WEBVTT - Drive Time: Chargers Perspective with Matt Smith 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:04.760 You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:08.440 This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw to 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:15.960 a looking Whip's about the wide Dolphin touchdown? Tirecl uncolievable, 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:17.040 just blue. 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:18.280 Fire for a second time. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.880 Don't know where he was going right away. I want 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:23.120 to hit that though, man, I want to help you. 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.319 Someone will keep on your bandwagon. Wattle, Wattle to. 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:30.160 A shotgut back to throw, looking at them up fires touchdown. 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.040 It's Waddle his six touchdown. 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:34.920 Paras of this day. 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.080 Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:41.559 Now let me check your pulse if enough for. 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:45.440 What is up? Dolphins? 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.519 And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:53.519 Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.520 How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield. 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.240 And on today's show, we continue our look ahead to 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.880 Sunday and Los Angeles and we do our final notes 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.640 on the Dolphins and Chargers. Plus we'll hear from Chargers 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.480 play by play man Matt Muney Smith. A new segment, 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:11.280 My Thursday Narrative debuts with a look at coach Daryl 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:13.679 Bevill and what he has meant to the offense since 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.440 his arrival, and of course, the season kicks off tonight 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.440 in Kansas City. That means Picks is back to talking 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.560 about the week that is around the National Football League 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.880 from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:26.639 This is. 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:34.839 The Draft Time podcast. May who out there remembers the show, 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:37.679 Pardon the interruption? Is it still going? I don't know 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.640 if it is, but man, that show was an institution 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.000 before content became what it was, especially in my high 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.720 school days, and it aired at two thirty Pacific time, 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.360 and my high school got out two ten, so in 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.480 the fall when I didn't have an after school sport, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.840 it was a race to get home to watch it 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.160 every single day in the pre DVR and TVO days. 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:58.840 But they had a segment at the end of the 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.800 show called airs in a Missions where stat Boy, the 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.720 Great Tony Reality would rattle off the things the host 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.320 missed throughout the course of the show. I want to 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:09.480 do that on my Thursday podcast, taking a look at 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:12.160 what maybe I left out of the Wednesday preview podcast. 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.400 And with that, I'm looking at this research packet from 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.600 the wonderful folks at NFL Research and the numbers are 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.919 You often forget how efficient this offense was last year 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.040 because I guess of the narratives out there about all 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.680 the tired talking points we cover every single offseason, and 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:31.919 once you get to this point of the calendar, it 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.240 seems like every topic has been beaten to a pulp, 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:36.520 and then you just kind of wind up getting to 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:40.120 the other side of your original thoughts and I guess predictions. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.480 And I was talking to someone earlier today about how 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.320 the Dolphins are like out of everybody's playoff predictions, but 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.000 four months ago they were talked about as a super 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.239 Bowl team. Now, I will give credit to those guys 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.400 that still stuck with what they saw happen this offseason 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.480 and didn't get their narrative shaped by maybe hard knocks, 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:58.680 maybe what happened in a preseason game where no one 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.840 actually played Youth Walder from ESPN picked Dolphins over Eagles 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:07.440 and his season predictions this year. So looking at this packet, 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.000 the Dolphins were eighth last year and passing EPA and 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:11.560 when two was on the field, they're number one in 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.480 that category. And look, I know the offensive line is 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.840 a point of contention for so many but I always 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.760 point back to this whether it's individuals winning their matchups, 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.240 scheme doing its job, or two was quick release. As 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.480 much as this offensive line takes crap from every single direction, 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:30.680 it seems they were fifteenth last year in pressure rate. 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:33.080 Not great, but better than more than half the league. 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.200 Some more details from that packet a lot of opposite 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.040 end of spectrum stuff. The Dolphins were first in pre 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.160 snap motion a season ago, Chargers twenty fifth. We were 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.320 second play action ran they were twelfth. Not quite opposite, 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.560 but a lot more from Miami. And I will say 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.760 this though their offensive metrics can probably go out the 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.920 window because it is a new system, new offensive coordinator. 