Speaker 1: Late fifteen ten touched up.
Speaker 2: What's Up, guys, Welcome into a brand new episode of
Speaker 2: Chargers Weekly. Chris Hayrey here with you, along with the
Speaker 2: Voice of the Chargers Matt money Smith and Buddy. First,
Speaker 2: I just want to say that Jesse Mitzer interview last
Speaker 2: week was awesome. It was good man, next level football
Speaker 2: conversation and just a really detailed breakdown of this incoming
Speaker 2: defensive draft class. I loved it.
Speaker 1: Thanks man, Yeah, and a huge thanks to Josh and
Speaker 1: Ricky and everyone over there for helping out. And that's
Speaker 1: just the first. You know, we're gonna get coach Roman,
Speaker 1: We're gonna get Coach Ficken, so we'll get all the
Speaker 1: coordinators in there, and you know, they kind of laid
Speaker 1: out our schedule with everything kind of ramping up and
Speaker 1: getting rolling now Phase two and rookie camp and all
Speaker 1: that that's happening this week. It's exciting we get you know,
Speaker 1: we have football back. It's back, and you certainly got
Speaker 1: that cent at the facility and talking to coach and
Speaker 1: bringing in the draft class and getting excited about getting
Speaker 1: his hands on these guys and coaching them up. So
Speaker 1: it certainly feels different. I felt like these last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks, Chris, It's it's had a different feel the
Speaker 1: Chargers weekly, Like, yeah, we're we're kind of back in
Speaker 1: this thing. Man, it's the off season, but it's not,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like it's not the off
Speaker 1: season anymore. Like stuff's happening.
Speaker 2: Stuff's happening. Especially next week too. We have the schedule
Speaker 2: release next week, and if I'm not mistaken, I think
Speaker 2: Joe Ortiz is going to join the program next week too.
Speaker 2: So you mentioned the coaches, we'll get the GM next
Speaker 2: week to talk about some of these rookies and undrafted
Speaker 2: free agents, and you know, obviously I think top of
Speaker 2: mind this weekend is a rookie mini camp and I
Speaker 2: got a bunch of questions that we'll go through over
Speaker 2: the next hour or so. But just kind of your
Speaker 2: thoughts on rookie mini camp this upcoming weekend and maybe
Speaker 2: a couple of guys that you're excited to see out
Speaker 2: there on the grass.
Speaker 1: Well, I think just starts with the number one pick,
Speaker 1: you know, with with Amarion and what he looks like,
Speaker 1: because he's you know, there's guys that you want getting
Speaker 1: off the bus first, and a Marion is one of
Speaker 1: those guys. The way he's built, how well he moves
Speaker 1: at that size, it's going to be fun to see
Speaker 1: him out there. And you know, we remember we were
Speaker 1: out on the field last year, Chris at training camp,
Speaker 1: and it was funny just to see jk and and
Speaker 1: Gus standing next to each other and you're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: they come in different sizes, and you know, Lamaran's in
Speaker 1: the Gus mold, only he's got that explosive athleticism to
Speaker 1: go with with that kind of size. So that's going
Speaker 1: to be fun. I think kind of, you know, skill
Speaker 1: position players are the ones that are always sort of
Speaker 1: the most fun to look at just because of how
Speaker 1: different you can be built and still operate at a
Speaker 1: high level. You know, Trey Harris and Keandrey Lambert Smith,
Speaker 1: they're going to look totally different standing next to each other.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, that's you know, just kind
Speaker 1: of what's the And I'm sure there's questions, so I
Speaker 1: don't want to jump the gun here, but you know,
Speaker 1: what's the makeup of that wide receiver room? You know
Speaker 1: that'd be and yeah, it's exciting. I think the undrafted
Speaker 1: free agents, you know, we've talked about him before, but
Speaker 1: Steve Oclott seeing him get out there, you know, having
Speaker 1: an actual fullback, being a team that wants to bring
Speaker 1: in a full back and get a look at that
Speaker 1: is going to be great as well.
Speaker 2: We have a UDFA question in our mail bag today too,
Speaker 2: but let's just get right into him first. One is
Speaker 2: from Noami Money. Georgie said on the Up and Adams
Speaker 2: Show that they are still looking to add to all
Speaker 2: position groups. What is one position group that you both
Speaker 2: think is not obvious to us fans that needs more
Speaker 2: at tension, more additions rather, who would you like to
Speaker 2: see added to the group? I'll start with you, man,
Speaker 2: what do you think?
Speaker 1: Well, I think just kind of trying to build out
Speaker 1: the fifty three and thinking about how many backs, wide receivers,
Speaker 1: tight ends O line, and I feel like those are
Speaker 1: all full. You know, like we're going to be talking
Speaker 1: about guys that you wouldn't think around the bubble that
Speaker 1: are probably on the bubble in all and each of
Speaker 1: those groups. I know a lot of people are thinking
Speaker 1: about the lack of addressing the interior offensive line, but man,
Speaker 1: they got a lot of guys there, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're talking about the guys they signed in James brought
Speaker 1: back Bozeman Zion Trey played guard last year, like, so
Speaker 1: they're pretty well covered there. They brought in back in
Speaker 1: So like that's one that I think people would think
Speaker 1: is the obvious answer. I just pulled up the r lads. Like,
Speaker 1: to me, it's probably Corner. I think Corner would be
Speaker 1: the one if there's a just you know, I think
Speaker 1: because to me, that's based on the deals they signed,
Speaker 1: right the deal that they signed for Dante Jackson, for
Speaker 1: Benjamin Saint just and then you know they draft those
Speaker 1: guys at the back end and Mickens and try Bridges,
Speaker 1: but those are special teams guys. You know, that's that's
Speaker 1: kind of where they're going to be. So that might
Speaker 1: be I think that might be the one that I
Speaker 1: could see having, you know that I could see them
Speaker 1: doing something with. How about you?
Speaker 2: I was gonna say that the Edge group just for
Speaker 2: the sole reason that that Joey's gone, and I think
Speaker 2: if you can add a seasoned vet to that room.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously, listening to to Jesse talk about Canard
Speaker 2: and just his production at South Carolina, you're hoping that
Speaker 2: he makes an immediate impact. And we know about Touley
Speaker 2: and Khalil obviously and Bud. But you know there's some
Speaker 2: guys like Zadaria Smith, von Miller, Matthew Judon. Judon was
Speaker 2: a raven, you know, so Joe Ortiz has familiarity with him.
Speaker 2: So I'm thinking of just like like a veteran in
Speaker 2: kind of the same mold of Bud Dupree last year
Speaker 2: when they got Bud, I think post draft and a
Speaker 2: veteran that you can maybe count on throughout the course
Speaker 2: of a seventeen game season that doesn't have to play
Speaker 2: a ton, but can it kind of add that veteran
Speaker 2: leadership to the room. And there are some guys out
Speaker 2: there now, I do think that over.
