Easton Can't Stick the Landing: Chargers vs Rams Recap | Director's Cut

want to watch football without the restrictions of blackouts or cable check out expressvpn.com to help you get access to all the live games sign up today using the link in the description to get three free months go to Bol fam it's the director Chargers fans everybody chill everybody chill for a second okay I understand the Chargers lost their game versus the Rams just last weekend bomber right but it's pre-season that's what these games are for so that we can figure out what's going on with the roster take the good try and build on it take the bad try to fix it and this game I will say had a good mix of both right sure there's going to be things the Chargers you got to figure things out in terms of you know especially backup quarterback which we're going to talk about again this week there are some things maybe on defense that could take a look at the offense has some pacing issues but for the most part I have to say this man this game was way better than last week versus the Seahawks I think the offense looked like they showed signs of life we're starting to see the vision behind Greg Roman and and some of the working pieces there you know uh some of the receivers did Step Up The Blocking looked really good which we're definitely going to touch on today but ultimately I would say the the culture and everything that Jim Harbaugh is building really is starting to come to the surface and it's going to take more time it's certainly going to take more than just a valuating preseason games to understand and witness that but you know what we're we're working our way closer next week we play the cowboy boys I do expect to see more Improvement there as the Chargers May roll out with even more starters but uh it should be very interesting now before we do jump in actually and Shout out the sponsor and all that I do want to give you guys one more piece of advice here as we're getting to the last preseason game for the Chargers before the regular season I have to highly recommend you guys check out the sponsor expressvpn and the video I put together to help people get access to the games this season without having to go like the ,000 route with you know ticket YouTube TV all that kind of stuff I get asked this all the time how we watching the games that's how I'm watching the games every Sunday so if you guys want to check that out and get your feet wet or at least figure out how to do it and test out the method in that video the last preseason game is probably a good uh uh way to go about that now before we do kick things off shout out to the other sponsor Underdog fantasy use code director to match your first deposit up to $250 newcomers take advantage of the special on screen and keep your eyes peeled especially crew members we're going to have another mock or I should say uh uh Underdog fantasy best ball draft on Wednesday if you guys want to be part of that I think I will be live streaming that for those who are interested before we do kick off hit us up with a like and sub if you do enjoy this Chargers content the small amount of time you guys take it the like sub and Bell notification helps me out a lot let's get into it lights camera action got it the end Parker our witnesses to history your Chargers versus uh Rams postgame report we're call them Recaps I don't know I've been thinking about changing things up a little bit so it's not so you know uh repetitive in terms of the weekly content but hey we're here to talk about the Rams recap uh and probably the first thing everybody's going to be asking about again and we'll jump right into the first topic cuz the intro is a little bit long everybody wants to know my thoughts on Easton stick again and of course I think you guys can all speculated to what I'm about to say eastn stick what did I name this segment I said once again eastn stick sit where the sun don't shine yeah it's uh it's not great it's not great out here qb2 is a problem okay I'm not going to say it's the biggest problem in the world for the real life regular season Chargers of of course if something again God forbid knock on wood all the things right uh were to happen where we would need our quarterback to things would already look pretty Grim as it is cuz our franchise quarterback really is one of the pivotal pieces of this team that keeps the the offense running that keeps the team in contention every single season and like we saw last season with East stick stepping up uh in the absence of Justin Herbert you know it it really falls apart when Herbert isn't a part of the equation it really falls apart when his influence and his talent isn't leading the offense and to that you know point you could throw in almost anybody any option and say they will be a disappointment next to Justin Herbert right it's tough It's a tough and Tall task for QB too but the Chargers in particular I have to say are in a more of a bind than almost all the other uh teams in the NFL in terms of backup and that's because Easton stick is performing I think I think the stats actually came out this morning Easton stick statistically the worst quarterback to perform in the