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:54.880 On the other side of the ball, we do know 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.600 that Staley learned under Fangio, so there is some good 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.400 information there about what maybe the Chargers will do, maybe 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:02.480 what the Miami Dolphins will do. On their defensive side 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.600 of the football. Last year, nobody played more single high 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:07.720 than us. That's one safety in the middle of the field, 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:09.800 and we were also third in the league and man 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:12.840 coverage rate at forty three percent, despite the fact once 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:14.960 again that the personnel to meters did not match for 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.160 man coverage that often. But the Chargers played single high 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.839 the ninth lease last year. I think you'll probably see 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.320 more of a number close to that for Miami this season. 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:25.960 But they did play man coverage at the seventh highest rate, 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.760 which is interesting to me because they had the eighth 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.880 ranked blitz percentage just eighteenth and pressure rate, which is 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:36.359 a prominent itself because traditionally those haven't been the staples, 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:38.960 the blitz rate and the man coverage rate of a 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:42.039 Vic Fangio defense. But it's a nice reminder that while 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.520 you have your core principles, coaches tend to construct and 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.680 tailor things around what they have in their personnel. I 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.240 think it's an indicator that you could get a good 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.800 dose of man coverage on Sunday because that's kind of 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.680 how they remade their defense a season ago, beginning in 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.800 that Miami game in early December, and their late season 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.480 surge was built around the defense playing better football because 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:06.640 the offense wasn't that great last year for the Chargers, 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.240 and then J C. Jackson coming back. He was always 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.080 a man corner up in New England. So interesting stuff there. 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:14.320 I'm very curious to see what both teams look like. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.560 That's why I haven't been to I haven't harped too 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.200 much on what I think is gonna the game will 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.200 look like from a schematic standpoint, because we just don't 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.839 really know. But the Chargers were thirty first and rushing 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.000 EPA allowed last year, and that's kind of what they 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:29.880 If that's what they are again this year, there's no 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.200 guarantee they will be, then you hope that Miami can 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.039 find some success in the ground game. In fact, Argen 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:38.240 Mennon is a former analytics guy for the Jets and 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.320 now he puts his stuff out there on Twitter, and 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:44.160 he shared the Chargers allowed last year a rushing EPA 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.600 off tackle that was the fourth highest for their opponent 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:49.800 of all time since EPA became a stat back in 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.839 the early two thousands, or that's how far back they 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.799 have tracked it so far. And the Dolphins weren't historical 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.200 in their success running off tackle, but they were plus 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:02.239 point two EPA. That's a cumulative over a rushing attack 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.680 that was negative point four EPA, which was eighteenth in 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:06.880 the NFL. And that might not sound like a big 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.800 number point two obviously, but it's important to note that 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.760 rushing EPA is way more difficult to rack up than 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.880 passing because EPA basically tracks how much you influenced the 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:19.400 potential outcome of a game, and a five yard rush 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:20.880 is great to keep you ahead of the change, but 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:22.760 it's not going to change the outcome of the game 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.600 as far as the win percentage scope goes. So passing 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.080 the ball gives you much more EPA opportunity, I guess 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:30.880 is a good way to look at that. But with that, 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.640 in the individual Dolphins and Chargers game last year, it 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.000 was the complete opposite in terms of running the ball wide. 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.400 The Dolphins had a negative point one to six EPA 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:43.040 running off tackle and negative point seven when running off end. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.159 Something has to give there. The Dolphins either find a 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.159 way to run the ball or the Chargers make a 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.160 turnaround for the run defense. Some more cool notes here 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.719 from the NFL research packet. Toungo, bai Loa, and Herbert 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.880 were the first quarterbacks drafted with back to back picks 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.520 and a draft This is in the weeds to both 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.720 finish top five in passing yards per game since nineteen 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.520 forty one. That sounds like a bob Yucker stat from 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.240 the Major League Movies. The Dolphins had sixty two completions 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.120 last year of twenty plus yards. That was the third 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.640 most in the NFL behind Case and Philly, and the 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.000 Chargers surrendered the sixth most of those throws fifty four, 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.160 which is also interesting to me because the Chargers and 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.640 this Fangio style defense, the entire purpose is to keep 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.480 the roof on top of the defense and limit big 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.120 plays and expose the offense to more reps and more 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.760 potential mistakes they could make. On the offensive side, the 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.920 Dolphins averaged six point one yards per play a season ago. 