Chargers Training Camp Day 2 Recap | Healthy JK Dobbins, Medieval Offense w/ Greg Roman | BULLY BALL

[Music] welcome to another edition of chargers Unleashed Jay Kepner and D wienstein here with you from the LA football network this is your T first time tuning in the show make sure to hit that like And subscribe button on YouTube you can also follow us on Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify and apple podcast and if you are tuning in from ESPN thank you so much for joining us Dan wallenstein training camp as we said yesterday as a officially kicked off we're now in the thick of things week one of training camp down in Elsa gundo down at the bolt Chargers fans are showing out much anticipation for this upcoming Chargers season and we're going to dig into everything that is day two Dan walkenstein how are you sir I'm great I'm excited It's Finally Friday it's the weekend fast approaching uh we will be out there lfb will be representing the uh Chargers fans and chargers faithful out at camp today and tomorrow so look forward to seeing all of you please say hi don't be stranger uh you said it Jake day one in the books day two also in the books heard a lot from Greg Roman you heard from JK Dobbins and ran Slater we saw receivers and explosive plays happening uh DBS still making DB plays which you like to see uh all of that and more we'll discuss on today's episode but Jake before we get to that let's P the bills talk about our friends want to remind every body that bet online made your number one source for all of your sports bet needs this season from baseball golf soccer right up to the top fights of UFC MMA and boxing every stat every matchup and even live odds and spreads while the games are being played when the game is over head on over to the online casino and get in on the game of blackjack poker or unwind with one of our 150 slot games that we have available head on over to the website today that's betonline.ag to get in on the action just make sure to use that promo code believe that's BL eav for your 50% Free Bet credit on your first deposit for up to $250 bet online the game starts here so I think we've all heard this at nauseum and everyone is so excited about Camp being back but there's just something different about when the pads come on and you heard a lot of people talk about that's when we're going to really start to see some of the changes and physicality and maybe some of the offensive line and defensive line the trench warfare so to speak but that being said you're still able to glean a lot from these Camp uh sessions and you're starting to see a few key pillars of this offense and defense start to kind of prevail one you heard a lot of people talk about the identity being established and the importance of the Run game and balancing and Greg Roman talked about that in the press conference which we'll talk about in a second but they still got Justin Herbert as their quarterback and if you don't know now you know this entire staff loves and understands what they have and the dude at the helm in the gold jersey the dude Justin Herbert was slinging it was throwing dimes all over the place according to Daniel popper according to Eric Smith and folks on the ground uh I believe he at one point completed eight of nine uh uh in his first passes open 1111 drills he saw explosive plays to Luke Benson the tight end DJ CH Josh Palmer lad mcon getting plays uh Quinton Johnston also making catches so I I think the the lead here for me is JK dobins even talked about it him being utilized as a pass catcher this passing game people talk about all Greg Roman offense are only going to run Jake I don't think so no I really don't think so no I mean I'm in in terms of where you'd like to start in general this this this whole day again we know we talked a lot about day one being mainly defensive focused that's a trend that usually happens on day one of Camp defense usually wins those type of days even the offense didn't have that bad of a day on day one but day two for Justin Herbert in this offense I felt like it really clicked just eight and n as you mentioned explosive plays there was a 20- yard pass to Hayden Hurst that was in there and I really liked if you combine some of the comments from Greg Roman and JK Dobbins when they were talking about as you mentioned JK getting involved in the passing game that was a lot of what he did at Ohio State that was a lot of what he did at Baltimore and then Greg Roman says when people were asking you know is there any depth chart any particular order that they foresee as it stands right now for this running back room and it's like no there's not really a pecking order right now how it stands we've it's it's a running back stable that's been heavily scrutinized for this Chargers team over these last several years because there's just been a lack of options outside of an rv1 now essentially you have a stable of guys whether they're veterans rookies or players that haven't even given a fair shake at an opportunity every single one of them fits this scheme that Greg Roman wants to run and I don't think that Greg Roman is biased towards any way to one player or gives a crap as far as what the name is on who's in the back field he's just ready to implement a lot of these running plays and I and as you mentioned what JK was talking about he was even mentioning the whole idea of oh Greg's just going to run the ball this that and the other no even Greg said he's like Greg said that whole notion is a long time ago he said we're going to basically adapt on a week in and week in week out basis it's all going to be situational based on what the opposing team has given us so you have to be excited about this for those that are still Furious and worried that Justin Herbert is just going to become a game manager first of all did you see Justin Herbert yesterday at practice its body by Ben Herbert you think that they're going to let that Howitzer go to waste the way that it looks right now no sir so this idea of it being just a one-dimensional offense don't believe it I think the Chargers are going to have a lot to be that are going to surprise a lot of people during the regular season