Speaker 1: The next couple of mourners out there still right, aren't there?
Speaker 1: I felt the same way kind of about because like
Speaker 1: it's interesting, right, you still got Amari Cooper and Gabe
Speaker 1: Davis just got cut, and Keenan Allen's out there, Agalore's
Speaker 1: out there. I mean, you still got dudes out there
Speaker 1: at at wide receiver. That's probably the one that's that's
Speaker 1: got I mean, well you look in teior line and
Speaker 1: you got Brandon Scherff still out there. You know, Will Hernandez,
Speaker 1: Jack Mason. I mean there's guys that are veterans, but
Speaker 1: and you.
Speaker 2: Mentioned that he's surprising to me, Money Sheriff is surprising
Speaker 2: because he's been he's been pretty durable, like you know,
Speaker 2: pro Bowl caliber guard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean look at corners, right, obviously we know
Speaker 1: a Sante junior, but Rasoul Douglas, Mike Hilton, Steph Gilmore,
Speaker 1: Kendall Fuller, Like there's a lot of dude Jack Jones there,
Speaker 1: you know, all with different issues, but like, to me,
Speaker 1: that's one where I could totally see them, you know,
Speaker 1: plucking a guy on a on a low number and
Speaker 1: you know they just like the culture, want to work
Speaker 1: with Clink and coach Minner and coach Clink and coach
Speaker 1: Minner and and Harbaugh, and I could I could see
Speaker 1: that being one.
Speaker 2: It reminds me of the I think the points you
Speaker 2: brought up to Jesse about just kind of using that
Speaker 2: that recruiting chip to use Puna Ford as that example
Speaker 2: of like, hey, you know, we can we can get
Speaker 2: you your next deal here, we can develop you, we
Speaker 2: can maximize your potential. And I think at this stage
Speaker 2: in free agency, guys are looking for that, right they're
Speaker 2: on the streets right now for a reason, and you know,
Speaker 2: they want to go into a program where you can
Speaker 2: develop and maybe get that next contract, whether it's with
Speaker 2: the Chargers or somewhere else. And I think that they
Speaker 2: have proven with guys like Fulton and Ford and you know,
Speaker 2: Elijah getting that deal, that this is a program that
Speaker 2: can really maximize your potential. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think for the free agents too, it's you got
Speaker 1: to remember that's a two way street. So they're going
Speaker 1: to be looking at all of their potential opportunities and
Speaker 1: probably an incentive laden contract and where am I going
Speaker 1: to have the best shot to win a job? Or
Speaker 1: I can get my snaps, I can work on getting
Speaker 1: my production. And if I'm signing a low base number
Speaker 1: with you know, a couple million bucks and incentives like
Speaker 1: that's you know, how do I get those incentives by
Speaker 1: getting on the field. And I think when you look
Speaker 1: at the corner room, think about the injury to you know,
Speaker 1: the reason that Cam was dealing with last year, and
Speaker 1: then you look at the deals that were signed in
Speaker 1: Saint Jus and Jackson and you're like, okay, I could
Speaker 1: I could pop in there, and I feel like I
Speaker 1: get a real fair shake at at getting some meaningful
Speaker 1: snaps and maybe even earning an outside you know or
Speaker 1: you know, in an outside corner slot starting position. If
Speaker 1: things really work.
Speaker 2: Out, sure it makes a ton of sense. And then
Speaker 2: some of these veterans, you know, some of these guys
Speaker 2: want to win a ring and they're looking for the
Speaker 2: best situation where they can actually contend for a Super Bowl,
Speaker 2: and I think some Vets may view the Chargers as
Speaker 2: one of those teams. Let's move on here to Forest Price. Obviously,
Speaker 2: there are Bolts fans all over the world. We have
Speaker 2: the Diehard Bolt Club, Bolt Pride that are passionate about
Speaker 2: our beloved Chargers. How do you think the club interacts
Speaker 2: with its out of state fans and what do you
Speaker 2: think could be done to bring us closer to you? Well,
Speaker 2: it's a good question. I see Chargers fans at all
Speaker 2: these away games. We do a segment on CBS Bolts
Speaker 2: on Road and a couple of times, I think it
Speaker 2: was Denver and Vegas, maybe a couple other places. There
Speaker 2: are these these fan clubs that are from Denver or
Speaker 2: from Las Vegas, and they are there for the game.
Speaker 2: So I do think that the team does as much
Speaker 2: as they possibly can, and these these opposing markets, we
Speaker 2: obviously feel the love. I know, like I remember Arizona
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago, Bunny where they had won
Speaker 2: in the last second and it felt like the entire
Speaker 2: State Farm Stadium was filled the powder blue.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, now in twenty twenty five, it's a
Speaker 1: lot easier for people to do it on their own, right.
Speaker 1: You can get that word out through social media and
Speaker 1: everybody can meet up somewhere. I think the one challenge is,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a business trip, and it's an
Speaker 1: incredibly important business trip for the Chargers, so it's hard
Speaker 1: for them to be like, hey, yeah, we'll come out
Speaker 1: on a Friday night and bring a player with us.
Speaker 1: Like that's not going to happen. These guys have a
Speaker 1: regimented schedule, meetings, treatment, meal, curfew, know, Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 1: So it's not like they're just kind of hanging out
Speaker 1: and running around town. It's it's a full on, forty
Speaker 1: eight hour in out, win a football game, stay healthy,
Speaker 1: get home. So as far as the front off, you know,
Speaker 1: like the as far as like the folks that do
Speaker 1: social media, those departments and community interaction, Yeah, I suppose
Speaker 1: there's stuff, and I'm always happy, you know. I always
Speaker 1: try to engage before we go out somewhere. If if
Speaker 1: we can find someone's like, oh I'll be here, We'll
Speaker 1: be there. Like you said, Chris, we always walked the
Speaker 1: field before and chat with folks. But in terms of
Speaker 1: setting up an official event, I think it's harder. Like
Speaker 1: when we went to when we went to England, right,
Speaker 1: we had that huge Chargers party with like four thousand
Speaker 1: people because it was it was on like Thursday, you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't play till Sunday. I think that was Thursday
Speaker 1: night if I remember right. So it's like, yeah, that works.
Speaker 1: You know, you can get away with that because you've
Speaker 1: got three days before or you're actually kicking off and
Speaker 1: playing a football game.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I remember in Mexico City too, we had that
Speaker 2: awesome fan party. It was great. I'm sure Brazil will
Speaker 2: be similar in week one, but it's it's just it
Speaker 2: is fun to see Charger fans in different parts of
Speaker 2: the country, and it's great fascinating to see how many
Speaker 2: there are in certain parts of the country too. They
Speaker 2: go down to like South Florida or Arizona. Always a
Speaker 2: lot of powder Blue. So let's go to Jake, Jake Karence.