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.480 That was the second best number in the NFL behind 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.200 Kansas City and yards per play. If you go back 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:41.440 over the last decade plus, that number is the most 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:45.520 consistent with offensive success in terms of predictive models, and 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.200 I think I did a podcast on that. At one 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.400 point last year when our offense wasn't scoring quite enough, 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:52.520 I think it was like after the Steeler game, but 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.440 you could see their yards per play was still top 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.000 three or four in the league. And sure enough after 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.080 that they go thirty against Detroit, thirty against Chicago, thirty 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.840 against Cleveland, thirty against Houston. So eventually your points catch 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.000 up to yards per play. If we're over six yards 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.880 of play again this season, the offense is going to 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.880 be dominant. The Chargers also surrender the tenth most yards 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.600 per pass attempts on throws ten plus yards downfield long passes, 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:17.080 and Tua led the NFL in these categories on ten 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.440 plus yard throws, completion percentage sixty one point nine percent, 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.240 yards per attempt thirteen point nine, and a one to 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.840 twenty five passer rating on such throws. Some cool stats 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:28.640 will do this every single week or on the podcast. 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.240 We'll also hear from a prominent member of the opposition's 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.960 local media every single week, and that's where we turn 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.200 our attention to. Now my interview with the great Matt 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.320 money Smith from the Chargers radio broadcast and joining us 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.760 here on the podcast today. He is the play by 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.120 play man for the Los Angeles Chargers. He'll take you 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.480 Home in La on Petros and Money on five seventy 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.440 AMLA Sports, and the former voice of God on the 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.240 Around the NFL podcast. Matt money Smith, Money, welcome in, 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:56.000 my friend. 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:58.120 Thanks for having me, Travis. Looking forward to this one. 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.320 What a what an awesome game to start the season 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.400 between these two teams that a lot of people are 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:04.880 expecting big things from, I. 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:06.560 Would say on the podcast the other day that I 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.760 think that this might be the game maybe SAMs Buffalo 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.080 and New York on Monday Night, that I think either 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.319 team who wins will come away feeling the best about 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:16.320 themselves after Week one. Would you agree with that? 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:19.480 Well, I just I feel like going back to well, look, 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:21.640 I think two of them are similar in that they 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.839 are in divisions that, for the Chargers certainly have been 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.120 dominated by other teams. You know, I think some could 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.200 make the case that Miami's roster top to bottom is 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.720 better than Buffalo's, but when you have Josh Allen, that 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.080 sort of changes the calculus. So I think they're both 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:36.599 trying to knock off a heavyweight in the top of 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.760 their division. And I think their scar tissue from last 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.000 year in this game for the Dolphins, and believe it 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.160 or not, I think even for Brandon Staley and to 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:48.959 kind of remind people or to prove himself that no, 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.600 that wasn't fluky. What the defense dating back to back 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.239 weeks against San Francisco and Miami when they were decimated 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:56.600 by injury. I think, you know, coming off a twenty 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.760 seven and nothing lead and losing a playoff game, you know, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.280 allowing thirty one points essentially in the second half and 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:03.800 right there at the end of the first half, like 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.120 he's out to prove something. I think Mike McDaniel and 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.920 Tua and the offense is out to prove something about 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:10.600 how it went last year. So I just think there's 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.880 so many things that go into this game that make it, 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:17.520 you know, a lot bigger than just a regular season 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.640 contest between the Dolphins and the Chargers. 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.680 One hundred percent agree. In my game preview podcast the 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.800 previous day, I talked about the storylines and I had 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:27.480 to just kind of stop at a certain point because 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.560 there were so many whether it's you know, Fangio and 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.720 Staly and Ronaldo Hill and Tua, and it is up 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:36.120 and down the list storyline after storyline. But I wanted 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.120 to go to you for some more Chargers perspective and 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.120 expertise here because you know, again we have the tape 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.000 of these teams matching up nine months ago, but so 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.680 much changes week to week in the NFL, not to mention, 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.200 you know, year to year. If you could, in one 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.720 answer kind of summarize the Chargers training camp this summer, 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:53.720 how would you do that? What were the takeaway some 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.440 of the stars of camp surprises, whatever you got money 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.319 from Chargers camp, go ahead and laid on us. 