Welcome Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss (R2, Pick 55) - Holdout Over

[sonorajim]

I know. I've got nothing but trust here after watching Bozeman and Johnson last year. Its not too early to worry maybe they didn't do enough. They fixed 1/3 of the IOL. that is 2/3 not fixed.

to paraphrase that great American philosopher, Janis Joplin: "Vision's just another word for nothing left to lose".

the team vision this year is exactly the same as the team's vision last year - their roster vision is they have their fingers crossed that those two players will play markedly better in 2025 than they did in 2024.

"Exactly the same as last year". That's where I struggle with your vision.I know you're aware of a great deal of change on offense and specifically some options at LG- C.

[CanadianBoltFan]

I know. I've got nothing but trust here after watching Bozeman and Johnson last year. Its not too early to worry maybe they didn't do enough. They fixed 1/3 of the IOL. that is 2/3 not fixed.

to paraphrase that great American philosopher, Janis Joplin: "Vision's just another word for nothing left to lose".

the team vision this year is exactly the same as the team's vision last year - their roster vision is they have their fingers crossed that those two players will play markedly better in 2025 than they did in 2024.

There is where I am right with you Dmac.

No one is questioning that JH2 are smart football guys that know what they are doing overall but I feel when it comes to IOL they have left too much risk after a season of evidence that their IOL was nowhere near good enough to hold up against contender's defenses. Now 2025 brings on a tough schedule full of contenders.

In my professional life, when planning, I always liked the saying "hope is not a business term" Well now the Chargers have left themselves "hoping" that 2 players are vastly better this year or risk sabotaging the offense this year. Just seems like an unnecessary risk to me. I would feel better with more contingency plans on the roster.

[sonorajim]

There is where I am right with you Dmac.

No one is questioning that JH2 are smart football guys that know what they are doing overall but I feel when it comes to IOL they have left too much risk after a season of evidence that their IOL was nowhere near good enough to hold up against contender's defenses. Now 2025 brings on a tough schedule full of contenders.

In my professional life, when planning, I always liked the saying "hope is not a business term" Well now the Chargers have left themselves "hoping" that 2 players are vastly better this year or risk sabotaging the offense this year. Just seems like an unnecessary risk to me. I would feel better with more contingency plans on the roster.

Primary candidates at C: Zion, Bozeman, James and the rookie Kaltenberber. LG candidates: Bozeman, James, Zion, and about 8 others.
Aside from that, we haven't seen any in this year's offense. Let the process run it's course before you tear up you Charger's gear.

[Duck of Death]

are you talking about last year or this year? Last year, I agree, I give him a pass. Sure they got better, they drafted a future pro bowl RT, but 17th isn't championship football, its not even average. And I will never set Joe's benchmark for evaluation at "is he better than TT".

I'm only talking about this year's roster - he still has $26M cap space according to OTC today. I concede it was a thin year for IOL FAs but he could have added 2 IOL starters instead of 1 and maybe he has the best OL in the NFL for the next couple years. Instead, we're all holding our breath and praying that Zion and Boze don't sabotage the entire season. I hope he's right.

Or he delivers a pirate's booty sometime in August like he did last year.

Correct, 17th in run stats is certainly not championship football. But who thought they’d be playing championship football just one year after going 5-12? I’m just noting that there was still marked improvement in the run game despite only being able to afford two highly injury prone bargain basement ball carriers in JK & Gus. I’ve gotta believe that Hampton, Harris, & Becton are going to provide a vastly more potent running game this year. And as you pointed out, with $26 mil left, I doubt Joe is close to done. Remember that a number of his moves came well after the draft last year. Also, they HAVE to spend at least 90% of the cap. If they haven’t done anything more by October and they still can’t run the ball, then we can bring out the pitchforks.

Anyways, I think we were all sorta responding to the poster that claimed that “this regime is no different so far”, which is an odd take. Probably should get back to discussing Tre Harris in the Tre Harris thread.

[DerwinBosa]

To state the obvious, Hortiz and Harbaugh are far more acquainted with the strengths and deficiencies of the players we had last year and how they fit with the vision. Knowing this, they chose to bring back Bozeman, bring in Bechton and James along with a low round draft pick. It's way too early to conclude they haven't done enough with the IOL until we see who is the starters and how they play in real games.

It is way too early. I don't see how anyone could possibly think that Hortiz and Harbaugh didn't want to improve center and left guard this offseason. Here's a thought: maybe they couldn't find anyone in free agency better than what they had and got (Andre James), and then there weren't any centers or guards ranked high enough when they selected Hampton, Harris, Caldwell, Kennard, Lambert-Smith, and Gadsden II before taking Branson Taylor in the sixth round of the draft. Furthermore, Zion actually can improve, as some of his issues last season were mental errors that can be corrected.

