Does Jim Harbaugh Have the Recipe for Chargers Success?

Los Angeles Chargers their offseason in 60 seconds hire Joe hortiz as their GM Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach that's staff includes Greg Roman as the OC Jesse Minter as the DC signed will dley to a three-year $14 million contract Big Time brought back alohi Gilman brought in Gus Edwards Bud Dupri Christian Folton JK Dobbins a lot of guys on one-year deals a lot of slow cost dice rolls for a team in financial transition traded Keenan Allen to the Bears released Mike William also lost Kenneth Murray Austin Eckler Gerald Everett Austin Johnson and Eric Kendricks draft wise Joe Alton in the first round fifth overall lad makoni in the second round and Jim Harbaugh's old buddy Junior Coulson from Michigan at linebacker in the third round this was the get your protein off season and and L they needed it Blue Chip check-in for the Los Angeles Chargers how many did you have two and a half I had two for sure and then another I was a little bit on the fence with Justin hert for sure huh I mean Justin Herbert obviously okay that's one who who was the other one that you felt really good about if ran Slater is like healthy I'm very confident that he is he is that level of player I guess it's I guess when you bring in the health it does make it a little bit more questionable but he's that level of player for sure I was fine putting him in there mostly because I just think that he's going to look like a different player in this offense than he did over the last couple years and I think that there's a chance a lot of the offensive line looks a little bit different and we'll get to that so I had those two guys was Derwin like your half khil Mack dude he he he fits into my bucket man he there is not a single player in the NFL who sets The Edge like that man and he had like double digit sacks last year he was one of the highest players in league so kind of still I thought those days were over for khil Ma and and he bounced back in a big way last year so I the red ship guys I had were khil Mack Joey Bosa Derwin James and obviously health is a is a question for all those guys and we'll talk about Derwin a little bit later I just I'm really curious what he looks like in this defense because it's been a really down couple years for him and it's been sad to watch a little bit because of some of the highs we saw from him early in his career but I do think that within this new system and with this staff that we have potential shot at a bounceback what significant question marks do you have about the Chargers depth chart heading into the year pass catchers I I think we've everybody and their mother has talked about this all offseason so I don't have to Sayad I we'll see how many games he plays it would be my question there and we'll get to that a little bit later uh and then the other one is basically every defensive spot outside of edge uh like you know even Derwin James hasn't been healthy hasn't been quite the same the cornerback room I'm I'm not all the way excited about the linebacker room I love what they're going for the efficacy of the play that we're actually going to get who knows yet I think they feel better about the safeties than you do I think Derwin possibly having a bounce back year and I think they do think the LOI Gilman is like a solid piece back there other than that I'm I'm with you about the defense they got three good Edge players they got two safeties that you can rely on and other than that we're just holding out for deer life and that was always going to be part of this right it's just that this team it was a transition like they were gonna have to turn the page a little bit they were gonna have to take their medicine for a year and I think that's what this defensive dep chart looks like and and we'll dig into that a little bit later here what are you watching for the first month of the season with this Jim Harbaugh Leed Chargers team are are we going to get some adult linebacker play this year for the first time in in Los Angeles in what seems like a really really long time um but they've made All the Right Moves to towards that um you know obviously so they brought back Denzel Perryman which I think is funny who he is still banging around as just Absolute Car crash dummy between the tackles and SquarePants yes dude like he's is it the best linebacker to have on the field no but if you need a guy who you know we can get something out of him in one phase of the game Denzel perryman's your guy he's going to give you that um so I think that's nice as a 51 man the idea that Denzel Perryman is 5'1 in wi 240 pounds so much respect I mean I've been 240 pounds before I did not carry it very well so the fact that he's pulling it off consistently it's very impressive to me him and the Landon Roberts dude just built like bowling balls of of humans I I absolutely love those two um but then do you think it can come together like this group of players what do you think the vision actually says and how real do you think the execution of that Vision might be I I actually kind of like the three players the three main players that they have obviously Denzel Perryman is going to be your kind of Veteran leader bang between the tackles gives you all that sort of stuff Deon Henley I don't think he gives you quite as much in terms of taking on blocks I think his run instincts can be a little bit more up and down but he really does have good burst I think he has good range and I think you've seen even in you know just preseason but in the preseason he's actually made a number of really really good coverage plays like in the flat um running with guys out to the sideline that sort of stuff making tackles in space so I kind of like him there and then Junior Coulson you know he kind of reminds me like a little bit more of if Nick Bolton was a better like hook coverage Defender o over the middle a little bit because I think Coulson doesn't necessarily have any one athletic trait that pops but he's kind of above average in terms of he has enough speed he has enough quickness maybe not