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:04.080 Well, I'd probably start and it's a boring answer, Travis, 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.400 but with health. You know, this is a team that 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.440 was wrecked last year and so you kind of forgot 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.160 how talented it was because of how the season ended 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.520 and how few players were out there at the end 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.880 of it all. And to go into training camp and 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:22.400 to watch Rashaun Slater, who was an All Pro his 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.480 rookie year, the second year of Zion Johnson who's now 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:27.280 moved back to where he played at Boston College for 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:29.559 four years left guard, and Corey Linsley, who missed a 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.640 chunk of time last year as well. To see those 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.600 three operate together, especially in the joint practices against a 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.520 very good Saints defensive line, and just stone them, you know, 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.240 snap in and snap out. That's one of the first 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:44.720 things that jumped out of me and man talk about 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:48.199 a test in week one to watch Slater, whether it's 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.760 gonna be Phillips or Chubb. I can't wait for that. 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:57.439 So the second thing is just how many more downfield 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.120 throws we were watching from this offense. And I don't 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.120 think it's fair to pile on Joe Lombardi, like a 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.040 lot of people are a lot of that was a 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.000 product of injury last year and the fact that he 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:10.320 lost his left tackle, didn't have it, you know, Justin 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.000 didn't have his center. He had fractured rib cartilage in 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:14.920 week two. Like the ball was coming out early for 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.400 a reason. But it just looks different. It looks like 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.439 those shots are there and a lot of its health again, 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.520 you know, again not exciting, but to have Mike Williams, 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.640 Keenan Allen, Josh Palmer and now their first round pick 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:27.680 Quinton Johnson out there, looks like this this could be 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:32.280 an explosive offense. But even beyond that is the running game. 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.240 You know, they just they never had a signature run 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.000 really in the last two years. You never felt like 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:39.400 there was a bread and butter. Now they could run 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:41.080 behind that left side of the line two years ago 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.560 when Slater was an All Pro and it was effective 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.000 and Austin would would you know, kind of bite off 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:47.600 four and a half five and a half yards per 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.720 carry when he ran that direction. But it just looks different. 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:52.200 It looks like, Okay, I can see where this is going, 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.600 and it just looks it looks better it looks different, 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:00.240 So that's offensively defensively. You know, this is just me 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:02.000 relaying what a lot of the players said, and that's 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.120 just how much of a difference they believe Eric Kendricks 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.640 is going to make and in coordinating the defense on 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.320 the field from players, you know that's wearing the green dot, 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:11.760 and how important it is to have everybody in their 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.200 same place and know exactly what their assignment is snapping 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.080 and snap out because you know it full well having 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.120 Vic Fangio there. Now, it's a complicated defense and a 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.240 lot of pieces, specifically on the back end have to 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.040 be in the right places for it to be executed 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.640 just right. And they really feel like Eric Hendricks is 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:26.800 going to make a big difference. 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.520 There, coming back to where it all began for him 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:31.080 in college at UCLA. There back in Los Angeles to 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.199 play for the Chargers and money. My next question was 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.600 going to be how the offense looks different under Kellen Moore, 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:37.720 but you kind of already addressed that, so I guess 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:39.760 I'll follow up and kind of continue that theme of 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.720 Kellen Moore. And you mentioned the players talking about the 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.120 defensive system and Eric Hendricks kind of helping be the 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.800 conduit between coach and player on that side of the ball. 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:49.760 What are the guys saying about Kellen Moore? Because this 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:51.400 is a guy that I don't know if you know 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.240 this money, but I grew up in the Pacific Northwest 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:55.280 and Kellen Moore played his high school ball to a 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.760 small town in Prosser, Washington, about twenty minutes north of 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.720 where I live. A local star up there. Took his 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:03.439 talents to Boise, where he was one of the greatest 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.240 college quarterbacks of all time. Big fan of him as 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.439 a player and a coach. Just some of the returns 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:09.760 on Kellen Moore and what some of the guys are 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.520 saying about him so far in year one here. 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.840 He's the best man. He's such a good dude. And 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.439 his dad, you know, moved down here with him and 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:20.480 to be around his dad, who's as you know, you know, 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.000 high school football coach. It's just a look. They're football dorks, 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.600 you know, both he and Justin Herbert. They just are. 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.760 And you watch them geek out at practice and at 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.640 training camp. And look, I mean you know this, you 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.000 just said it. You grew up there Pacific Northwest. People 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:40.080 are just different. It's a different lifestyle. And I think 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.320 there's a very special connection between those two that they 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.360 get it. They get each other, you know, they are 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.040 Like Daniel Jeremiah, who I do the games with, was 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.120 up in Idaho and he's like, you have no idea 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.400 how big the Chargers are in Idaho. Now He's like, 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:57.280 I'm walking around cord A Lane and there's people in 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.000 Herbert jerseys and Chargers caps because Kellen Moore is there. