2019 Official Chargers Training Camp

[Steve]

I will go out on a limb and say that OL will almost defnitely be the weakest group on the team. Only other group might be the LB, although if everyone can stay healthy, then not them. That being said, I think they will be better (possibly muhc better) than last year, and probably good enough.

The team and most of the position groups are very, very strong. Depending on how things go, the DL, secondary, and/or RB could all be the best position groups on the team and maybe the NFL if some young players develop quickly. Positions like TE, Wr and QB are very good, and fairly deep groups, at least as far as any NFL team can be deep at those spots.

Even teams that win SB are not strong in every group and have depth at every position. We don't have to be great. We just have to keep getting better, and improve to the point where we can protect Rivers and open holes for the RB.

I get that people will bitch about the OL all year long, but the fact is if we had tried to rebuild the OL, it would have left other holes that would not be filled, and we would be weaker in other spots.

[Topcat]

I will go out on a limb and say that OL will almost defnitely be the weakest group on the team. Only other group might be the LB, although if everyone can stay healthy, then not them. That being said, I think they will be better (possibly muhc better) than last year, and probably good enough.

The team and most of the position groups are very, very strong. Depending on how things go, the DL, secondary, and/or RB could all be the best position groups on the team and maybe the NFL if some young players develop quickly. Positions like TE, Wr and QB are very good, and fairly deep groups, at least as far as any NFL team can be deep at those spots.

Even teams that win SB are not strong in every group and have depth at every position. We don't have to be great. We just have to keep getting better, and improve to the point where we can protect Rivers and open holes for the RB.

I get that people will bitch about the OL all year long, but the fact is if we had tried to rebuild the OL, it would have left other holes that would not be filled, and we would be weaker in other spots.

Okay, let's analyze that Bolt line. According to PFF, the categories are Elite, High Quality, Good, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Poor, Rookie and Limited. Here's how the Bolt O-line grades out:

Okung: #11, Good, 78.4
Feeney: #72, Below Average, 45.5
Pouncey: #25, Average, 56.9
Schofield: #42, Average, 61.5
Tevi: #74, Below Average, 53.7

I would agree with these ratings. The weak links in the line are Feeney and Tevi. If Lamp is as good as advertised, he should be able to beat out Feeney. Pipkins is more of a project, but if Tevi continues to struggle, it's possible Pipkins gets a look. On the other hand, if we're winning, even though Tevi allows a few sacks and pressures, Lynn has indicated from past experience he won't want to mess with the "chemistry." We shall see...

[Panamamike]

Okay, let's analyze that Bolt line. According to PFF, the categories are Elite, High Quality, Good, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Poor, Rookie and Limited. Here's how the Bolt O-line grades out:

Okung: #11, Good, 78.4
Feeney: #72, Below Average, 45.5
Pouncey: #25, Average, 56.9
Schofield: #42, Average, 61.5
Tevi: #74, Below Average, 53.7

I would agree with these ratings. The weak links in the line are Feeney and Tevi. If Lamp is as good as advertised, he should be able to beat out Feeney. Pipkins is more of a project, but if Tevi continues to struggle, it's possible Pipkins gets a look. On the other hand, if we're winning, even though Tevi allows a few sacks and pressures, Lynn has indicated from past experience he won't want to mess with the "chemistry." We shall see...

The chemistry thing had to do with being midseason and the line was playing well when Lamp was finally reasy. He has for the first time in his career the opportunity to participate in the offseason program and TC. The chemistry factory does not apply in this scenario IMO.

[Topcat]

The chemistry thing had to do with being midseason and the line was playing well when Lamp was finally reasy. He has for the first time in his career the opportunity to participate in the offseason program and TC. The chemistry factory does not apply in this scenario IMO.

I was referring to Tevi being possibly replaced if he has a few poor performances. If we're still winning, even with a few Tevi mess-ups, it's still good chemistry, according the Lynn's definition. However, if we were to lose 2-3 key games due to Tevi allowing multiple, game-changing sacks, AND we lose those 2-3 games, now that's BAD chemistry, and Tevi could be unseated...

[Panamamike]

I was referring to Tevi being possibly replaced if he has a few poor performances. If we're still winning, even with a few Tevi mess-ups, it's still good chemistry, according the Lynn's definition. However, if we were to lose 2-3 key games due to Tevi allowing multiple, game-changing sacks, AND we lose those 2-3 games, now that's BAD chemistry, and Tevi could be unseated...