Speaker 2: What's taking the Rashawn extension so long to get sorted
Speaker 2: out and what are the chances of the NFL giving
Speaker 2: US Rams Chargers in Australia next year. Well, the schedule
Speaker 2: lines up as the Chargers of the Road team, so
Speaker 2: it's certainly one of the possibilities. It'd be pretty funny
Speaker 2: and ironic that the two teams playing it's so by
Speaker 2: going to Australia. But the Rashawn I don't know about you, buddy,
Speaker 2: I'm not really worried about the Rashawn Slater extension. He's
Speaker 2: one of the best left tackles in football. I think
Speaker 2: Joe Ortiz and company are well aware of that, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure that will get sorted out.
Speaker 1: When it gets sorted out, Yeah, you know, it's Look,
Speaker 1: it's probably going to be a market changing deal, right,
Speaker 1: he sees an all pro and when you're at that level,
Speaker 1: typically what your agent wants is I mean, look, I
Speaker 1: think it's a tough position for both sides. Right, You've
Speaker 1: got market setting deals, you've got a salary cap that
Speaker 1: took a huge jump, and you've got now players that
Speaker 1: are making a much larger percentage of the cap than
Speaker 1: we had just last year, Like the Jamar Chase deal
Speaker 1: just dwarfed the previous wide receiver deal. So I think
Speaker 1: that's so you have agents and that's their job that say, Okay,
Speaker 1: well here's the percentage that the top wide receiver is taking.
Speaker 1: And if we look at what the top wide receiver
Speaker 1: had when Tristan Wurst signed his deal, this is what
Speaker 1: he got. So now the deal isn't twenty eight, it's
Speaker 1: thirty two. And I think when you're in Ed maguire
Speaker 1: and Georg t situations like, well, yeah, but the top
Speaker 1: deal is still you know, twenty nine, and that's hard
Speaker 1: to get around. It's, you know, when you're talking about
Speaker 1: that much money and then one side wants still a
Speaker 1: couple million more, it just gets tricky. Do I feel
Speaker 1: great about it? I don't. I wish it were done
Speaker 1: already because I just feel like Rashan's the kind of
Speaker 1: guy that would just say, hey, man, just get it done.
Speaker 1: Like you know, he and Herbert are so close. I
Speaker 1: feel like he loves it here, and I would assume
Speaker 1: just kind of knowing, you know, you look at Baltimore
Speaker 1: and the fact that they had Jonathan Ogden for all
Speaker 1: those years they now just you know, everybody thought Ronnie
Speaker 1: Stanley was going to get out of the building and
Speaker 1: sign a massive deal with New England because they had
Speaker 1: all that money in need of the left tackle, and
Speaker 1: they were like, absolutely not, You're not going anywhere. So
Speaker 1: it's he comes from an organization where offensive line is
Speaker 1: incredibly important. It's a head coach that has preached offensive
Speaker 1: line is a weapon, tip of the spear, and it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: you know this, let's figure this out. Man. I So
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I would assume that that's the
Speaker 1: hang up is it's a few million bucks because of
Speaker 1: the big jump in cap the huge jump in wide receive.
Speaker 1: You know, non quarterback salaries took a massive jump this
Speaker 1: year with Miles Garrett and with Jamar Chase, and because
Speaker 1: that happened, it changes the economics. And I'm sure each
Speaker 1: side is kind of digging in like, no, this is sorry, man,
Speaker 1: this is the business of the NFL, and this is
Speaker 1: how we do it. And you've got one side and
Speaker 1: Rashaan and his agent that are you know, holding that
Speaker 1: number according to that calculus, and then you've probably got
Speaker 1: Joe Ortiz and Ed and that front office that are saying, well,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a little more in line with
Speaker 1: with where he is. Look at what fill in the blank,
Speaker 1: you know, Werf's and Williams and all these guys are
Speaker 1: making and I think that's how you get hung up.
Speaker 1: But remember this happened with Joey, this happened with Derwin,
Speaker 1: like and those were market setting deals, right, Joey became
Speaker 1: the highest paid non quotquarterback in the league. Derwin became
Speaker 1: the highest paid safety by a pretty good margin. And
Speaker 1: it took a minute, and so I think it's probably
Speaker 1: just going to take a minute.
Speaker 2: Also, there's no urgency right now, you know, with training
Speaker 2: camp and those types of deadlines. I think Breed a
Speaker 2: little bit more urgency because you want the guys in camp.
Speaker 2: But for Shawn right now, he's a proven commodity, you
Speaker 2: know who he is. If he misses some time in
Speaker 2: the off season, then it is what it is. But
Speaker 2: I do think that once training camp gets closer and
Speaker 2: then you think about this, this is another reason why
Speaker 2: you know, you look at free agency, why there wasn't
Speaker 2: this spending spree by the Chargers, Like they know that
Speaker 2: they have to pay for Shaun Slater. They know that
Speaker 2: they have to eventually pay Derwin James his next deal,
Speaker 2: So I do think that all that figures in. I
Speaker 2: just I can't see a guy that is that good
Speaker 2: at a position that coach Harball values so much ever
Speaker 2: leaving Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I'm with you. I just it doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense. You've got Justin Herbert's your quarterback.
Speaker 1: The last thing you want to do is is have
Speaker 1: an issue with his left tackle, of course, And you
Speaker 1: know what, I'll be honest, like, I considering how much
Speaker 1: flux there is at those two positions center and left guard, Like,
Speaker 1: I think you got to get him in there, man, Like,
Speaker 1: this is not a guy you want missing. You want
Speaker 1: to get all five of those guys so you can
Speaker 1: figure out, you know, like George, he's has talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, we were just going to play the best five.
Speaker 1: He's like guard tackle. That was kind of what they
Speaker 1: preached last year, right with Trey, and is he going
Speaker 1: to be your right guard? And he's like, they like,
Speaker 1: we just want the best five. So if you're going
Speaker 1: to be working through all those combinations, I'm sure you
Speaker 1: know that that they're gonna want to They're gonna want
Speaker 1: to get that. They're gonna want to do it with Rashawan.
Speaker 1: You know, they want to figure out who slots in
Speaker 1: best next to him, if Zion's moving to center. Like,
Speaker 1: there's so many moving parts just with those two positions
Speaker 1: that I think having Rashawn in there is it's got
Speaker 1: to be a you know, coach dev and coach Hardwick.
Speaker 1: I'm sure like, come on, guys, let's let's get this
Speaker 1: sort of out.
Speaker 2: You want that time on task, especially in training camp
Speaker 2: with those starting five guys, whoever they're going to be.