yeah and we'll get to to more of the the balance and the the bully ball and the medieval type of play style when we get to the press conference uh takeaways here in a second uh but you mentioned it defense still shining as well Christian Folton theant Samuel Jr and tar still all up with pbus on day two that's according to Daniel popper uh who was there obviously by the way Jake I don't know if you caught the press conference with JK doin and Daniel popper yes I yes I did that was so good that was so good I think if anybody wants to make me feel good when I'm standing next to somebody who's really ripped I want someone to tell me you're not slouchy you're not sloppy it's it's great because all all I saw was the tweet from Daniel popper basically saying I just got into a conversation with JK do that I had no idea it was going to go that way without KN the Contex of what actually happened and then you listen to the press conference and it's absolutely hilarious oh going from going from trying to backpedal the comparisons of physique then talking about the pachy beards and just continu to go downhill me like okay okay so you got a beard oh so good Dan the Man yeah Dan the man I felt that I felt that uh Jake anything else in terms of like takeaways on the field before we get to some of the press conference take I think we'll kind of glean light into that yeah it seemed like there was a lot of uh much like it was for day one as Daniel poer was reporting a lot of rotation between the corners and this should surprise absolutely nobody if you were listening to Steve clink scale's press conferences from months ago in terms of wanting to get these guys versatile familiar with all spots so you know obviously there is a heavy rotation with AJ Finley JT Woods Tony Jefferson second team defense uh it was cam Hart on the outside where tarib still in the slot and Dean Leonard again on the outside so Derwin James is talked about this alohi Gilman has talked about this we've he Steve clink scale talked about this they are going to want to try to get these DBS whether it's corner or safety as familiar with either position as much as they can by the time that the regular season takes place and already Dan we're seeing that implemented in force and you got to love it because it makes players versatile it makes them familiar with what's going on in the defensive scheme for a position that's not necessarily one that they play and the last one is that dreaded eye word that we never want to use but when that situation comes up Trevor McHugh was talking about it same situations happened with them in Michigan Mike sandill Mike sandill had to play on the outside because they suffered an injury at an outside corner so he had to go from the slot and go play outside and he did a pretty damn good job doing it so getting your guys prepared for any type of situation especially when it comes to the way that this secondary has suffered over the last couple of years you love to see it yeah and everybody talks about the the pads coming on the importance it has on the trenches I think that's going to be huge for the DBS and some of the camp battles going on uh specifically that slot Corner position with jazir Taylor and tar he still and right now it seems jair Taylor got it on lock uh I think this might change once pads come on and on the outside too when you're looking at cam Hart and Christian Folton Samuel Jr pads on as a cornerback being able to actually go up and contest catches and things a different Beast so very much looking forward to that obviously you're looking forward to the you know Joe alt versus you know Joey Bosa and CLE Mack and Bud drii and Tulie I yes but there's a lot to glean with the pads on on the position skill players as well uh Jake Greg Roman JK Dobbins ran Slater all at the podium yesterday and there's something about Greg Roman we'll get to JK Dobbins here in a second but there's something about Greg Roman where he is Unapologetic in his invitation for the medieval type of game and that mindset anytime I hear that that seems like it is a clear shot at this is who we are this is the type of team we need to be this is the level of physicality that is required this is how nasty this team needs to get to hearing him talk about the the percentages of you know when they're going to pass versus run and because he was asked about you know is it going to be a run heavy scheme and he said you know every game is different some games are going to be that medieval style some games are going to throw it 50 times and some they'll be more balanced it really is just a week- toe matchup to your point Jake but the the bully ball as JK Dobbins talked about and that medieval style of play where it's just man on man who can impose their will that is what this Chargers team has lost the battle of for years for years and we've heard a a lot of talk about it but when it came to Sundays and Thursdays and Mondays they lost those more than they've won and then you flip the page to a Greg Roman offense and a Jim Harbaugh offense or team over the years that's where they win and you're seeing so many different things that are implemented by the staff to help emulate that you know the fourth quarter stuff the the bear crawls and the push-ups and all of the workouts and stuff they do afterwards that's building up stand and physicality and strength and endurance and a mindset to to to lean in to the tough times and when other teams forfeit weigh the White Flag they're there to take it and I think that Medievil mindset is something that is so refreshing covering the team because they have been sorely missing it for years it it is amazing from the standpoint of when you look at the last time that the Chargers really had a dominant running game and one that you can lean on that it's it's it's been nearly 20 years since that's taken place and you could say the running backs that have come since then the Ryan Matthews the Melvin Gordon the Austin ecklers and all the other secondary running backs that were mixed in with those groups whether it was them as a talent or them them in a particular type of scheme it never actually matched up to that and then when you go back