preseason so far which is obviously pretty dang bad there's 32 teams out there with 32 starting quarterbacks and behind them guys that are fighting for the backup spot and out of all those guys and again don't put you know all these words is factual or whatever like I I'm paraphrasing here a little bit don't don't uh uh I'm hoping that we're correct on that but as far as I was reading out of all those quarterbacks e stick uh is struggling the most and that is something that is a little bit concerning to me because again we don't want to ever be put into a situation where we need qb2 but we need a better quality of qb2 for other reasons just backing up Justin Herbert we need somebody out there you know in practice throwing quality reps giving quality you know iron sharpens iron sort of Concepts to the backups right to the number to the second string team and uh uh we need a guy that we feel a little bit more confident in uh if something were to go down where we do need qb2 for a drive or two or a game right I don't want to feel like if we're contenders this year and Justin has to sit out a week or two that those games are automatic L's and right now it kind of feels that way with Easton stick and again I love Easton the person he comes off as a really good guy but we're trying to build a a contender here and a lot of contenders do have capable backup quarterbacks there's going to be options I think the Chargers are taking the approach a bit similar to how they've done in the past and maybe how Joe Ortiz likes to do things now um we may be waiting for the first wave of cuts to really hit right the first wave of real real Cuts probably is coming up this week uh maybe next week at the very latest where some of the real hard NOS like or the real hard decision you know Cuts uh uh will free up you know uh uh more spots than every NFL team's roster and a lot of those are going to be quarterback the Chargers just before recording this video released one of our backups in Max Dugen he's gone we got now Easton stick Luis Perez in the quarterback to battle and and maybe we see another one enter the fold here soon because another team decides to part ways with a more capable backup than Easton stick so I'm going to guess that's probably what's going on there is a case to be made that the Chargers will just roll with Easton stick that again we're kind of screwed either way if Easton has to to has to start but I I believe that Jim harbon and Joe hortiz and this new team uh may find a way to help strengthen every backup no matter the position especially a quarterback where you would think ah you know it's not worth the money this and that well it could be and with the worst quarterback in the preseason I have to believe that we need to do something at this point now behind him as we mentioned uh in contention for qb2 is going to be Luis Perez which I'll be honest man he stepped onto the field in the second half he threw one pass and I was like hallelujah we're saved and it was the same thing that we felt last week Luis Perez stepped out there he threw like a 30 yard pass this week he did the same thing it was like a 20-yard pass it was awesome Luis Perez at times looks like the real deal but if I'm being completely transparent with you guys if I'm being truthful in my my overarching you know or overall uh uh opinion on qb2 and the battle going on here Perez outpaces but doesn't outshine eastn stick at this point for me I still think that the Chargers could use some more talent in terms of backup quarterback competing for uh qb2 and that's just a fancy way of saying that I don't know if I have the confidence in either one of these guys right now Perez could still work out we have very little to look at him right now right uh what we have seen at times have has instilled a bit of confidence but it hasn't been consistent enough for me to go ahead and plant my flag and say hey Luis Perez qb2 I'm still of the opinion that we probably need a little bit more Talent back there uh to help push these guys cuz like Jim Harbaugh himself said a few weeks ago he wants the quarterbacks to step up and challenge Easton stick cuz he didn't feel that way before and I have to imagine he probably doesn't feel that way now as a matter of fact even for a preseason game I do recall uh Jim Harbaugh being a little bit upset on the sideline after the game and even at Easton stick at one point for something I didn't think he did but maybe he messed up something at the line I don't know it feels like it is an issue the team knows it Harbaugh knows it and there needs to be a move at some point to help improve that backup job or that that backup uh competition cuz right now I don't I don't really feel the confidence there let's move on to something that's a little bit more encouraging for Chargers fans uh there is some good to be taken from this game though despite the poor qb2 play uh and one of the biggest things that happened this week is something I've been anticipating for a long time it's a player I've been excited to see since he was drafted by the Chargers it's going to be kamani videll viel took it by storm this week dudes it was awesome we've all been anticipating what