Speaker 2: All right, let's go to Peter Padre. From your perspective,
Speaker 2: where does Herbert need to improve? Understanding he needs to
Speaker 2: help around him, where he can stand to where can
Speaker 2: he stand to improve? I struggle between games like the
Speaker 2: Raiders four years ago where he put the team on
Speaker 2: his back and the Houston playoff loss. So I was
Speaker 2: thinking about this one, buddy, and I heard Porties in
Speaker 2: Hardball loud and clear after that playoff loss and really
Speaker 2: kind of going into the off season, and really their
Speaker 2: actions have done the talkies like we need to give
Speaker 2: Justin Herbert more help, and they did that with Harris
Speaker 2: and Hampton in the backfield, and drafting Trey Harris and
Speaker 2: bringing back Mike Williams and adding Tyler Conklin and Makai
Speaker 2: Becton to kind of further boltster that offensive line.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Herbert, like anybody, probably needs to improve. But I
Speaker 2: just he's so good and he had a tough playoff
Speaker 2: game in Houston and the only other playoff game he's
Speaker 2: been in Jacksonville, there have twenty seven nothing could run
Speaker 2: the football in the second half. So it's hard for
Speaker 2: me to say exactly where Justin can improve. I'd like
Speaker 2: to just see year two of Jim Harball with this
Speaker 2: running game that was I think according to PFF twenty
Speaker 2: ninth in the NFL last year. They've completely remade it,
Speaker 2: and I think that's gonna help Justin.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look at this point, if we're talking about what
Speaker 1: can he improve, we're picking nets, right. Yeah, he's incredible
Speaker 1: and he's created everything. And I know that sounds like, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's the Chargers Weekly podcast, so of course they're going
Speaker 1: to say that. So yeah, if you want me to
Speaker 1: pick something, it's running the ball. It's you know, I
Speaker 1: think a lot of times when you see him at
Speaker 1: that mesh point. I feel like there's been some real
Speaker 1: opportunity for him to pull it, keep it and go,
Speaker 1: and I'd love to see more of that. I think
Speaker 1: that's to me, that's it, Like that's truly the only
Speaker 1: thing I've always talked about, the quarterback sneak. But I
Speaker 1: think some some quarterbacks are with it, some don't like it,
Speaker 1: which I totally understand. I've said that repeatedly. You know,
Speaker 1: I know there's some folks out there that that view
Speaker 1: it as mandatory. I don't, just because I've talked to
Speaker 1: quarterbacks and I kind of know what, you know, what
Speaker 1: they what they say about that play and what a
Speaker 1: pain in the ass it can be, and how much
Speaker 1: pounding you're taking when you get in there because guys
Speaker 1: are getting the tee off on you and taking free
Speaker 1: shots on you. So I get that part of it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think if I had a point to
Speaker 1: one thing, it's like, yeah, those on those mesh point,
Speaker 1: on those options, I'd love to see him just kind
Speaker 1: of keep it, you know, and just to get the
Speaker 1: defense on their heels a little bit more. I feel
Speaker 1: like he can he can set that tone of hey man,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna run, so you better be ready for it,
Speaker 1: and you better know that that's coming. I think you
Speaker 1: just need to set that tone early just to sort
Speaker 1: of help get the defense off kilter a little bit
Speaker 1: and have them thinking about it the whole game.
Speaker 2: That was the most surprising part of that Wildcard game.
Speaker 2: Zero rushing attempt zero from Justin Herbert. And I go
Speaker 2: back to that Christmas game when the Ravens played the Texans,
Speaker 2: and in Lamar right from the beginning, just running all
Speaker 2: over the Texans and not having that element to your
Speaker 2: offense I think certainly hurt the Chargers. So his ability
Speaker 2: and I just go back to his Rose Bowl victory
Speaker 2: and just running all over the field in that game.
Speaker 2: He's super bowl super capable of it, especially in a
Speaker 2: Greg Roman offense. So yeah, running the football I think
Speaker 2: would be a nice wrinkle more consistently in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 2: for sure. All Right, let's see here, money, let's keep
Speaker 2: this thing rolling, Angel Lira, what will be the starting
Speaker 2: O line combination in Week one of the season and
Speaker 2: what will be the starting GO line combination in week seventeen?
Speaker 2: Good question, Angel, I hope it's the same, right, you
Speaker 2: hope it's the same. I think All and Slater are
Speaker 2: pretty much locked in. I think Mackai Beckon at right
Speaker 2: guards pretty much locked in. And then we have I
Speaker 2: think a lot of competition at center and left guard,
Speaker 2: with Zion potentially moving to center. The addition Andre James Boseman,
Speaker 2: you have Trey Pipkins in the mix. Still, what do
Speaker 2: you think.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be the same, just backed
Speaker 1: in replacing Trey. To me, that's what it is because
Speaker 1: that allows Trey to be that swing, you know, to
Speaker 1: go back to tackle if needed. Hopefully he's not, but
Speaker 1: if he's needed like he did last year. You know
Speaker 1: when when Slater went down and All went to the
Speaker 1: left side and he popped up, I think he played
Speaker 1: the right tackle that day if I remember right. So
Speaker 1: I think that makes to me, that's just what it
Speaker 1: looks like. That's so why they brought Bradley Boseman back.
Speaker 1: They like him. Everybody on the team loves him. We
Speaker 1: talk about the makeup of an O line room and
Speaker 1: how important it is to have those guys connected and
Speaker 1: comfortable in chemistry. And while I know the pass protection
Speaker 1: was a bit of a struggle, especially in that Houston
Speaker 1: Texans game, with Jamari there at right guard. I think
Speaker 1: that's just the way it lines up. Even though they
Speaker 1: didn't pick up Zion's fifty year option and they've talked
Speaker 1: about trying him at center. I just he would really
Speaker 1: have the wow coach Devln and Hardwick and Greg Roman
Speaker 1: and Harbaugh to take that center spot, I think away
Speaker 1: from Bozeman because now you're moving two guys. Now you're
Speaker 1: moving Boseman to guard and or maybe you know, maybe
Speaker 1: it's Zion at center and Trey at left guy. I
Speaker 1: just don't like to me, it just makes too much
Speaker 1: sense draft capital wise, how highly they think of Zion
Speaker 1: and they're just like, man, it's just it's so close,
Speaker 1: it's so close. Can we just get it to that
Speaker 1: finish line?
Speaker 2: How close do you think the gap is between Bozeman
Speaker 2: and Andre James, who has sixty starts in the NFL too,
Speaker 2: And you know, over the last three years, actually four years,
Speaker 2: seventeen starts, fifteen starts, sixteen starts, eleven starts in Vegas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's tough because you look two years ago and
Speaker 1: I know he graded out a lot better. Last year
Speaker 1: was an abject failure for pretty much the Raiders offense. Period,
Speaker 1: So it's kind of hard to stick that on somebody.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's not a bad offensive
Speaker 1: line group. And you know, he really struggled last year,
Speaker 1: so I think that's I would be very surprised if
Speaker 1: he were able to beat Bozeman out. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: if you go out and you sign Ryan Kelly for
Speaker 1: ten million bucks, it's like, yeah, he's getting the starting job.