the fiercest guy in the box but I think he's actually a pretty smart coverage player um and can give them something there so if if Coulson can be kind of your hook over the middle Defender Henley gives you something in terms of chasing guys out of the back field and then Perryman is just your we're going to go hit somebody guy they kind of check all the boxes I don't know if any of them are even above average players but they at least check all the boxes and that's a decent spot to be in it's notable that you're talking about it this way because talking to people there and it was very early in training camp I me this is day one of training camp so we hadn't seen guys in pads and things are subject to change over the last month or so but I think their vision for that position was we're going to rotate guys maybe more than an NFL team would because we don't think that we necessarily have to plug-and play Three Down guys at that spot and that's not necessarily a bad thing we just think that we're going to have to handle this situationally so the fact that you think they're incomplete players but they all have certain highlights to their games I think that's how they're seeing it and so I'm curious to see what the deployment actually looks like well and look at the linebacker room we just talked about before the Chiefs the Chiefs are kind of built that way where you have these kind of guys who maybe they're not perfect maybe they're not complete but they all kind of fit together and if you can get them on the field at the right time you're good what I'm watching the first month of the Season how different does this feel under Jim Harbaugh right you can make a really solid argument that over the last two years this was the least physical football team in the NFL they were 28th in rushing success rate on offense despite facing light boxes at the fourth highest rate in the NFL oh you can't have that you just can't that's not honorable football it it is over like you cannot sustain offense in the NFL if that is the set of circumstances that you're working with and that was that was the story and then on defense their 28th and run defense success rate over the last two years I had a GM say something to me uh last week that I thought was really interesting he was saying that the fangio takeover on defense which really happened you know kind of post Brandon Staley in LA where you had guys like Ed donatell go to Minnesota you had Joe Barry come to Green Bay um there's a bunch of other examples sha like Shan Desai goes to uh was you know obviously with the Bears then was with Seattle for a little bit and then he was the Eagles defensive coordinator last year and there are plenty of other examples I mean that was kind of the defense dour in the NFL coaches love that coaches love that system and offensive-minded head coaches who were Staffing their defensive coordinator were seeking that out you know you think about the Vikings you think about the Packers and but players don't like it because there's a passivity to playing that way and I think that more than any team in the NFL the Chargers fell victim to that paity they I think a lot of people appreciated the way that Staley talked about stuff like the football internet because it made sense to your brain as it first hit you mathematically it's correct right like mathematic corre logically it makes sense so let's make people matriculate the ball down the field and then even on offense it's like we have a cyborg at quarterback we might as well have him throw the ball 50 times a game like more passing equals good when your quarterback equals good and so I think the ideas weren't necessarily rooted in the wrong things I think that that team over the last two years was just an example of what those ideas look like when they're taken too far to the extreme and so I think the Harbaugh thing is just a correction where it's a departure where you're going from stuff that maybe mathematically isn't the best case scenario we're running the ball probably more than we should in an ideal world but the feeling of your team drastically changes and if that can be the outcome here over the first month like we watch this team play and we're like oh boy this feels different I think that is going to go a long way for how we see the Chargers over the next few seasons yeah J Jim is doing a different type of math where his his equation is like how many times do I have to hit somebody before they capitulate and Jesse Minter I said who's their defensive coordinator and obviously work with Harbaugh a Michigan said something interesting to me he's like if you want to be a physical team on defense you have to see a physical team on offense consistently and so obviously that's some like [ __ ] iron sharpens iron summer stuff but I do think there's probably something to that and the fact that that's what this team is now seeing every single day is a Greg Roman Diversified Run game that is trying to like hit you in the chin over and over and over again I think ultimately that's a good thing and I'm not trying to paint Jim Harbaugh as some like football Neanderthal like he hired Mike McDonald to be his defensive coordinator and then Jesse Mentor is somebody who I think did a fantastic job at Michigan like there are modern ideas here they're just wrapped in Kickass and I think that idea of a football team that's where the Chargers want to go I I think that's the thing he he gives off this Aura of super old doesn't really learn anything you know we just want to hit people and he he does have the we just want to hit people mentality but he's a very forward thinker and he and he has been for a long time look at what he was doing with San Francisco and what they were doing on offense like he's very much a guy who's willing to look to the future of football what is keeping you up at night with this year's Chargers the pass catchers man I mean that's really all it boils down to and I know the easiest way the easiest way to do this is to just look at the wide receiver room right Josh Palmer's a cool role player but if he is potentially their