[Bolts&noles]

Primary candidates at C: Zion, Bozeman, James and the rookie Kaltenberber. LG candidates: Bozeman, James, Zion, and about 8 others.
Aside from that, we haven't seen any in this year's offense. Let the process run it's course before you tear up you Charger's gear.

I heard James shared first team reps at Center with Bozeman today ?
I hope James is working hard with Ben and giving himself the best shot.

[dmac_bolt]

Primary candidates at C: Zion, Bozeman, James and the rookie Kaltenberber. LG candidates: Bozeman, James, Zion, and about 8 others.
Aside from that, we haven't seen any in this year's offense. Let the process run it's course before you tear up you Charger's gear.

I liked the little of K’s college OC tape that I watched … maybe there’s an upside surprise. The OT-turn-OG they drafted looks pretty raw to expect to be ready after one camp, but thats just a guess by me too.

We’ll see I guess. There is no obviously visible upgrade for LG or OC on the roster, the smart money seems to be betting Zion and Boze are starters - that could be seen by skeptics as the definition of “exactly the same”, no?

Derwin’s note is fair - it was not the best year for FA IOL. But there were a few, and a few that signed 1 or 2 year deals for numbers that would easily fit in available cap

[sonorajim]

I liked the little of K’s college OC tape that I watched … maybe there’s an upside surprise. The OT-turn-OG they drafted looks pretty raw to expect to be ready after one camp, but thats just a guess by me too.

We’ll see I guess. There is no obviously visible upgrade for LG or OC on the roster, the smart money seems to be betting Zion and Boze are starters - that could be seen by skeptics as the definition of “exactly the same”, no?

Derwin’s note is fair - it was not the best year for FA IOL. But there were a few, and a few that signed 1 or 2 year deals for numbers that would easily fit in available cap

Yesterday the starting LG was Bozeman, Zion was C. James was 2nd team C. There are several weeks to go before training camp. We'll have a better idea when they start TC.

[CanadianBoltFan]

It is way too early. I don't see how anyone could possibly think that Hortiz and Harbaugh didn't want to improve center and left guard this offseason. Here's a thought: maybe they couldn't find anyone in free agency better than what they had and got (Andre James), and then there weren't any centers or guards ranked high enough when they selected Hampton, Harris, Caldwell, Kennard, Lambert-Smith, and Gadsden II before taking Branson Taylor in the sixth round of the draft. Furthermore, Zion actually can improve, as some of his issues last season were mental errors that can be corrected.

This years draft was really weak in centers so you have a point

As I have said a few times now, 2024 draft is where they dropped the ball on the best center draft in recent memory. Tanner Bortolini, the Colts starting center already, would have been far more valuable to the Chargers in the 4th round than reaching for project Justin Eboigbe. Instead of a project you are hoping will join the DL rotation and contribute this year, you would have a young center who could be unseating Bozeman as the weakest link on the o line.

[sonorajim]

This years draft was really weak in centers so you have a point

As I have said a few times now, 2024 draft is where they dropped the ball on the best center draft in recent memory. Tanner Bortolini, the Colts starting center already, would have been far more valuable to the Chargers in the 4th round than reaching for project Justin Eboigbe. Instead of a project you are hoping will join the DL rotation and contribute this year, you would have a young center who could be unseating Bozeman as the weakest link on the o line.

2024's 11-6 was good. Winning games is the ultimate goal. In 2025 11-6 and a playoff win would be a step up. We'll see.

I can't argue against Bortolini. That didn't come to pass. However we'll se about W-L. Harbaugh wins an avg @ 70% of NFL games. Let's see if he can up that this year with the RBs and a passing attack.

[dmac_bolt]

Yesterday the starting LG was Bozeman, Zion was C. James was 2nd team C. There are several weeks to go before training camp. We'll have a better idea when they start TC.

Zion C experiment is interesting, I often thought watching him that he looks like he'd be a vg center. Problem is - who can play LG better than him?

[Javia]

This years draft was really weak in centers so you have a point

As I have said a few times now, 2024 draft is where they dropped the ball on the best center draft in recent memory. Tanner Bortolini, the Colts starting center already, would have been far more valuable to the Chargers in the 4th round than reaching for project Justin Eboigbe. Instead of a project you are hoping will join the DL rotation and contribute this year, you would have a young center who could be unseating Bozeman as the weakest link on the o line.

2024 PFF grades:
Zion Johnson- 65.7
Tanor Bortolini- 65.1
Bradley Bozeman- 61.2