and you look at during that time frame in terms of teams that won Playoff games or teams that won Super Bowls you know Tom Brady for a number of his different uh you know number of Super Bowls that he won he had great running games yep Ben rothberger when he won his Super Bowls he had great running games they had some help Kansas City why they don't necessarily need a great running game because they have Patrick Mahomes but when you can make a def defense have to worry about a guy like Isaiah Pacho because his running style is so unique and when you could start leaning on that late in the game that's G to win you games and it feels like to me from everything as this excert from Greg Roman and what we've heard of from Jesse Minter previously that when was the last time that you could say from a charger standpoint that you could lean on a defense late in the game because you have a 10-point lead or a two touchdown lead and not have to worry about it and not have to have those dreaded last two or three minutes of the game that we all watching this team have to worry about on Sundays and have to take a breath of air whether it's a win or throw ourselves in defeat over a last minute loss so or lean or lean on a running game yes literally when is the last time Jake you Chargers fans we have felt confident about a Chargers offense being able ble to run out the clock you it's funny feeling confidence is different because that obviously takes a trend the last two times that you felt like oh there was going to be like a change in the guard that they were actually going to get this running game going strangely enough both of them were the first games of the season this previous season against Miami when all of a sudden the Chargers just went ballistic in a loss but ran over 200 yards against the Miami Dolphins and then was never heard from ever again and then I believe it was I can't remember if it was Anthony I don't think it yeah maybe it was Brandon Staley's first year I think the it was the game against Washington where it was that last seven minutes of the game yeah and they never gave the ball back because the running game was doing so well but again it never two I think right it never ended up being a trend it was just it was a one-off where you saw it you weren't able to find that type of magic in the Run game consistently that's what I'm looking forward to uh a couple things so from Greg Roman he talked about you know the the blend of run and pass and kind of marrying the two together uh he talked about the excitement of the wide receiver room and the the excitement from the group of the work ahead of them as well as kind of the competition in that room which I think will bring out the best of each other uh he sees the running back room as a really strong room and I thought this was interesting Jake I think it's clear the top two JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards those are the two leaders of that group the position battle for RB 3 and four that's going to be where the battle starts but he did call out Isaiah Spiller specifically when talking about that room so it seems as though maybe Isaiah Spiller right now is rb3 I'm not sure um I I think the one piece that this Chargers team has been there's been a lot of pieces but the a piece that the Chargers team has been kind of lacking is production both from a blocking and a reception perspective of the tight ends and Greg Roman was asked about the importance of the tight ends and he called on it he said that you know they put a lot on their tight ends they're gonna be moving all over the place and they have a bunch of different responsibilities but also noted that they have arguably the best blocking tight end in the NFL that they have that's in will disley and they have a Hayden Hurst who is incredible pass catcher who's also a pretty good blocker as well noted Donald Parham needs to get more involved in the Run game but the tight end group I think is going to be something that's going to strengthen this team but uh you know I think overall there were no surprises from Greg Roman like I said he's Unapologetic with the way that he portrays himself and what the goals are of his offenses and that's refreshing because we've wanted to know what the identity is of this team and of this offense for years we know what it's supposed to be now speaking of refreshing didn't he also mention the possibility of Jordan mcfaden going in as a tight end for those that don't know Jordan mcfaden I'm not sure what the updated weight is but if you look on the charter website it lists him at 303 pounds and we know from yesterday's practice or on day one's practice they were using him in familiar sets as they did last year where they put him in at fullback occasionally and now Greg Roman's talking about him possibly coming in at tight end I love this idea of utilizing Jordan mcfaden as just an Ultimate Weapon it kind of reminds me a little bit of how they used stepen Anderson where Steven Anderson was essentially an h-back a tight end a fullback but Jordan McFadden's just a different Beast he's over 300 pounds he should be an offensive lineman contending for guard but can also play center but now you're G to use him at fullback and tight end sure give me that jumbo package in goal line with Jordan mcfaden lead in the way I love it yeah we talked about how excited that would be if having the you know the five offensive linemen plus you had will Ley at blocking plus you had him I mean come on mcfat that group that seven blocking would be nuts give Ben b as a fullback let's go let's just make this thing work um ran Slater JK Dobbins both the podium rashan Slater didn't really say much to be honest there wasn't really many things there other than his excitement for the pads to come on and his excitement for this team establishing its identity a physicality and can't wait to kind see that come to fruition JK Dobbins if you don't know he is such personality he is so fun always positive and the mindset is just so good and he understands kind of the the uphill battle he's had with injuries but he is so over it and it seems as though he is speaking it into existence that he's going to