his talent could mean on this team uh and he is for real he he's he's one of the cogs in the engine that makes it work at least the archetype of player that he is he is for Real 49 yards and 11 carries is impressive like 4 and a half yards a carry that's what we need back there man he also logged two catches for eight yards that versatility certainly important but again he looks as nasty as advertised this is a guy that a lot of chargers fans and and and uh uh beat Riders and NFL heads were excited about when he he landed with the Chargers in particular because we were going to be a particular style of running offense and it's a it's going to be a big part of our identity going forward and we needed a guy with his exact same traits man me physical Shifty at the line he's got great burst he's got great vision uh he showed great vision vision is actually something that I was hoping that he would improve over the off season and based on the first preseason game that he's seen action it looks like it's working it looks like that part of his game is improving he he greatly resembles to me a lot of what Blake corm offered Jim harbon Michigan as far as like a pro comp he he reminds me a lot of uh Jaylen Warren of the Pittsburgh Steelers he's just he's got a lot of that nasty Shifty physicalness to his game that it just feels like it works and a big reason why I feel like it works is is the offense uh really took a step forward when he stepped foot on the field it found its footing despite the quarterback play this is a part of the identity of the Greg Roman offense that needs to be present in order for it to work and that's the right kind of running back right the offensive line play is really important and they did improve this week which we will talk about but this style of running this kind of running back especially when you talk about you know uh the different flavors that we have all over the roster a lot of them do carry that toughness factor and in this case of kamman videll he's that compact Cannonball kind of running back and it really did Shine it really did show um why the running back position is so important to this offense while he was on the field the offense actually looked really good and this is while Easton stick was struggling and while Luis Perez wasn't in no uh uh uh converting over and over again it was it was tough to watch out there uh when viell wasn't on the feel but when he does or when he was it did feel like there was some life out there m viel man shout out to him I think we got ourselves a rockar there at some point uh I do think he's a lock for rb4 at the very you know late or lowest on the roster I think rb3 is definitely in the cards for him too um really impressed with what I saw from him this week and I'm excited to see how it continues to progress man he looks awesome and quickly I I don't know if I was able to find a photo of him it might be him they're on the right side but shout out to number 44 no not Ben Mason anymore who was recently cut by the Chargers new tight end Tucker Fisk who was just signed from the Atlanta Falcons um this dude is a 6'4 like 260lb tight end playing fullback for the Chargers and that is something that's really working out from the get-go we I I can almost guarantee you have a lot of plans for fullback Tucker uh Fisk offers a lot of flexibility there the Chargers have another lineman and Jordan mcfaden who's also providing some flexibility at the fullback position which is absolutely insane to me and it is really uh um evident to me that I form and and and those kinds of of running formations where a fullback is featured is going to be something you see a lot in this offense and seeing Jordan mcfaden gets me excited I think it's something that's going to work he looks really good when running in at that position but another guy that I'm I'm feeling pretty good about is Tucker Fisk there's no reason why we can't have both on this squad Fisk was as good a blocker as you could ask for on on Saturday man he was awesome his size and power was on display he was opening up lanes for kman videll uh pretty frequently and it's something I had to throw out there in terms of the Chargers Run game he looked good it's nice to see you know a fullback out there again for the Chargers offense and and watching it work one thing have one out there it's one thing another thing to see it work and uh Tucker Fisk really did help uh Kanani videll shine in his first game this this preseason and shout out to Tucker Fisk who as well who's a very brand new addition to this team showing up in his very first game exciting stuff there but perhaps the most impressive Blocker of the evening and the most impressive player on the Chargers offensive line was once again our rookie Joe Al this dude's been absolutely awesome the past couple of weeks now I'll say week one he stood out and he looked great he looked good man and a lot of people were pointing out that despite that game's disappointing result uh Joe Al was really standing above everybody like yeah the Chargers they got themselves a good one despite what we're seeing from you know would be could be should be picks like Malik neighbors going off and