best and known quantity guy not a great spot to be you know previously he was wide wide receiver three and that was great now he might be wide receiver one and that feels a little bit worse lad makoni is a prospect I liked his his vertical speed and his route running is awesome he just wasn't a guy who was very healthy in college and at at his size where he's like six foot generously like 185 that's kind of a scary profile and I know that Devon Smith is obviously that but there's just not lot of guys at the size who actually make it work and so maybe he can but you know I think it's to be seen also just a rookie so you can only expect so much after that it's just I mean DJ CH probably isn't given you a lot Quinton Johnston still has a ton to prove at this stage and then you know Darius Davis really cool Gadget role player but not thing is quin Johnson is also just a gadget role player yeah exactly and Darius Davis truthfully is like a more it's very it's much easier to convince yourself that giving a guy like d Darius Davis is worth the little Gadget roll stuff if that makes sense like just because Johnston feels like he should be more of a real receiver whereas Darius Davis I don't think that was ever the plan for him so it kind of just feels like yeah we can treat him like micle Hardman and this is fine and we don't have to to think anymore about it the the bigger thing though is that it's not just the receiver room where else are they throwing the ball they have two running backs in in JK sit here and take this will disly slander I listen will disley is going to do his damn job in the Run game I don't know how many high impact passing plays he is going to give you and I don't know how many high impact passing plays Beyond eight yards you're going to get from a guy like Hayden Hurst and then the running back room JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards I think the most any either of them have caught in a season is like 18 18 passes that's not a lot and I can't imagine they're going to catch that much more here so it's just hard to find where the targets go like they're going to go somewhere I just don't know where my understanding in terms of how they handled this when they were looking at the draft is they didn't even consider drafting a receiver in the top five like it was never a consideration and I think they had chances to move down for like big halls and decided not to do it because of how much they wanted joall and they're thinking and this is not wrong if you look at the history of the position it's easier to find the receivers at different points in the draft than it is to find the tackle so let's just take the tackle and that's ultimately what they did unfortunately you still got to find the receivers at some point and when you're starting at zero even if makoni is a hit you still need guys in some of those other spots so this bet on we're just going to run the [ __ ] out of the ball and our quarterback is really good so he can lift everybody else I get the thinking on that but that is a tough bet to make when you look at this receiver room specifically it'll probably be okay like I don't think it'll be a disaster because I think the Run game will be good and because Justin Herbert's good but I think there's a pretty defined ceiling to what this passing game can look like in the short term I think that's the best way to put it Herbert and this offensive staff gives you enough of a floor the ceiling I don't know what's keeping me up at night is just the talent on defense we alluded to this a little bit but I mean they're really really holding on for dear life here we got a oneyear bet on Christian Folton who's had some nice moments but there's a reason that he was available for what he was available for this off season you know concerns on the interior the defensive line like we got Puna Ford and otito oania is like the starters on this team and there's not a lot of depth behind them tyer tar got cut for by the Dolphins on a Tuesday he worked out for the Chargers on a Wednesday and they signed him the next day like it was immediate because that's where this team is with the help that they need in that spot and we alluded to this a little bit this is a transition year like they had to take their medicine financially they didn't have money to make big splashes all over the place and so they were going to have to kind of piece this thing together with duct tape and toothpick Pi on that side of the ball and just hope for the best with a change in mentality and a so hopefully a lift from a guy like Jesse Minter so we talk about a ceiling on offense with the passing game because of the talent there's a ceiling on defense because they just don't have the guys at so many of these spots and so I am a little bit worried about that even if you're confident in the job that a guy like Minter can do it's you know other maybe this linebacker room could work out I I have like some degree of of optimism there but this feels like one of the most stars and scrubs defenses in the NFL like you have those three that we that's the story with this team for like three years this is just taken to an entirely different level that's a good point that's a good point I'm curious what the Derwin usage looks like because I think over the last couple years his head was just spinning because he's playing all these different positions and he's playing all these different positions like within an individual game and if you talk to Kyle Hamilton which obviously that's an apt comparison here same defensive system a guy moving from the nickel to safety I think that his role in certain games was streamlined and it was built on matchup so it's like in this game you're going to play a little bit more of this in this game you're going to play a little bit more of this so I think that limiting how many different things you're asking Derwin to do is going to allow his mind to just settle down a little bit and hopefully we can see him playing with a little bit more confidence because you could see the confidence drain out of him over the last couple