Speaker 1: But I think you look at Andre James and he
Speaker 1: was released by released by the Raiders, and the Chargers
Speaker 1: gave him a very low, veteran minimum level deal. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not it's not a you know, it helps to
Speaker 1: look at the money, like how much did they give him?
Speaker 1: And is it like out here, let me pull up
Speaker 1: the OTC right now he is. He is making one
Speaker 1: point one million dollars. Uh. So it's not a deal
Speaker 1: that says, oh yeah, this guy's coming in to compete
Speaker 1: for that job. I mean at one point one, let's
Speaker 1: see what's because Bradley, I think got he got a
Speaker 1: two year deal. So I'm guessing that Bradley got CANSI yeah,
Speaker 1: Bradley's he's at one two, five to five base. But
Speaker 1: so he's at he is at five million dollar cap
Speaker 1: number this year, right, that's his cap number. Andre James
Speaker 1: is one point one. What does that tell you? You
Speaker 1: know that that tells you that competitors welcome. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: that Bradley's probably ahead of the game there for for center,
Speaker 1: and I think Zion is going to play. They've got it.
Speaker 1: They've invested a first round picking him. He's had flashes
Speaker 1: of greatness and he struggled mightily. But because you have
Speaker 1: both ends of that spectrum, they're trying to get him,
Speaker 1: you know, toward that that greatness that we've seen at times.
Speaker 1: So that's just that's what I figure.
Speaker 2: We've We've addressed most of this question, but I'll just
Speaker 2: ask this one. This is from Mario. Does it worry
Speaker 2: you that we haven't fully addressed the interior offensive line,
Speaker 2: which was clearly a major issue last season. Beckton was
Speaker 2: a great signing, but that's one of three needs. Should
Speaker 2: he be out for a game, we're right back to
Speaker 2: where we started.
Speaker 1: That's fair. Yeah, I certainly think it's fair. Look that
Speaker 1: Beckton signing was fantastic. It's a huge signing. So you
Speaker 1: know you're not talking about and I thought Trey played
Speaker 1: okay last year. Look, Trey could end up if it's
Speaker 1: possible that he wins that guard spot. You know, he
Speaker 1: played okay, you know, he played all right, and that's
Speaker 1: what you needed offensive line. You just can't have bad.
Speaker 1: That's the thing. If you have bad, they're going to
Speaker 1: find it and they're going to attack it relentlessly. All
Speaker 1: you need when you have excellence great because now you
Speaker 1: can find a way to help where you don't have excellence.
Speaker 1: So you know, DJ says it all the time, as
Speaker 1: long as you know, and to use a term that
Speaker 1: he has, he's like, as long as you don't have
Speaker 1: a tomato can, you're fine. But if you have one,
Speaker 1: that's when you got a problem. If you can, you
Speaker 1: don't need to be exceptional at all five positions. You
Speaker 1: just got to be good enough. And when you have
Speaker 1: Alton Slater at the edges, you're exceptional there and that
Speaker 1: certainly helps a lot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a lot to ask, you know,
Speaker 2: Branson Taylor to come in and compete at one of
Speaker 2: those guard spots in year one, and the fact that
Speaker 2: they didn't really address interier offensive line in the draft,
Speaker 2: it makes you look at some of these free agents,
Speaker 2: and we mentioned Brandon Sheriff Shaq Mason, will Hernandez Dalton Reisner.
Speaker 2: You know there's guys out there still, But to your
Speaker 2: point earlier, are they going to come in and actually
Speaker 2: compete and beat out the guys that are currently on
Speaker 2: this roster?
Speaker 1: I just you know, I look at the combined nine
Speaker 1: million bucks between Bozeman and Zion. You know, five million
Speaker 1: for Bozeman is his cap number this year. Four point
Speaker 1: six for Zion is his cap number for this year.
Speaker 1: Like that to me, says, okay, there's your center in
Speaker 1: your guard. You know, Mackay at seven and a half million,
Speaker 1: obviously old seven and a half million, Slater at nineteen million.
Speaker 1: They're sure you know those are the top five offensive
Speaker 1: line salary numbers.
Speaker 2: Just that's what it looks like to me. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 2: let's keep it rolling. This is from Nuthouse. What a
Speaker 2: great name. QJ. Going to be better next year, Gonna
Speaker 2: be putting a role where he's going to excel. I say,
Speaker 2: his stats will suffer because there's more cooks in the kitchen,
Speaker 2: but he will look even better than last year. Raiders
Speaker 2: game was not an outlier. I tend to agree with
Speaker 2: with Nuthouse and the fact that he was I think
Speaker 2: relied upon a little bit too much last year. And
Speaker 2: with the additions of Trey Harris and Mike Williams, maybe
Speaker 2: Q can settle into a role where he kind of
Speaker 2: has a specialty role in this offense and isn't look
Speaker 2: to do maybe more than he I guess I just
Speaker 2: feel like this past year money he was asked to
Speaker 2: do maybe a little bit too much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I've said it, and it's not a slight
Speaker 1: He's just not an X. That's not what Q is.
Speaker 1: You know. Q's a Z. He's a good see, you know,
Speaker 1: and if you can get him, you know, when you
Speaker 1: have Mike, that's who I think you're starting three will be.
Speaker 1: Michael be the X, you know, Mike Williams, that'll be
Speaker 1: your slot. Q will be the Z. And considering you
Speaker 1: know Mike's age, Mike's history, You've got Trey Harris ready
Speaker 1: to take some of those reps and if something should
Speaker 1: happen to step in because Trey's an X, you know.
Speaker 1: Now the interesting one is KeAndre Lambert Smith with that
Speaker 1: four to three speed makes it interesting as a Z.
Speaker 1: Get him outside if he's able to get off press.
Speaker 1: Now you got four to three speed running down the
Speaker 1: field and that helps a lot. I mean, so I
Speaker 1: totally get and I think that's kind of where the
Speaker 1: conversation sort of comes in with how does this wide
Speaker 1: receiver room get built. I don't think there's any question
Speaker 1: with the chemistry and the production that Mike Williams and
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert have had in the past, that he's going
Speaker 1: to be your starting X, you know, no question about it.