Not sure what u mean by Lynn's definition. Can u post a link pls to save me looking?

They expect tevi to get better and rightfully so. He has very few reps as an OT (started at DL in college). they have watched his growth a lot more than we have. Big year for all 3.

[like54ninjas]

Not sure what u mean by Lynn's definition. Can u post a link pls to save me looking?

They expect tevi to get better and rightfully so. He has very few reps as an OT (started at DL in college). they have watched his growth a lot more than we have. Big year for all 3.

Here's to Feeney, Lamp, and Tevi having AP caliber 3rd seasons!

[blueman]

Chemistry thing is BS. If Lamp is that good he should start.

[Panamamike]

Chemistry thing is BS. If Lamp is that good he should start.

I disagree. The oline, more than any other grouping needs reps together. He missed both offseasons and you don't get them in practice during the season. he will now earn his spot and get plenty of reps with the other linemen. i am expecting big things from Lamp this season.

[blueman]

Tevi went in, played badly but got better. He's a better prospect than Lamp? When Feeney was sucking so badly?

[beachcomber]

DB * am an Adderley believer, and between him, Derwin, Desmond and Casey.... good night Irene, and just as long as Trevor & Co. can keep up some.
HC * save for his first four outta the gate, dude's been pretty much a revelation.
OL * remember a post Steve put up that inferred that long runs was an area that would make a difference for us in the win column.... think this group is gonna run block a bit and then some.
FO * would like to give these guys more credit, albeit am still reserving much if not too many accolades until (if ever) we see a big ol' fella stoppin' up the middle of the Dline.
QB * funny that PR would be our third wheel, and still fairly certain he's still in the top half of NFL QBs to date.
DL * not there yet, and that's w/obviously a very potent outside pressure pairing.
WR * think Cantrell is gonna show, even tho he went without mention in Lynn's latest presser (he mentioned Artavis and Geremy.... no mention of Andre Patton either
LB * as long as Denzel is intact our LB corps is gonna get 'er done.... when he steps off, our defensive midsection is gonna feel the blow.
RB * think Melvin is gonna continue to have trouble staying healthy over the full course of the season, and not sure Jeremy Cox will be enough there ??
TE * how long will it take for Henry to get back in the swing of things, and.... do we bring back Antonio ??

[Steve]

The whole thing that the OL play depends on is how much the younger players improve. The whole point of PFF is to judge players off their PAST performance. They have done a poor job of predicting future performance.

Feeney has problems with his footwork/balance and he needs to do a better job of identifying stunting/twisting/looping/blitzing guys who don't line up directly over him.

Tevi has to do a better job in his kick, his hand punch and sitting back in his stance.

Lamp needs to stay healthy.

If those 3 players can really buckle down and get to it, we can have a pretty good OL. If not, then yeah, we will struggle.

And OL is more than just the sum of the parts. If you go off the PFF grades, we have a terrible OL. Does the whatever ranked O and some of the offensive performances we put up last year suggest we were the whatever ranked OL we had. TT and the crew are not that worried, because they know a lot more about OL play that PFF does. Based on what I have seen, I agree with them. That doesn't mean we don't need to get better, but at some point you have to be patient and see how things pan out.

Again PFF has some serious grading issues in the past and they have never made any effort to fix their methodologies, and refuse to adjust their grading (or even describe how they grade). They are trying to make money and selling a flawed product is fine by them. They really are selling it to fantasy maniacs, so it doesn't matter if their grades are flawed or not.

Again, the key thing to me is not so much that they didn't try to upgrade the OL (they didn't). What did they upgrade? We got Adderley. We got Tillery. We added LB depth. We did add a project at LT (long term upgrade, but not help now). If we had added new players on the OL, then we would have had a lot of competition at OL, but we would be weak at DT, FS and LB. We only have so many draft picks, and we had a fair # of needs. I like the strategy behind going for the other spots. We added players at the other positions and we will see if the OL can pan out. But the important part to remember is that we were never going to be able to address all the positions of need in one draft. Not enough picks.

[blueman]

I'm fine with Feeney developing, but he has too much to work on to be starting right now.

Scary prediction: Pipkins plays at some point this season, and does okay.