years and for a guy that I remember writing about him and spending time with him early in his career I mean this is a guy who was just like a ball of light and energy and enthusiasm and for that to be gone is just a real bummer and so I really really do hope that he can recapture some of that this year and I think trying to simplify things a little bit for him could potentially go a long way in allowing that to happen I I really want to see it man CU like you said before there was Kyle Hamilton there was Derwin James a very very similar like unicorn an archetype at that position so if we get him anything close to what he was at his Peak at football fans everywhere should Rejoice what are you most excited about with this year's Chargers team this is maybe a weird angle and like a weird way to to set the table for it but I'm kind of EXC I'm really excited to watch Joe alt specifically because it hasn't looked perfect early on and when you really start to consider what Joe Al was as a prospect it kind of makes sense he was a guy who didn't play a ton of tackles early on in his his football career like this was something he came to later so it kind of makes sense that going into the NFL where even if he was his top prospect there was just going to be some degree of learning curve but also he's going from the left side to the right side and that's always a hard transition to make I mean we even saw pan suul who everybody thought just absolute Superstar Prospect it took him a little bit of time to figure out left to right tackles so exact name I was thinking about when you were talking about that I think that we just to see him as a superstar now we think it was instantaneous and it it really wasn't no it wasn't it was and it was cool to see him have that development where it's like oh he really is starting to figure it out and I I think it's just you know when you watch Joe alt right now you can see some of the really good plays you can see some of the really good traits you can also see a player who a little bit feels like he's just trying to keep his head above water and again it makes sense because he's a little bit raw at the position he's moving sides um but you can see him get a little bit too far over his toes doesn't remember to bring his feet with him all these other things but then you see these reps where he just abs absolutely anchor somebody in there and there's no shot that the other guy was going to get through him and it's like okay if we buy two three more months in at the end of this season he starts to look like that guy by the end oh dude I I'm just so excited to see the development he's also 21 and he will be 21 throughout his entire rookie season he doesn't turn 22 until February so you got a 21y old guy switching sides uh there's going to be a little bit of an adjustment period but I do think that we're going to feel pretty good about what comes out on the other side and I feel that way about the entire offensive line that's what I'm most excited about what does this group look like what can they get from Joe wall can Zion Johnson take that step that we've been hoping that he takes can Ron Slater go back to being an all pro level player I mean even some of the stuff that they were doing like moving pipkins and pulling him his movement skills are pretty good he's a tackle like he has those feet so I'm really looking forward to what the Greg Roman influence looks like on this group and then let's just throw will disley in there as kind of like an extra sixth offense defensive wman because that's the bet here the bet that they're making is more of a focus on the Run game more stress on that and that being the foundation of our identity is going to unlock a different level from this group overall that for the most part outside of Al looks pretty similar to what it has over the last couple years I mean you're swapping Bradley Boseman in for Cory Lindley kind of mostly will clap last year but the other guys I mean 60% of that offensive line is the same even if some guys have moved around and so the bet is we're going to see those guys take a step forward because we just believe in the infrastructure and the ecosystem here and I hope they're right because if it does happen this group would be a lot of fun to watch and I'm cautiously optimistic with Zion Johnson because to me his biggest issue was just sometimes didn't seem like he knew exactly where to go on a play or he would be a little bit late coming off a block or he'd be a little bit too early and he he would kind of leave his Center or or tackle out to dry I think when you have Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman coming into town that stuff is probably going to get ired out just a little bit so I I have some Faith there most important supporting character for you on this year's Chargers team uh my most supporting it's it's really two and they play the same position uh tuuli pelou and Bud dpri like they're secondary pass rushers basically and for a couple of reasons one khil mack is getting older and Joey Bosa is is constantly injured so like those guys are going to play a ton of snaps but even if they don't if you can just give guys like Joey Bosa and Mac a little bit of rest and we don't have to play them 80% of the snaps and we can tone it down just a little a little bit and you can get uh Tuli and Bud dpri to be really productive players for you I think that would just be a huge win like if they can just have these waves and waves of pass rushers that would be awesome and I know you know bud dpri at this stage of his career is probably not the flashiest name but again as I said with the Falcons he was a top two pressure getter for that team and now he's the fourth guy on this depth TR probably and I really like some of the the tools that Tuli has in his bag in terms of like pass rush moves like he's really a guy who clearly thinks about how to win and understands how to do it I'm kind of bought in on the edge group again I don't know about the rest of the defense but I really think if those two can give you something they're they're in a good