attention to, other than share the joke with Fouts.

[Boltnut]

We dont have any TCU coaches on offense. DD i think sees little snaps at WR this season anyways.

We don't have to have TCU coaches to run that Air Raid Offense. Kellen Moore already knows it. The draft shows us that he wants to run something similar... 2 WR's and an Air Raid savvy QB. Paired that with the fact that no RB's or TE's were selected. Everyone was sure that a RB and/or a TE would be drafted (myself included). Yet they drafted neither.

WR's #1-4 are pretty damn good... so maybe you're right that DD gets few opportunities at WR.
But I think that it's an opportunity-lost if they don't use him on bubble-screens and jet-screens.

Here's an article that explains what jet sweeps bubble screens can do for an offense...

https://coachesinsider.com/football/the-jet-sweeps-and-screens/

Here a couple of interesting thoughts if you don't want to read the whole article:

I am going to talk to you about attacking the perimeter. The play that plays a big part in that is the jet sweep. It has been a good play for us. We ran the play years ago, but we were not very good at it. We changed the blocking scheme slightly and got some better athletes. That paid off for us very well.

This year, we averaged 8.4 yards per carry with it. Two years ago, we averaged almost 11 yards per carry. The reason for that was the player carrying the ball ran the 100 meters in 10.7 seconds. Having players like that makes us all better coaches and gets us invited to speak at clinics.

The jet sweep package can be the basis for an entire offensive series. It can enhance what you do offensively and make your play-action passing more effective. It can give you an avenue for automatics and choice plays. You can use the motion as the trigger. If they move, you throw the now or bubble screens. If they do not move, you can run the jet.