Speaker 1: And Ladd obviously is going to be your starting slot,
Speaker 1: and Q, I think will be your starting Z. And
Speaker 1: then you look behind him, you know that Darius Davis
Speaker 1: and Trey Trey Harris and and Andre Lambert Smith are
Speaker 1: going to make the team. So they're six. Now how
Speaker 1: many wide receivers are carrying, you know, And that's where
Speaker 1: it gets kind of interesting with and Rice and you know,
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson and some of these guys that you know,
Speaker 1: you think about last year with Simmy and and dudes
Speaker 1: that we thought were on the roster bubble that made it,
Speaker 1: and you know, this year, it doesn't feel like that
Speaker 1: at all. It feels like, Okay, it's it's it's it's
Speaker 1: a pretty it's a deep room and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: you know, it's Jalen Rager. I forgot they resigned Jalen Rager.
Speaker 1: Like that's it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: tough room. It's gonna be a tough room to crack
Speaker 1: and make the fifty three good money.
Speaker 2: I always go back to Herbert's rookie season and you
Speaker 2: know we've we've mentioned the names t Billy and Jalen Guy.
Speaker 2: You wonder how Justin is going to mesh with some
Speaker 2: of these young rookies immediately. Sometimes it clicks really quickly.
Speaker 2: Look at lad last year exactly. Look at that, you
Speaker 2: know with Trey Harris, maybe he gets on the field
Speaker 2: sooner than later. You mentioned KeAndre and his speed. Uh
Speaker 2: I love I love the Gats and U pick up.
Speaker 2: You know we didn't get to do that talk about
Speaker 2: day three. Gats another kind of athletic tight end that
Speaker 2: you add to the Disley and Conkland room. And I
Speaker 2: just I am fascinated to see how Justin will kind
Speaker 2: of pick up with some of these new guys and
Speaker 2: how quickly that chemistry starts. And you know the fact
Speaker 2: that you that you had a whole season with Q
Speaker 2: in such a feature role last year. I think that
Speaker 2: will help Quentin in year three as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the other thing too about wide receiver. How
Speaker 1: often were they in thirteen? I mean it's a team
Speaker 1: that was running twelve like crazy, you know, like they
Speaker 1: I should say thirteen. How often were they in eleven?
Speaker 1: Like how often they have three receivers out there? Like
Speaker 1: this is a team that was in twelve? You know
Speaker 1: which is you know, first number backs, second number tight ends.
Speaker 1: I know all of you probably know it, but for
Speaker 1: those that don't, that's what it is. So a lot
Speaker 1: of two tight ends and I mentioned number thirteen, they
Speaker 1: ran a lot of thirteen where you know, you could
Speaker 1: argue that Matt Locke or however you want to classify him,
Speaker 1: you know, or twenty two. You know, if Tucker Fisk
Speaker 1: is playing fullback, Mattlock's playing fullback, they're running twenty two,
Speaker 1: they're running thirteen, They're running twelve like that's just what
Speaker 1: they've run. And with Gadsden, that'll be interesting right where
Speaker 1: it'll feel like thirteen. But the third tight end is
Speaker 1: lined up in the slot and he's a dude that
Speaker 1: can freak and get after it and is an athlete,
Speaker 1: and so that's there's gonna be some real cool combinations
Speaker 1: that Greg Roman's going to have to work with, you know,
Speaker 1: for this, and you think about sort of how he
Speaker 1: did it in Baltimore, you know, with all those tight
Speaker 1: ends and how effective they were, And it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: Gadsten's a It's gonna be a fun one, no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. Now. Look, he's probably not gonna get a
Speaker 1: ton of snaps because of the Conklent signing and just
Speaker 1: how good Conklin is, how he's got great hands, and
Speaker 1: he's certainly a great athletic tight end, you know, a
Speaker 1: really good athletic tight end. I think he fits perfectly
Speaker 1: with Fisk and Disley, So he's going to get the
Speaker 1: majority of those snaps, but it'll be fun to kind
Speaker 1: of sprinkle those in there from time to time.
Speaker 2: One of the fun themes of the last couple of
Speaker 2: years with Joe Ortiz, he's identified players with NFL fathers,
Speaker 2: right with Joe alt in Round one last year and
Speaker 2: and gas that I remember him as a dolphin. And
Speaker 2: our next question Mickens. Remember Ray Mickens with the Jets.
Speaker 2: I this is from Kevin Adrian. I think Nickens is
Speaker 2: the clear replacement for a low heat when his contract
Speaker 2: expires this season. I think he's going to get plenty
Speaker 2: of starting snaps his rookie year and might leap Jefferson
Speaker 2: on the depth chart. Thoughts, I think the Chargers only
Speaker 2: roster Ford safeties on their fifty three and twenty four Well, Kevin,
Speaker 2: I think it starts on special teams for mister Mickens.
Speaker 2: He's gonna have to kind of earn his way onto
Speaker 2: the field. And you know, I love the confidence and
Speaker 2: im and I think I just hearing Jesse talk about
Speaker 2: him last week, it's it sounds like it's a great
Speaker 2: signing in the sixth round, But I think it's gonna
Speaker 2: take a little time to kind of crack that depth
Speaker 2: chart in the safety room right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean you look at Mickens and you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of like a replace meant for a looie,
Speaker 1: I think he's probably better closer to the ball, you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of but he can do it all like
Speaker 1: he's but but you started with the perfect way to
Speaker 1: set the tone is this is this is a Ryan
Speaker 1: Ficken pick. You know, get me Bridges, get me Mickens.
Speaker 1: I think Canard in the fourth like these are guys
Speaker 1: that are going to be special teamers, and they're going
Speaker 1: to need to replace all these dudes you know that
Speaker 1: left and they lost. You know when you lose nickname
Speaker 1: and you're talking about one of the best special teams
Speaker 1: players in the league loss, And so like, these are
Speaker 1: the guys that he's going to have to coach up.
Speaker 1: And you know, Dean Leonard's still there, and you still
Speaker 1: have Quiet, you still have some guys, but like Chris
Speaker 1: Rump is gone, and I know he was out all
Speaker 1: last year, but he loves having that athletic d ND
Speaker 1: edge kind of player. That's probably where Canard fits in
Speaker 1: a little bit because of how he's going to be
Speaker 1: used as as sort of a DPR role as as
Speaker 1: opposed to a three down lineman. So I would assume
Speaker 1: he's going to get these They're they're hoping he can
Speaker 1: be a core four guy. So I think that's where
Speaker 1: it starts. In terms of Aloe's contract, I think it's
Speaker 1: don't don't underestimate how important he is to this team
Speaker 1: and how much this team loves him, and and you
Speaker 1: know it can't all be sizzle. Aloe's Aloe is is
Speaker 1: I like to say, you know, he's the grout. You
Speaker 1: get your focus on the tile, but you also got
Speaker 1: to have the grout to hold the tile together. And
Speaker 1: that's what Aloe is man. He just he connects, He
Speaker 1: connects things really well. He's a smart player, has a
Speaker 1: nose for the ball as tough as nails. And and
Speaker 1: so I don't think just I don't think you assume
Speaker 1: that he's just going to be gone when his contracts up.