spot and part of the reason I think two's development is so important is Mack and Bosa are not both going to be on the roster next year Mack's contract is actually up after this season and Joey Bosa has like a$ 36 million cap hit so there are going to be decisions to be made about what that group looks like in 2025 and Beyond those decisions get a little bit easier to make if you think that Tulie can truly be like a number two rusher for you in like the grander scheme of you're doing on defense yeah I mean they brought him in to be uchen nosu and if he can basically get all the way to that peak of what that was they're in a perfect spot I could go a bunch of different ways here for supporting characters I'm curious what they get from the running backs like if we're bullish on what the offensive line can look like in the Run game is there anybody in that backfield who can consistently get the most of what's blocked JK Dobbins bounceback would be awesome but how many times have we seen that from a guy coming off of a torn Achilles Like Deontay Foreman is probably the best example very rarely does that ever happen and the other just the spine of the front seven like what are we getting from the interior defensive lineman and what are we getting from that weird linebacker group that you seem more confident about as somebody who likes and watches that position so those are probably my answers I think I think that's the spine is perfect for them because they probably had the worst spine of the defense in the league for two or three years now so they they desperately need this what counts as a successful season for this year's Chargers just hit people in the mouth dude like that's it like that's really all it is and there are more eloquent ways to say that where it can be you know bring a new type of energy and really have all this other stuff just hit people man like this was like you kind of said earlier this was a defense that just didn't really have any of that mentality uh the past few years and then even on offense like this just wasn't you know that that stat you mentioned about not being able at all to run into light boxes that will never happen in a Greg Roman era they will if you give them light boxes because they won't get the light boxes that's also true that is also true they will make sure they that's the point right if you don't get the light boxes you still have Justin Herbert like that is the goal here is that one way or another you are going to find a path forward because if you establish the running game you still have a borderline top five quarterback and something should go your way if that is what you're working with all right what counts a successful season for me the hard bra transformation takes I it's not dissimilar to what you're saying I I just think they feel like a different team they're a tough out every every single week and you can take that th those results and kind of take that proof of concept and you bring it into an offseason where they're actually going to have some resources like they're set to have $40 million in cap space next year Joey Bose is on a $36 million capit don't know if he's going to be playing on that so even with Justin Herbert's contract this team is going to have a bunch of flexibility to build out that connective tissue on the roster that we're talking about can you go get an interior defensive lineman can you go get a corner can you go find another receiver in the draft and if you're working from a foundation of we have a certain play style we have a certain feeling to us this has worked the bet we made on Jim Harbaugh was correct that to me is a success wins losses whatever it doesn't really matter if they go seven- 10 or they go nine and eight or 10- seven as long as that's true like we feel good about who this team is moving forward that's a victory being a tough out is the perfect Banner that they should hang because there were games especially towards the second half of last season where they just fell over and died and again some of that they 60 to the Raiders and everybody got fired yes I would say that that was probably the most that they fell over and died but even before that there were games where it just every single thing went wrong like even the Dallas game where where Herbert didn't play well even Beyond Herbert not playing well it just felt like so many things just completely fell apart for them I I don't think we're going to get as many of those games this year irresponsible player prediction for this year's Chargers what do you got for me this was such a weird team to to find a good one it's it's a hard one it it is a hard one I I went with Darius Davis being Runway the best returner in the League this year um he had a pun return touchdown last year he is a really good returner he was awesome at it in college um it is like a majority of what got him uh draft status is that he's just really really good with the ball in his hands and so I just think we we could enter a world where he's a really good punt returner still and then with the kick return stuff if there's a staff that I kind of have some inkling that they could do some cool stuff it might be Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman like helping out a little bit like let's make this look like a run play so kind of a weird take but that's where I landed I believe in lad makaki I think lad Maki has more catches than any rookie receiver that's not named Malik neighbors I mean no I don't think that's crazy cuz I I mean I Marvin like Marvin Harrison Jr is obviously the best player but the Cardinals have a bunch of guys to throw to so it says more about the rest of the supporting cast for the Chargers than it does about Marvin Harrison and I also think that team is going to run the ball a lot in Arizona you got Trey McBride who's probably going to get you know 23% of the targets and justifiably will I just think that this team is so devoid of pass catching options and I do think that he's talented I could see him being like by far the highest volume receiver on this team by the end of this season [Music]