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.560 Like that's how big of a deal it is. So 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.200 to have Herbert from Eugene, Kellen from from you know, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.720 from Washington and playing his game is football at at 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.040 Boise State, like it's a there's there's a connection there 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.800 is what I'm getting at. But I do think is 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:20.840 as special as that connection is. And what I think 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.440 the biggest difference in this offense with with Kellen Moore 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:24.880 is going to be is the run game. Just the 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.720 run Just like I said, it just never it never 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.640 felt like it was working when they especially when they 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.280 needed it. In that Jacksonville game a perfect example, when 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.080 they needed the four minute drill, they rushed seven times 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.320 for four yards. They just couldn't get it right. It 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.080 seemed like every new the defense knew exactly what was coming. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.760 Every time they lined up in a formation that we 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.120 knew what was coming. And I think you're going to 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.560 see a big difference in that this year, where you know, 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:51.240 whether you want to call it, you know, wide or 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.840 outside zone, whatever it is. It worked in the preseason, man, 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.120 it worked as a thing of beauty. And I know 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.200 it's hard to take anything. I never want to take 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.320 anything too much a way from the exhibition season, but 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:03.240 just kind of having watched the run game the last 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.800 few years and then watch it watching it this year, 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.160 it seems like that is a big, big difference, and 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.400 that's just going to help those play action, you know, 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.360 shot plays that we know they have the personnel for 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:16.120 and Herbert certainly has the arm for. 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.200 It's almost like you're holding up a mirror to the 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.160 Dolphins right now, because I would say, going back to 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.000 you know, last year and Kellen Moore and Mike McDaniel 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:25.720 kind of fall into that offensive young genius category that 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.280 so many teams cover it right now and all teams 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.320 that don't have it wish they had. And they both 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.440 I guess More is different because he wasn't there in 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:34.360 Los Angeles. But for Mike, you know, he was saying 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.440 that he wished he did run the football more last year. 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:38.920 And these offenses that do have all these playmakers in 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.040 the perimeter at the receiver positions, So it should be 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.040 a fascinating matchup to see who can get more execution 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.120 in the ground game. To follow up off that first 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.320 question game, when you mentioned the defensive side of the ball, 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:52.360 you mentioned Eric Hendricks. Again, I'm a WSU guy money, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.320 so Deyon Henley's my guy. I love that dude. But 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:57.400 returning pieces as well from Andrew, like you mentioned j C. 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:00.440 Jackson coming back. Never really got going last year before 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.760 the injury. But a loaded group my talent perspective, how 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.160 do you think they'll make things challenging and opposing offenses 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:06.600 this year? 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:08.840 Well, I'll start with you know where you started in 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.159 Wazoo and dayon and unfortunately he's got a hammy. I 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.040 don't know if he's going to play. That dude's going 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.440 to make an impact as a rookie. He will make 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.080 an impact this year. It'll definitely be on special teams. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:20.840 But he's gonna get he's going to get in the rotation, 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.920 he's going to get defensive snaps. He he was the best, 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.840 he was the best player on either side of the 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:33.920 ball save Zion Johnson. That the left guard in the preseason. Wow, 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.480 he's just and you know it because you saw it. 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.800 Like he is so explosive. I mean, he is so 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.520 fast in that body that's now a legit two hundred 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.080 and twenty five pounds. You know, is kind of that 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.280 hybrid safety linebacker. I think you might see him at 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:50.560 star I would not be surprised if you see him 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:52.320 in the slot. I wouldn't be surprised if you see 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.280 him creeping up on the line of scrimmage. Like to me, 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.200 he's got that sort of and I know it's high praise. 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.320 And I don't mean to sound like a you know, 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.720 a Chargers homer or whatever because I call the games. 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.159 But he's just got that Derwin James. Look where you 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.640 can envision him playing any position, Like I could see 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.960 Derwin play outside corner, slot corner, high safety, box safety, 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.359 linebacker like you know, that's what Dayon reminds me of. 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.200 Where you can put him up high if you want to. 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.760 You can have him as a box safety. So he's 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:21.320 going to be an important piece. I think he's going 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.600