Speaker 1: I think he's a guy that they I could totally
Speaker 1: see them, you know, unless unless Mackings flashes, you know,
Speaker 1: unless Bridges flashes. Is you know, like that's that's kind
Speaker 1: of how these things work.
Speaker 2: Aloe's one of those rare players too, who who translates
Speaker 2: to another administration.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: He he was drafted by Tom Telesco, and you would
Speaker 2: have thought that Joe Ortiz and Jim Harball drafted him
Speaker 2: as high as they think of him on the field
Speaker 2: and off the field. So I agree with you in
Speaker 2: terms of a LOHI and his impact in that secondary
Speaker 2: And and Durwin loves him, and Darwin loves playing with
Speaker 2: him because.
Speaker 1: I'm always in the right position. So it's a great
Speaker 1: safety group. I mean, it's it's one of the true
Speaker 1: strengths of this team is Molden Gilman in Durwin. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's as good as safety trio as you have
Speaker 1: anywhere in the league. So the idea that you're just
Speaker 1: going to break that up and Mickens is going to
Speaker 1: start earning some snaps, Like you're talking about breaking up
Speaker 1: a group that, if you were to rank them, is
Speaker 1: right up there at the top. It's not something I
Speaker 1: would want to see, no, But I.
Speaker 2: Like Kevin's thinking because he's he's looking at the fifth
Speaker 2: round last year with Cam harton tarhek Still and guys
Speaker 2: who are playing a lot. But uh, and it's a
Speaker 2: great one by Kevin because a Lowie gets hurt. You know.
Speaker 1: Lowe has gotten hurt, you know, and missed a game
Speaker 1: or two every year. So that's that's why it's it's
Speaker 1: certainly a great point to bring up. You've got to
Speaker 1: have some depth there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I you know, they lost Elijah in the
Speaker 2: Patriots game and that was a big blow in the
Speaker 2: playoff game. So all right, let's keep this rolling. Double
Speaker 2: M three questions. Who are your guys' top three guesses
Speaker 2: of the udfas to make the roster? Who would be
Speaker 2: your surprise cut or trade before the season starts, and
Speaker 2: who is one trade free agent signing you think the
Speaker 2: Bolts should make around this time of time of training camp,
Speaker 2: preseason as far as surprise cut trades, you know, just
Speaker 2: just looking at how a lot of these contracts are
Speaker 2: set up. Money, I don't really see unless I'm missing somebody.
Speaker 2: I don't see a player that's making like a ton
Speaker 2: of money that that we're going to be like completely
Speaker 2: shocked if they get cut or if they get traded, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't see that player on this roster, do you.
Speaker 1: I just yeah, I just would prefer not to answer that.
Speaker 1: You're talking about somebody losing their job. We're talking about
Speaker 1: somebody getting fired. So yeah, for me, that's not one
Speaker 1: I'm gonna to jump into. Just not comfortable doing it,
Speaker 1: to be honest. And I don't And I'm with you,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know who who that would be.
Speaker 1: And I just don't see I.
Speaker 2: Don't see it one of those. I don't see one
Speaker 2: of those like camp cut candidates on the on the
Speaker 2: roster right now. The we kind of talked about this
Speaker 2: in terms of a free agent signing that the Bolts
Speaker 2: should make as training camp gets closer, and I think
Speaker 2: a lot of that is kind of contingent on injuries
Speaker 2: and you know what happens in camp and in terms
Speaker 2: of adding somebody. But if you're going coming in with
Speaker 2: the clean slate, you know, I mentioned as you mentioned
Speaker 2: corner before, I don't think that really changes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and just the udfas that he talked about, you know,
Speaker 1: there's always seems like there's always one, you know, or
Speaker 1: two or something along those lines. Last year, you know,
Speaker 1: the bell of the ball was Tremon Morris brash that
Speaker 1: everyone got excited about really flashed. Just kind of going
Speaker 1: through it to me just based on you know, look,
Speaker 1: I think about what are the two positions that we
Speaker 1: talked about, right, Garmin Randolph, who's got a bunch of production,
Speaker 1: COVID guy, six year edge player, all the measurables, you know,
Speaker 1: he could flash. And then you know Nico Reid the
Speaker 1: corner out of Oregon again a ton of experience and
Speaker 1: a ton of production. And I just kind of look
Speaker 1: at that position group that and and the special teams.
Speaker 1: Like I said, Coach Ficken likes corners and he likes
Speaker 1: those super athletic edge players for special teams as well,
Speaker 1: so I think it's those two. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: people that have been asking about Raheem Sanders the running back,
Speaker 1: and I just I and look, yeah, sure, it's a
Speaker 1: team that likes to run the ball. But then I
Speaker 1: just look what's in front of them, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're talking about Najie Harris and Amari and Hampton and
Speaker 1: Hassan Haskins. Is you know, their short yardage special teams guy,
Speaker 1: he's he's a lock for the team. And you know,
Speaker 1: whatever what they asked him to do last year he
Speaker 1: was great at So is is Raheem gonna Are they
Speaker 1: gonna carry four backs?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: And a fullback like it? So I don't. And then
Speaker 1: there's you know, we've we've talked about him a bunch,
Speaker 1: Steve O. Klatt's you know guy who's played fullback, you know.
Speaker 1: And I know they love Scott Mattlock and they love
Speaker 1: his development and he's certainly turned into a heck of
Speaker 1: a player. But if you have a guy that's been
Speaker 1: a full back for a couple of years now, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a tight end full back hybrid, but he's a
Speaker 1: dude that likes to mix it up, then that's one
Speaker 1: that I could see get interesting if they're like ooh's.
Speaker 1: So those are probably the three. I think Reed, Randolph
Speaker 1: and Klotts would be the three i'd circle.
Speaker 2: I'll give you one more, Jordan Oladokin a corner from
Speaker 2: Bowling Green, and these are just kind of I know,
Speaker 2: the competition isn't the same as the sec of the
Speaker 2: Big Ten, Big twelve, but one of three quarterbacks in
Speaker 2: college football who allowed zero touchdowns number two and fewest
Speaker 2: allowed receiving yards two hund nineteen and an opposing passer
Speaker 2: rating of eighteen point four plus he took the ball
Speaker 2: away a bunch, So you never know how that competition
Speaker 2: is going to translate to the NFL. But again, I
Speaker 2: just think of that marriage of Jesse Minter and the
Speaker 2: way he's developed quarterbacks. Maybe he's the guy to watch them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, great point. They love production. Right, If you produce,
Speaker 1: it's clear you know how to play football exactly, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Alex. Do you know if je Ortiz or coach
Speaker 2: Harbaugh ever listened to Chargers weekly. I don't know. I
Speaker 2: think they probably have. They probably have better things to do,
Speaker 2: more important things to do than to listen to us.
