This Chargers Rookie is Impressing People!

Jesse Minter Interview tarhe has probably in the last three or four practices made a really really good jump uh really happy with the jump that he's made he made a bunch of really nice plays out there the last couple days the two rookies that we drafted uh very excited about both of them day two of mini camp is in the books and we got Chargers Minicamp Highlights some good clips and takeaways from the practice yesterday Justin Herbert is still looking great not only in his gold jersey but also throwing the football the defense they came to play yet again and one rookie at a position that we desperately need depth at is impressing the coaches in these last few practices so some pretty exciting stuff and let me give you the full breakdown starting off with the most obvious piece here which Justin Herbert Throws 5 Touchdowns is Justin Herbert throwing the ball at a high level again in seven on sevens that's being reported every single day now but in day one the focus was mostly on the Red Zone drills and it looks like yesterday they focused specifically on the drives uh between the 20 yard lines and we got this clip of Justin Herbert throwing a deep bomb to can you guess who this is take your guess right now because that is Simi foko who the Simi Fehoko Chances At WR Chargers signed about halfway through the season last year foko he didn't get much playing time last year and he only had that one catch which was the touchdown on two Targets but he is someone that you know he still has juice because he's still only 24 years old and he's entering his fourth season in the NFL coming out of Stanford he has hasn't really shown much since he has entered the NFL but he's got great size at 6'3 220 lb it's pretty big and he plays pretty fast with some pretty good route running skills so he's kind of like a Tyler Boyd kind of receiver in the sense that he's a big bodied slot wide receiver I mean that's where he caught that touchdown last year from the slot this is a guy that a lot of chargers fans probably don't even know or maybe you just didn't even remember that he is on the roster but every body out there they have a chance to make this team and Simi foko he could legitimately Force the Chargers to make a tough decision at wide receiver with one of those two seventh round rookies in Cornelius Johnson and Brendan rice like if he does beat out one of those to I know that some fans are going to be upset with that but just remember that Simi foko he was born the same year as Cornelius Johnson and he is a much better route Runner than Cornelius Johnson is at this point so if there is a path for him to make this team that's probably I think that's probably the guy that he would have to beat out but he's not only going to have to beat him out on offense but also in special teams because that is one area that Cornelius Johnson he really excels at I mean that's one of the reasons that he was drafted is because at Michigan he had some really good plays like he he blocked a couple punts there is definitely going to be a competition at wide receiver and from guys that like we did not even expect but semi foko he's got some tools man and at worst like you could stash him on the practice squad like they did at times last year but the real competition is going to start with the pads on it's just something to keep an eye on right now you know anything is possible with these wide receivers also do you remember how last year Jonathan Hightower was catching like tons of deep balls in training camp but he didn't make the roster that's how important special teams play is and also Health that is something that is very important too because John Hightower sat out uh the first preseason game because he was injured and Jim Harbaugh he just said yesterday that Justin Herbert elevates the talent around him and we have seen that in practices because on day one of mini camp he threw a touchdown to Jared Patterson the running back that is sixth on this depth chart and then he threw The Justin Herbert Effect the ball a bunch on one day to Hayden Hurst and he was balling out he had that one day where he threw the ball a bunch to Zack Hines the undrafted free agent tight end he looked really good that day in OTAs as well and if you look at the players that he's throwing to in a lot of these clips it's not just consistently one guy like you know how it used to be with Keenan Allen he would always look for him it became almost kind of like a crutch because Keenan was so good you always wanted to give him the ball but everybody's making plays right now in team drills and Justin Herbert is spreading the ball around we've seen a lot of DJ CH a lot of Quinton Johnston Darius Davis Josh Palmer all these guys are catching touchdowns even the drafted free agent wide receivers like Leon Johnson and Jaylen Johnson they have gotten some good Targets in team drills as well and now we're seeing Simi foko catch this deep ball touchdown in this clip so maybe he was just the guy that ended up being open I mean obviously it's it's a blown coverage by either alohi Gilman or Christian Folton can't tell whose assignment that is from that angle but I'd love to see Justin Herbert spreading the ball around like this and having success with multiple different targets and when you have a quarterback like that it allows the offensive weapons to like really separate themselves because Justin he's not playing favorites like lad Maki is the favorite right throughout practices right now but that's it's just because he's getting open the most like Justin Herbert he's not premeditating the throws and playing favorites he's just executing the reads the guys that have separated themselves so far I think it's Hayden Hurst lad makoni and Zack Hines and it's a totally even playing field where the quarterback is just going to reward you for getting open also I just I think it's funny that a lot of people are worried about Greg Roman running the ball way too much but it feels like we're seeing a lot of deep passes a lot of throwing the ball in practices well I I guess you can't really run the ball yet because the pads are off but I don't know they're at least throwing and showing that they have a lot of deep throws in this Playbook I just really can't wait until training camp because there's always one guy that just comes out of nowhere and surprises people but somebody who has been surprising the coaches in recent days is tar Heap still the fifth round rookie from Maryland Jesse Minter in the beginning of this video I played that clip he was talking about tarhe still making a big leap recently and we got Tarheeb Still Balling Recently one clip of him right here B breaking up a pass on the undrafted free agent Jaylen Gil he's showing off that anticipation that he has and getting that arm that's away from the sideline the outside arm in there to break up the pass that is exactly how you want to do it that's how he's taught to do it he also had an interception and there was no clip of that but that was apparently against the starters so he picked off Justin Herbert and then he had another pass breakup but tarhe still is most likely going to find his way onto the field as a nickel cornerback and they're planning on running nickel a lot speed nickel if you remember and tar Heep still I think his Pathway to the fields right now it's kind of only being blocked by jir Taylor who was the nickel quarterback last year he flashed a bit last year he also had some moments where he really did not play well like specifically that Ravens game he struggled a lot against Z flowers and Odell Beckham but there's a lot of competition for that nickel spot not because there are a ton of great guys there but a ton of unproven guys and guys that have a lot of potential and if tarib still can continue to improve and build momentum like he has these past few days there's a legitimate pathway where he can be the day one starter at nickel or at least at the very least get some very significant playing time because Jim Harbaugh even said there's going to be like 13 guys that are starters on defense because of the amount of packages and formations that they're going to be having tarib still obviously is trusting his instincts more which is great because that's one thing at Maryland where I thought he could improve upon he wasn't as instinctual in zone coverage as I felt he should have been maybe he was thinking a bit too much but according to Jesse Minter he's come a long way already and tar Heap still he is a feisty run Defender too so if he can develop that zone coverage ability with Jesse Minter coaching him up already you know we got a solid starter on our hands people Jesse Minter also mentioned Dean Leonard as a player who is standing out and that's good because he has the size and the length that you want on that outside cornerback spot and that's something that we don't you know we don't have a lot of cornerbacks right now that can fit that mold of playing on the outside we got Deane Leonard also playing well Christian Folton who he's not really a sure thing he has been playing well but he's also had injuries cam Hart Who was the other fifth round rookie that we have not heard anything of right now and then Dean Leonard who had some pretty good moments at times last year and also in the preseason he played against the Patriots in lions and had some good pass breakups there but he also was a guy that struggled a lot against the Ravens and Z flowers as well there are a lot of players with potential on this roster and we are already seeing some of them improve with the proper coaching and if you did not see my video yesterday Asante Samuel Jr is also playing really well and impressing the coaches so that that's three cornerbacks now that are playing well Brandon Staley would never allow that