So What Do We Do At Left Tackle?

[Panamamike]

Pipkins is going to be a STUD. He now has a position coach with an excellent record of developing young lineman. Being forced to play last yr when that was not the plan will pay dividends along with a yr of strength.

[chargerkdb]

3 days ago they were were comfortable with Tyrod going forward. Nobody whose paycheck and reputation rides on this is comfortable.

[Maniaque 6]

Pipkins is going to be a STUD. He now has a position coach with an excellent record of developing young lineman. Being forced to play last yr when that was not the plan will pay dividends along with a yr of strength.

I would love to believe it.

[JayShort21]

Right now it looks like Peters vs. Pipkins.


Pipkins may the guy of the future, but I would be disappointed if they roll him out there week 1.

Maybe another Tackle gets cut come training camp? Seems doubtful

[Xenos]

Popper also doesn't understand the lack of LT drafted. Though I do wonder if Peters is indeed the best FA left tackle left (no pun intended).
https://theathletic.com/1781637/2020...hat-a-mistake/

The Chargers had six picks in last week’s NFL Draft and didn’t use any on an offensive linemen.

Why disregard such a blatant position of need? Anyone who watched a Chargers game last season could see the offensive line was a weakness, perhaps the biggest one on the roster.

Yes, their two best linemen — left tackle Russell Okung and center Mike Pouncey — missed most of the season because of injuries, and additional medical issues forced the coaching staff to put young, experienced players — tackle Trey Pipkins and center Scott Quessenberry — on the field before they wanted.

Yes, general manager Tom Telesco partially addressed the line in March by signing free-agent right tackle Bryan Bulaga and trading Okung for right guard Trai Turner.

But the Chargers’ left side of the line is still a massive question mark. Pipkins, Sam Tevi and Forrest Lamp, right now, are in line to compete for the starting left tackle job. Assuming Pouncey returns healthy from his season-ending neck injury, Dan Feeney, Lamp and Trent Scott are set to compete for the starting spot at left guard.

They’re all below-replacement-level players.

And so drafting an offensive lineman — more specifically a left tackle to create more competition at that position — seemed like a foregone conclusion.

How could Telesco skip over such an important part of the team?

There are really only two possible explanations:

1. Telesco is confident in the players he has on the roster and believes a combination of new line coach James Campen — one of the best developers of offensive linemen this century — and a change in offensive scheme will elevate the left side of the line.
2. Telesco plans to sign veteran left tackle Jason Peters.

The second explanation makes way more sense than the first, which would require a pretty staggering level of hubris from Telesco.

Effectively, Telesco would be absolving his talent evaluation. He would instead be blaming the development of that talent, which falls on the coaching staff and — to a lesser extent — the scheme limitations and restrictions that come with protecting a pocket passer like Philip Rivers.

Signing Peters, on the other hand, would at least admit a need to upgrade over Pipkins and Tevi at left tackle. That should be the priority for Telesco before training camp. According to NFL Network, Peters has met with teams and “pitched the idea of being a starter now while mentoring a young guy like he did with the Eagles and Andre Dillard last season.” Pipkins certainly fits that description.

The acquisition is no sure thing, though. Far from it. The first explanation is very much in the realm of possibility.

And there is some merit to it. Campen’s track record really speaks for itself. He joined the Packers as assistant offensive line coach in 2004 and was promoted to offensive line coach in 2007. He stayed in that role until 2018. In those 15 seasons, he groomed the following draft picks into Pro Bowlers with Packers:

• 2008 fourth-round pick guard Josh Sitton: Four-time Pro Bowler (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016)
• 2004 seventh-round pick center Scott Wells: 2011 Pro Bowler
• 2009 fourth-round pick guard T.J. Lang: 2016 Pro Bowler
• 2013 fourth-round pick tackle David Bakhtiari: Two-time Pro Bowler (2016, 2019), First-team All-Pro (2018)
• 2000 second-round pick tackle Chad Clifton: Two-time Pro Bowler (2007, 2010)

By comparison, a homegrown lineman hasn’t represented the Chargers in the Pro Bowl since Marcus McNeill in 2007, six years before Telesco took over as GM.

It’s within reason for Telesco to expect better O-line development with Campen in the building.

But using that same logic, wouldn’t it have made sense to use their fourth-round pick on an offensive tackle instead of UCLA’s Joshua Kelley, a third-string running back? Wouldn’t adding another developmental piece only increase Campen’s odds of success? Ben Bartch, a project out of Division III St. John’s in Minnesota, was available at pick 112 and ended up going to Jacksonville four picks later.

You’re never expecting a fourth-round pick to start, much less as a rookie, especially given this uncertain offseason during the pandemic. But Bakhtiari started 16 games at left tackle his rookie season. Many draft analysts said he would never play tackle in the NFL, projecting a move to guard. Now he’s arguably the best left tackle in the league.

The other component in this what-if game is the Chargers trading back into the first round to take linebacker Kenneth Murray. They gave up a lot of capital — the Nos. 37 and 71 picks — but they felt Murray was too good of a player, and too good of a fit for their culture and defensive scheme, to pass up.