have a healthy productive 2024 season and as much so that if he's healthy he sees himself as a top running back in the entire NFL and wants to go back to that bully ball and thinks that he would be a massive part of it which I can't disagree what a way to start off your conference by saying I if you don't see a smile on my face I'm either injured or I'm dead it's just like whoa okay it's just like and you can see his Jubilation and his happiness for the fact that he's here and he's with this team and how much he wants to help them win you know talking about I want to help Justin Herbert win I want to help Derwin James win I want to help my fellow Buck guy and Joey Bosa win he just seems like the Ultimate consument Team player and for the fact that again we talked about how Trevor MC mentioned you know Jim har loves getting his hands on guys that actually beat him at the college level and we talked about Quinton Johnson doing that JK Dobbins put up a game once upon a time in Ohio State against Michigan so I'm sure that Jim Harbaugh took note of that on top of the familiarity in the offense but jk just jk just has I think a great mindset for where he is healthwise what he wants to do what he wants to accomplish I don't think that he's looking at all he doesn't care if he's if he's running rb1 or rb2 or rb6 I think he just wants to be part of a group that is ultimately going to end up winning we know where he's probably going to be in the pecking order as it relates to this group because he's definitely one of the veterans he's on the younger side at 25 years old lot of explosion for what he can bring to the team so you feel really excited about not only what his message was but just his addition to this team yes for those of you on ESPN Radio tuning in you can catch the full episode over on our YouTube and anywhere you find your podcasts uh let's continue Jake I think um you know JK Dobbins brought a lot and he talked about you know this team wanting to have an identity of a bully and he said like Jim har would say a healthy bully uh with both a run and a pass game and being able to do whatever they want whenever they want both as a player individually as well as a team but also acknowledge you know you can talk all you want but it starts with action and the the admiration I would say uh he has for this coaching staff for the harau for Coach Roman you know says he's a genius and acknowledge that the passing game will be there H it's nice to see a confident JK Dobbins and a healthy JK Dobbins he says this is the healthiest he's ever felt he feels like he's in college right now uh he said he doesn't really feel anything and he feels even faster than he was before the injury um and the part was you know this is a this is a a chess bump if you will where he asked hey I don't know the number but what's my yards per carry he asked the Press pool and someone said 5.8 he basically was like I don't know any people that do that and uh he just said that he feels that everything seems slower he got a chance he had the opportunity to miss the whole year and so that gave him an opportunity to study the game and things seemed to have slowed down for him uh and also acknowledges the future Hall of Fame quarterback he has at the helm calling him a dude for Justin Herbert and again must be nice going from Lamar Jackson to Justin Herbert as a two quarterbacks he've been playing with like dang a healthy JK Dobbins Jake transforms this offense from a year ago there's a lot of things that transforms this offense but literally the have not seen a dynamic running back like JK Dobbins since LT you could put in Ryan Matthews there you could put in Melvin Gordon you can put in Austin Eckler put in Michael Turner all those names none of them are as Dynamic and explosives as the JK dobins is can we get that JK dobins for a season fingers crossed fingers crossed anything else from JK Dobbins or from the rest of the group or from day two before we move on to day three and day four and week two and week three and preseason and all that stuff uh Jim Harbaugh once again just having a great moment on field you know yesterday or day one talking about uh he's like he's stepping on the foot with cleat you know he's he's he's all there and then his whole quote about you know it's day one it's like being born it's coming out of the womb and then day two no big deal he's just out there with the rest of the guys pulling sleds with offensive or defensive lineman standing on top of them so showing everybody else hey I could still do the work even with you youngans out here I could still be pulling sleds was awesome yeah that's our coach that's our coach I look uh there's so many things that are different but to your point Jake what is not different and has not changed a bit is Jim Harbaugh and the Jim harball way and it's fun to see kind of this come to life and to see where heads again embrace the journey covering this team being a fan of this team it it's it's fun like this is this is a fun time to be around this team and I am so excited for the fun happening this weekend we got uh fun events happening at Rock and Brew on Saturday Jake you and I will be there yeah it's gonna be fun possibly a live show from there on site with I think there's I think I heard Jake there's already like close to 200 RSVPs for that event okay so um yeah and then deated we will also be there throughout the weekend uh covering the team so be on lookout for more news and notes from Us Jak anything else you want to discuss before we head out of here for the weekend Dan you're heading down to training camp this afternoon so I'm sure that we will be keeping an eye on what you're seeing from everybody out there on the field so definitely make sure that you're following down D wolkenstein on Twitter later this afternoon as he will be updating all of us as it relates to the latest news from Chargers training camp yes uh but until then happy weekend enjoy the festivities enjoy training camp for everyone going out there be safe have fun stay cool uh for Jake CER I'm Dan wienstein this is lacore Unleashed on X uh Chargers Unleashed we'll talk to you guys soon on the next Chargers Unleashed [Music]