Nate wiggin's going crazy like the Chargers got themselves an awesome tackle out here and that was from what we saw last week this week it was even better dude he's already showing signs of of being a top tackle in the league he's he's a budding star at this point and of course it's preseason let's not lose our heads yet but it's something that's really hard not to notice as someone who has been following him uh since drafted by the Chargers since you know rookie mini camp through you know uh uh uh training camp and now pre-season like he has been improving it seems every single day and now the stats are starting to back it up the biggest thing that fans need and Chargers fans are going to need in order to feel that confidence in our number five overall pick is consistency and consistency is starting to snowball as he gets better every single week and again the numbers are starting to follow that up he's got a 98.2 blocking efficiency rating in the preseason as a whole so far that's among the best in the NFL right now that is insane for a rookie to come in week one day one and start putting up results like that is awesome and honestly the Chargers if that continues we have got ourselves a very good foundation for the team build going forward with having those bookends as well as what we have uh on our play early this regular season we need that this regular imagine guys if the Chargers were still going in with Trey pipkins at right tackle which again about average at right tackle he's had his days probably I don't I don't know I don't know how much my confidence would be if he were our starting right tackle this season especially considering that the very first three games Raiders who we got Max Crosby uh-oh glad we got Joe Al next game javien Clowney uh uh Carolina Panthers uh-oh glad we got Joe Al the next game week three Pittsburgh Steelers uh-oh TJ watt super glad that we got joal on this team man like honestly this is starting to work out a lot better than I thought it would in terms of like my initial reaction my initial reaction to the pick was like oh thank God it wasn't JC leam which leam is turning out to be pretty good too um but honestly you know a lot of us wanted a skill position player I'm really starting to see the vision every single week Joel goes out there and shows us why uh Coach Harbaugh has so much confidence in him and and why he was such a highly touted Prospect you know among some of the best tackles we've seen in a draft class it's it's awesome and it's really cool to see it starting to pay off for the charger so congratulations to Chargers fans we got ourselves a good one in Joe Walt he's really starting to put together a nice resume in preseason uh speaking of the offensive line I don't know if you can quite see a bunch of guys here but I wanted to point out a couple of them right don't know who that is it might be all I don't know but in front of them is Will dley and the rest of the line out there giving Easton stick as you can see there's just one lineman on him everybody else has been pushed to the perimeter which is awesome uh the offensive line as a whole is is doing pretty well this week was a huge improvement over last week of course the backup still did struggle a little bit in the second half but a good combination of the starters uh mainly I think Joe Al and a couple other guys out there not even the not even a bunch of stars I do remember a bunch of them not even suiting up this week but despite that the Chargers did have a pretty good outing in terms of line uh play this week and a guy that I did want to point out too that I couldn't find a good photo of but I did see him plenty of times in game was will dley that you're going to see there on screen there were several plays where kamani videll doesn't hit that big run unless the edge is sealed up and dley is there there's plenty of plays where will dley is creating space on the outside for various reasons it's awesome seeing that tight end position really get involved in the blocking uh this year and and disley again like we're saying with a couple of guys in the roster he's everything is advertised he's been great uh in terms of a blocker he did I think log a catch this week he looks great as a receiver as well but those blocking abilities man like that's going to going to really come into play for the Chargers this season uh the offensive line play is going to be something refreshing for Chargers fans to witness as it is going to be much improved over the Chargers past decade or so and uh there's going to be a lot of different looks out there in terms of Justin Herbert being able to do certain things because he's got extra time in the pocket and uh etc etc very exciting stuff out here man shout out to the line and will'll disle speaking of shout outs man take a look at this dude Simi foko the Chargers battle for wide receiver what we at this point four five and six is starting to heat up a little bit if you were to tell me what's going on with that position and in training camp I would have told you it's pretty much a lock for Brendan rice which I still feel very confident in but if you're asking me what who one of the biggest stars as