I love the pick. I gave it an A in my grades over the weekend. But I feel like it’s important to distinguish between the pick and the trade that made the pick possible.

Ultimately, the trade prevented the Chargers from drafting a tackle in the second or third round. By the time No. 112 came around, Telesco felt like there wasn’t enough value at offensive tackle and set out to fill other needs — third-string running back, fast wide receiver, special-teams coverage guy, etc.

But what happens if the Chargers don’t make that trade? Hypothetically, they could have taken Ezra Cleveland at tackle in the second round with No. 37, and either Davion Taylor or Akeem Davis-Gaither at linebacker with No. 71. Or they could have taken Logan Wilson, Zack Baun or Willie Gay at linebacker with No. 37, and Josh Jones at tackle with No. 71.

The Chargers believe Murray will provide more value than the players they could have gotten at Nos. 37 and 71. If they didn’t believe that, they wouldn’t have made the trade. Murray has to develop into a sensational player for that to be the case, considering their deficiencies on the left side of the offensive line.

Telesco and coach Anthony Lynn would argue that scheme changes, along with Campen’s coaching, will help mask those deficiencies. And there is some merit to that part of the explanation, as well.

In the days since selecting quarterback Justin Herbert with the sixth overall pick, Lynn and Telesco have shed some light on what those scheme changes will entail. There will be more pistol formation. There will be more play action. There will be more run-pass option. There will be more quarterback movement.

Next season, without Rivers under center, the Chargers’ offense is going to look a lot more like the Ravens offense that swept the league last season. Lynn and Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman coached together in Buffalo in 2015 and 2016, before Roman got fired early in 2016 and Lynn took over play-calling duties. Both Tyrod Taylor and Herbert have the skillset to run some of the concepts the Ravens do, like zone read and other QB option runs. Obviously not at the level of Lamar Jackson, but no one is at the level of Jackson.

The Ravens also run a lot of outside zone — the same run scheme Lynn will be trying to implement in 2020, and the one Campen specializes in.

In theory, these shifts should alleviate some of the pressure on the left side of the line. Right-handed quarterbacks, of course, roll out to their right, away from the left tackle. Play action and RPO concepts prevent pass rushers from driving upfield immediately at the snap. Quarterbacks typically can’t be pressured when they hand the ball off.

At the same time, the Ravens’ offensive line was absolutely dominant in 2019. They had one of the best tackle combos in the league in Ronnie Staley and Orlando Brown, and a future Hall of Famer at right guard in Marshall Yanda.

All this becomes moot if the Chargers sign Peters.

It’s a no-brainer.

But if he doesn’t make that move, Telesco could be staring at another offensive-line depth issue mid-season, with no solution readily available.

And he would have no one to blame but himself.

[Critty]

I would be surprised if they added offensive line.
They are going with Pipkins, Scott, Lamp, Norton, Tevi at the other OT. Not sure who Lynn will pick to start.

[powderblueboy]

I would be surprised if they added offensive line.
They are going with Pipkins, Scott, Lamp, Norton, Tevi at the other OT. Not sure who Lynn will pick to start.

If its Tevi, at least he will be in the final year of his contract.
Then, if he is merely half-way horrible, Lynn won't have the opportunity to
bury all the other young left tackles behind Tevi for years.

[powderblueboy]

I hope that Lynn gives Campen full discretion on all matters related to the Oline.
At least he comes in with an open perspective.

[sonorajim]

I would be surprised if they added offensive line.
They are going with Pipkins, Scott, Lamp, Norton, Tevi at the other OT. Not sure who Lynn will pick to start.

50/50 chance we add FA LT IMO. The right deal for a quality vet? Heck ya. It won't hurt Pip. I think Campen chooses his starters & depth. He's the one charged with making the OL a functional unit.

[Lone Bolt]

gy

50/50 chance we add FA LT IMO. The right deal for a quality vet? Heck ya. It won't hurt Pip. I think Campen chooses his starters & depth. He's the one charged with making the OL a functional unit.

Won't hurt Pip, but it will hurt the pocket book....we need every penny. I was pretty on board with adding a LT to either press Pip, or mentor him...but I want to sign Joey, Henry, Allen and others back next year...he won't learn any younger, and the River's window is officially closed...
Throw Pip back out there...he has starting experience already in the NFL to learn from, and tape for Campen to use, to help coach him up when they finally get to camp...not to mention an offseason to work on his pro strength and anchor. If he can't handle it, if he doesn't rise to the occasion...we can look for another young option in next years draft, maybe put a vet in front of that guy...but if possible, we need to save that money...

[blueman]

On board with the Pip/Campen plan.

[powderblueboy]

They really can't be serious about Tevi at LT?
Its a different position from RT, everything being on the opposite side, and he never exactly mastered the right side postion.
Very little training camp/actual preparation if the season takes place.
He'll be a bust.

and Storm Norton is a stab in the dark by Telesco - not worth discussion at this point.

Lamp is a far more likely possibility. At guard, he so far seems injury prone.
Maybe a move to LT will stave off injuries. Pipkens will need another year.