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[dmac_bolt]

Personally, I was hoping for a step up from Klien. Which we got. I never expected perfect and we got not-perfect. The trips through GMs and HCs since have been exciting at times. The current effort has me impressed. Like the family learned a few things and have a solid plan in motion. This is my favorite Chargers team. "Spani" and all.

They did not take the accelerated classes, but they’ve definitely been to school

[powderblueboy]

If Egb and Kennard step up and step in to fill valuable rotation reps well, the group could be better. Caldwell looks like a low risk bet imo, but it’s still a bet. If these 3 don’t, the group could be down. If Og turned out to be a solid player, now there’s a group with rotational depth without significant fall off that can play strong thru 60 minutes. We haven’t seen a thing from him yet imo.

If Colson takes the same year2 leap that Henley did, that can compensate for the occasional misses in front of them. DBs - tbd, Minter seemed to get a lot more out of his DBs than we should have expected last year, I see good coaching and scheme to minimize big costly mistakes and set them up to make plays there. Minter is playing the odds that if you force a QB to throw enough times underneath, you’ll get some shots at taking that ball from him. Guys knowing what their assignment was before the snap was itself a huge upgrade to 2023.

I agree: much depends upon Kennard /Egboigbe /Caldwell:

If Kennard can not give quality minutes, then they are down to 3 guys at edge, one of them being very old by football standards.
Otito, Jones, Tart, Hand have collectively about 10 career sacks ... one gets the sense that there is just not enough there.
Ford and Fox mostly provided the pressure last year.

They have the luxury of having Caldwell sit and develop with Naquon Jones & Ogy ... Caldwell having played NT for just one year at Oregon.
Maybe they just have him mostly sit and develop.

Telesco's Chargers would throw him out there.

[Fouts2herbert]

I agree: much depends upon Kennard /Egboigbe /Caldwell:

If Kennard can not give quality minutes, then they are down to 3 guys at edge, one of them being very old by football standards.
Otito, Jones, Tart, Hand have collectively about 10 career sacks ... one gets the sense that there is just not enough there.
Ford and Fox mostly provided the pressure last year.

They have the luxury of having Caldwell sit and develop with Naquon Jones & Ogy ... Caldwell having played NT for just one year at Oregon.
Maybe they just have him mostly sit and develop.

Telesco's Chargers would throw him out there.

I know that the competition level is going to get a bump this year and our defensive stats might take a dip as a result, but for some reason I just think the defense will be even better than last years especially as the year progresses...I guess Minter made a real believer out of me...

[sonorajim]

I agree: much depends upon Kennard /Egboigbe /Caldwell:

If Kennard can not give quality minutes, then they are down to 3 guys at edge, one of them being very old by football standards.
Otito, Jones, Tart, Hand have collectively about 10 career sacks ... one gets the sense that there is just not enough there.
Ford and Fox mostly provided the pressure last year.

They have the luxury of having Caldwell sit and develop with Naquon Jones & Ogy ... Caldwell having played NT for just one year at Oregon.
Maybe they just have him mostly sit and develop.

Telesco's Chargers would throw him out there.

If Caldwell has a good camp, I expect he'll get some game snaps early and build numbers as he gains experience.

Right now we have 10 OLB/Edge players. Camp will tell us something.

[Riverwalk]

If Caldwell has a good camp, I expect he'll get some game snaps early and build numbers as he gains experience.

Besides QB, for obvious reasons, I would say OL and DL are the next hardest positions for NFL rookies because they are going up against much bigger, stronger, and experienced guys than they faced before.

Skill positions, like WR, can rely more on their athleticism and speed.

It’s going to be tough for Caldwell to dominate in year one. Expectations should be tempered.

From his draft profile:

Weaknesses

• Ends up on the ground more than he should.
• Can become too straight-legged in lateral engagements.
• Needs to play with more consistent shed quickness.
• Struggled creating interior rush opportunities without help.
• Average body control leads to missed finishes.

[Formula 21]

Edge starter change, improvement; Tuli in for Joey, a younger healthier player that doesn't miss time and should be more impactful now that he's not pulling double duty playing on special teams...Dupree becomes #3 guy on paper but if we're being honest he played as #3 already due to Joey missing so much time, the difference is now we actually get a #4 guy to rotate in Kennard, last year it was a 3 man rotation with all the time Joey missed and when Mack got dinged up Dupree and Tuli were playing waaay too many snaps and practice squad guys ended up getting activated too much, the Edge room depth has improved simply because Joey use to miss so much time, they even used Fox at Edge last year on occasion and he was also playing inside, overall depth is better now and I'm pumped to see what type of juice Kennard can bring as a rookie...

Interior defensive line change, TBD; On paper the missed tackle percentages have gone down inside from 2024, Ford and Fox missed some tackles but I can understand folks being upset over losing both guys, Ford was disruptive inside and Fox led the interior guys with QB pressures...the plus is that we're getting younger inside while at least on paper getting better agains the run, whether Egboigbe or Campbell, can fill Fox's shoes in the QB pressure department remains to be seen, but at least on paper we have improved against the run game, these guys are bigger and younger than the men that they are replacing too. So I understand the concern but considering how Minter revitalized Ford's career in 2024, I'm very interested in seeing what he gets out of Hand, Jones, Campbell, and Egboibe...Tart already flashed last year so the question with him is can he do it like he did last year with more snaps?

so overall I think the D-line has more depth than in 2024 AND on paper they should be better agains the run, but now we need to see how this youth movement in Egboibe, Cambell, and Kennard affests the rotation...