a receiver in the preseason it's definitely going to be semi foko this guy has been on fire the past couple of weeks this week in particular man he was awesome he logged what over 50 yards couple huge plays uh in his Direction he's showing off that speed he's showing off the Special Teams ability foko really is going to make it tough for the Chargers uh coaching staff to make decisions on backup wide receiver it's crazy out here how good foko has been in all facets of his game and uh just need to shout that out because again cuts are coming up Chargers have guys on the roster that are going to be fighting for spots Cornelius Johnson's going to have a hard time making the roster Brendan rice could certainly be you know on the bubble a little bit now that Simi foko is stepping up uh but this is by no means a problem foko having his ability in terms of backup wiers here because he is fast he is big he's got big play ability kind of like a Mike Williams a little bit U and he's got that special teams upside as well like if he ends up making the roster it's it's for a lot of good reasons um and it just makes that whole dynamic and that whole backup wide receiver battle that much more interesting so we'll keep an eye on him another wide receiver that did see a nice step this week which is interesting cuz he did play I would say a good number of snaps I saw him out there I think even until the fourth quarter was Quinton Johnston and some people are not going to like this but I'm going to go ahead and say it right it's crazy that I'm about to pump up an incomplete pass but here we go there was a play on the sideline uh that I think it was Luis Perez that threw the ball I don't remember Quinton Johnston came up with an absolutely insane catch that wasn't a catch uh showing his ability to go up there he jumped like 20 ft in the air used his hands came down with the ball the defender did a really good job at pushing him out of bounds so he couldn't complete the catch with two feet in uh but outside of that every single thing Quinton Johnston did on that route on that play was a huge improvement over last season matter of fact there was a play earlier in the game where he ran a uh uh uh a double move right he he used a double move to get open and it was awesome to see how much space that he created there and it would have probably been a touchdown if it wasn't overthrown by I'm pretty sure it was Easton stick on that play um Quinton Johnson's route running his separation and his hands all seem to have made a pretty big leap from what we're seeing in pre-season of course it doesn't wipe away a lot of the concern that we have from last season but I have to tell you even in G in plays like this where it was incomplete it's really hard to walk away from that and say hey that isn't a drastic improvement from last year so we'll keep that in mind QJ still seems to be looking like he's fighting for wide receiver three or four um that's a good thing at this point because we are seeing Improvement and it it's it's uh uh moving in the right direction for QJ finally let's talk a little bit about the defense the defense continues their dominant tour of course the scoreboard didn't lead to a win this week but the defense over and over and over again was bailing out this offense providing really nice field position and ultimately just out there making plays it was awesome and every time the Chargers had an opportunity to to do something big it felt like they did it that goal line stand was awesome earlier in the game right the the Rams had a yard to convert I think a couple of times this game and they couldn't do it the Chargers just kept breaking into the back field guys like Scott m atlock Tito we're going crazy from the interior this week sure I will say that maybe the pressure did take a step back this week the edge Defenders Tulie and and Morris Brash and these guys maybe not as crazy as they had as they were last week versus the Seahawks but you know who did step up the defensive backs and the linebackers first off man di Henley looks insane there's a play where he uh played the flat beautifully probably could have logged an interception had he turned his head just a little bit soon but he looks good him and and and Junior Coulson are going to make a heck of a Duo but who else was out there Denzel Perryman was out there this week and he looked good in coverage too it was weird you guys know we've been you know Chargers fans a while and we we remember Denzel from back in the day and and it pretty much is known that his coverage ability isn't the best but he's a thumper he's good against the run and versus the pass but you know it's it's it's crazy to see the linebackers stepping up in the way they have and it feels like a big part of that is probably Navaro Bowman and his style of coaching and and the the uh the team that Jim Harbaugh brought together then of course ultimately Jesse Minter who has an awesome defensive system on on his hands and and he's doing a great job with all of these players and I don't know man every week I just get more hyped about the defense even though I'm getting more bummed about the quarterback 2 situation the defense just