I’m hopeful, but time will tell. 3 new starters plus 2 aging edges gives me concern.

It all starts up front. But I do like experienced guys who have been there versus young and unproven.

[sonorajim]

Besides QB, for obvious reasons, I would say OL and DL are the next hardest positions for NFL rookies because they are going up against much bigger, stronger, and experienced guys than they faced before.

Skill positions, like WR, can rely more on their athleticism and speed.

It’s going to be tough for Caldwell to dominate in year one. Expectations should be tempered.

From his draft profile:

Weaknesses

• Ends up on the ground more than he should.
• Can become too straight-legged in lateral engagements.
• Needs to play with more consistent shed quickness.
• Struggled creating interior rush opportunities without help.
• Average body control leads to missed finishes.

Caldwell's highlights are impressive. I'll stick with "gets some snaps early and earns more as the season progresses". I like the short, heavy guy, 6-1, 340. He reminds me of Poona who was JAG until he played for us. We aren't the Oregon coaches and trainers. Not a knock on them but we were the #1 scoring D with PFF's #32 roster. Plus Ben Herbert and a full off season and training camp, which we did not have last year.
That and I like our scouts. Hortiz & co used a 3rd on Caldwell.

[Chargers8491]

JT Woods a 2022 Chargers 3rd rnd draft pick was just waived by Seattle. This made me go back and take a look at that draft class:

• Round 1, Pick No. 17: Zion Johnson, G/C, Boston College
• Round 3, Pick No. 79: JT Woods, S, Baylor
• Round 4, Pick No. 123: Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M
• Round 5, Pick No. 160: Otito Ogbonnia, DT, UCLA
• Round 6, Pick No. 195: Jamaree Salyer, G, Georgia
• Round 6, Pick No. 214: Ja'Sir Taylor, CB, Wake Forest
• Round 7, Pick No. 236: Deane Leonard, CB, Ole Miss
• Round 7, Pick No. 260: Zander Horvath, RB, Purdue

This is a micro snapshot of why the Chargers depth chart has sucked for so long. TT and whatever coach flavor of the day could not find draft picks in the mid-rnds to develop into solid starters or back-ups. This draft was 3 yrs ago. Brutal absolutely brutal.

[Formula 21]

Caldwell's highlights are impressive. I'll stick with "gets some snaps early and earns more as the season progresses". I like the short, heavy guy, 6-1, 340. He reminds me of Poona who was JAG until he played for us. We aren't the Oregon coaches and trainers. Not a knock on them but we were the #1 scoring D with PFF's #32 roster. Plus Ben Herbert and a full off season and training camp, which we did not have last year.
That and I like our scouts. Hortiz & co used a 3rd on Caldwell.

LOL. #32 roster. Was that true? I saw experience everywhere when I looked at that roster. and most of it played well.

[sonorajim]

JT Woods a 2022 Chargers 3rd rnd draft pick was just waived by Seattle. This made me go back and take a look at that draft class:

• Round 1, Pick No. 17: Zion Johnson, G/C, Boston College
• Round 3, Pick No. 79: JT Woods, S, Baylor
• Round 4, Pick No. 123: Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M
• Round 5, Pick No. 160: Otito Ogbonnia, DT, UCLA
• Round 6, Pick No. 195: Jamaree Salyer, G, Georgia
• Round 6, Pick No. 214: Ja'Sir Taylor, CB, Wake Forest
• Round 7, Pick No. 236: Deane Leonard, CB, Ole Miss
• Round 7, Pick No. 260: Zander Horvath, RB, Purdue

This is a micro snapshot of why the Chargers depth chart has sucked for so long. TT and whatever coach flavor of the day could not find draft picks in the mid-rnds to develop into solid starters or back-ups. This draft was 3 yrs ago. Brutal absolutely brutal.

Woods, Spiller and Horvath didn't work out. Tito, Salyer, Taylor and Leonard are @ what we expected. Zion has been up and down but is competing to be the starting C, so not absolutely brutal IMO. Woods and Spiller basically sucked.

[sonorajim]

LOL. #32 roster. Was that true? I saw experience everywhere when I looked at that roster. and most of it played well.

As individuals we didn't score well with PFF. I agree about how we played. That made me re-examine my opinion of PFF.

[powderblueboy]

JT Woods a 2022 Chargers 3rd rnd draft pick was just waived by Seattle. This made me go back and take a look at that draft class:

• Round 1, Pick No. 17: Zion Johnson, G/C, Boston College
• Round 3, Pick No. 79: JT Woods, S, Baylor
• Round 4, Pick No. 123: Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M
• Round 5, Pick No. 160: Otito Ogbonnia, DT, UCLA
• Round 6, Pick No. 195: Jamaree Salyer, G, Georgia
• Round 6, Pick No. 214: Ja'Sir Taylor, CB, Wake Forest
• Round 7, Pick No. 236: Deane Leonard, CB, Ole Miss
• Round 7, Pick No. 260: Zander Horvath, RB, Purdue

This is a micro snapshot of why the Chargers depth chart has sucked for so long. TT and whatever coach flavor of the day could not find draft picks in the mid-rnds to develop into solid starters or back-ups. This draft was 3 yrs ago. Brutal absolutely brutal.

And yet this was one of TT's best day 3 group of s********s.

Zion takes over the center position ... Salyer the swing tackle, and Ogy, Leonard and Taylor (heard kool-aid about him recently) key backups the next two years.
And don't forget the 2nd for Mack!

You'll be on your knees kissing TT's feet yet Chargers8491
Topcat needs to do a poll on that ...."Do you think Chargers8491 will end up ...."