looks so good and so much for real and the defensive backs also really help step up in the uh lack of pressure that we saw saw this week I know we still got a sack but the DBS really did help out there was this one play that we're seeing here by tarb still absolute crazy coverage by him he was literally on him there was nothing the guy could do and he made a really good play on it other guys like Christian fton certainly the next guy that we're going to talk about and Dean Leonard really did step up and then the other guy Harper too right Harper one of the backup safeties he looked really good as well it does feel like this defense has the capability of picking each other up when one position you know waivers another p position steps up and that's that's the sign of a really good defense in the NFL now I guess maybe one of the players of the day did come from defense once again this week Dean Leonard man Dean actually had a pretty great week one in preseason as well versus the Seahawks and he doubled it he doubled down this week versus the Rams man he looked awesome he must have broken up I'm guessing two or three passes including this interception he was crazy out there man that perimeter spot there's going to be some competition we saw cam hard out there too you know the rookie is kind of easing himself in but Dean Leonard looks like someone that that could realistically be taking Snaps in the regular season man it looks awesome very exciting stuff to think about what the Chargers have been able to build with their defensive back unit despite maybe a lack of confidence in me and and a lot of chargers fans on the talent early on in the preseason man it's it's been in the off season very cool thing to see the Chargers start to accomplish here lastly last couple of notes here um hello Tierre tart I wasn't able to find a fraking picture unfortunately uh literal brand new member to the team just signed a few days before maybe a day before got in uh to this preseason game and he was out there making crazy plays now he's number 90 I actually didn't know he was playing until a little ways into the game one of my viewers said hey he number 90 out there and he's doing great and I was like wait what cuz he wasn't listed on the roster yet and once we started paying attention to 90 it was really apparent just how good he was doing man he was back there constantly I'm pretty sure he got a tackle for loss or or or a few of them he was generating all kinds of pressure tier tart without having pretty much any notice or any time to study the Playbook is out there doing some awesome work man and that brings a lot of confidence in me that honestly he he could end up being uh um a starter for this team he really could be Tart Is Awesome he's only going to improve and hopefully his work ethic does uh step up under the Jim Harbaugh uh leadership and and keep him with the team for a while because that could be a massive steal it from what I saw last night it looked like he was showing shades of his Tennessee Titans playing days and that's something that the Chargers really really need on the roster right now and again he's only 26 or 27 he he could really become a big part of this defense if if he can turn around his work ethic which I have a lot of confidence in and lastly shout out your weekly shout out to cam Dicker camer Dicker continues to shine three I think right three of three this week uh just absolutely Banger dude he's he's automatic this guy and we're very lucky to have him on the team that's going to do it for this week's video man big highlights I would say offensive line looks great kamani videll looks amazing uh uh the defense continues to step up Dean Leonard is maybe one of the players if not the player of the game there's some good things that we brought out of this week's preseason outing versus the Rams and despite the loss I'm feeling better about the team this week than I did last week and again for anybody that's worried about the pre-season being the ultimate determining Factor on whether or not the Chargers will be successful or not don't feel that way when Justin Herbert's out there who by the way sheded the boot this week it's going to look like a completely different offense the defense is only going to look better when you add khil Mack and Joey Bosa and Derwin James to the mix there's a lot to be excited about so we'll see how everything kind of unfolds during the uh Dallas Cowboys game I'm do I do expect to see more starters next week it tends to be the week in preseason that a lot of teams ease their starters into the NFL Pace or whatever you want to call it um and we'll see how some of that stuff shakes out but pretty exciting times man I there's going to be some some cool things happening with this team this year and it's cool to start to see that Vision become apparent uh with every uh single snap even in the preseason well guys thank you so much for joining me this has been the director if you like what you saw here hit us up with a like and Sub on your way out we'll see you next time and as always bolt up and stay frosty let's go dude kamani viel could be a sleeper in fantasy over the next couple of seasons [Music]