Speaker 2: Bunny though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my answer to that is, I hope not. I'd
Speaker 1: be it'd be flattering if they did. But I think
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. If you asked me,
Speaker 1: would you rather they do or don't, I'd probably answer
Speaker 1: I'd rather they That would be my answer to that one.
Speaker 2: All right, Ferdie June your two questions, what's going on
Speaker 2: with Ezekiel Elliott? But nothing Zeke. I remember seeing Zeke
Speaker 2: in the building the day or two days before the
Speaker 2: Wildcard game, and Zeke was a signing. If they beat
Speaker 2: the Texans, maybe you play him in Kansas City. But
Speaker 2: I just don't know if he has a future on
Speaker 2: the Chargers this year.
Speaker 1: No, definitely.
Speaker 2: Should we expect to see Brendan Rice on the roster
Speaker 2: this year? And you kind of went through that, you
Speaker 2: went through all the wide series. I have him as
Speaker 2: like why receiver seven right now behind lad Trey, Mike Quintin, KeAndre,
Speaker 2: Jalen Rieger and Brendon.
Speaker 1: At that point. Yeah, I mean you look at you know,
Speaker 1: they carried six wide receivers last year. That's that's you know,
Speaker 1: I'm going let me see only go to nine nine two? Uh,
Speaker 1: they did carry seven. They had Rice, remember on the
Speaker 1: roster out of camp, so he broke camp, making it.
Speaker 1: So in September they had seven, let's go to October,
Speaker 1: they were down to six November six, December six, January five.
Speaker 1: So there that's you know, you got the two draft
Speaker 1: picks that are making it. You got Q. You know
Speaker 1: what you got Darius. And then the question comes with
Speaker 1: Darius Davis. You know, as we talked about him last year,
Speaker 1: had a couple of election plays on the field. He's
Speaker 1: got blazing speed, He's a great returner. KeAndre Lambert Smith
Speaker 1: has no special teams experience. You don't want Ladd back
Speaker 1: there returning punts and kicks and take an extra punishment already,
Speaker 1: you know beyond what he is. So to me, Darius
Speaker 1: makes it. So there's your six man, you know, Mike
Speaker 1: Trey at the X. You got Darius Davis, Lad McConkie,
Speaker 1: and your two rookies. All right, I already said Trey.
Speaker 1: So you have Trey Harris, Mike Williams, Lad McConkie, Quinton Darius.
Speaker 1: And it's my problem. Why am I so stupid? It's
Speaker 1: like I can't make this easy on myself. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1: It's Darius Davis, Lad McConkie, Tray Harris KeAndre Quinton and
Speaker 1: Mike there's I mean.
Speaker 2: I didn't even I'd even I think of Darius as
Speaker 2: like like this offensive weapon. Then I didn't even have it.
Speaker 2: So yeah, Brenda Rice would be eight.
Speaker 1: Well so you're thinking, oh, you're thinking Brendan as because right,
Speaker 1: because then you like the next group is Brendan Rice,
Speaker 1: Jalen Rager, Jalen Johnson. There's your seven eight nine, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know that's that's your seven eight nine. If you're
Speaker 1: gonna carry seven, those three guys duking it out. I
Speaker 1: just especially with the tight ends they're gonna carry. They're
Speaker 1: gonna carry four tight ends Disley, Conklin, Fisk and Gadsden,
Speaker 1: they're gonna carry four, you know.
Speaker 2: And then you I was gonna say Brendan was only
Speaker 2: active for three games last season, three offensive snaps, so yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, unfortunately doesn't really have any time on task
Speaker 2: with Justin in a game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but look, he can still jump up and win
Speaker 1: a gig, no doubt. I just feel like those those
Speaker 1: two rookies are gonna make it. And when you put
Speaker 1: those two rookies with the other four, you're at six
Speaker 1: and it's just it's it's a numbers issue, and nobody
Speaker 1: plucked him off the practice squad. So you know, if
Speaker 1: that's where he is and you get a call up
Speaker 1: and any flashes, then great, here we go.
Speaker 2: Yep, all right, a few more money laser beaming. Now
Speaker 2: that we know a boy Be has put on some weight,
Speaker 2: is there any buzz going around about what the significance
Speaker 2: of his role is going to look like? Seems like
Speaker 2: a great opportunity for him to step up. That was
Speaker 2: one of the key takeaways from the pod last week.
Speaker 2: Is a boy be put on twenty pounds after the
Speaker 2: season and you know what does coach say? Competitors welcome,
Speaker 2: you bring in hand, you bring in Jones, a lot
Speaker 2: of potential opportunity defensive tackle this upcoming year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it's wide open. You know, it's not like
Speaker 1: they signed Milt Williams or anything. You know, these are
Speaker 1: all guys that are going to be competing for that rotation.
Speaker 1: Obviously Caldwell, I would suspect Is and tier Tart are
Speaker 1: are going to be in there. But yeah, can a
Speaker 1: boy be jump ahead at Sean Hann you know Tito
Speaker 1: kind of how does that all line up? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: think it's wide open for him to get in there.
Speaker 1: And you know how much they like to rotate those guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, think back to last year, you really just
Speaker 1: kind of had Poona as you're one constant, and then
Speaker 1: after that it was sort of that rotation of Tito,
Speaker 1: of Morgan, of you know, Tuley kicking inside it put
Speaker 1: Joey kicking. It's like they rotated the heck out of
Speaker 1: that group. Tierra ended up. Remember Tier started the season
Speaker 1: just getting a couple of snats here and there, and
Speaker 1: then by the end of the season he was out
Speaker 1: there all the time. So I think a boyd B
Speaker 1: is going to be in that mix for sure. Based
Speaker 1: on what coach said.
Speaker 2: Uh the lago thanks for all the hard work this
Speaker 2: offseason fellas what was your favorite move of the offseason
Speaker 2: thus far, whether it's free agency, draft, et cetera, And
Speaker 2: who has the biggest impact for the team in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five? What are you thinking to start? I was
Speaker 2: just gonna say, o, Marion Hampton, I think that he's that.
Speaker 2: You know, for for as much as the narrative had
Speaker 2: been like, hey, let's get justin Herbert weapons, I think
Speaker 2: Omarin Hampton is going to be the biggest weapon for
Speaker 2: Justin in terms of the running game, and he reminds
Speaker 2: me of a Saquon Barkley type and that he can
Speaker 2: really carry the load in a game, and you know,
Speaker 2: he's just the total package. So between between him and
Speaker 2: I think getting a guy like Trey Harrison, I just
Speaker 2: I think that his potential the first two rounds in
Speaker 2: the draft really got me excited about the offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah I'm gonna and it's just because I was so
Speaker 1: convinced it was gonna happen and I for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: I don't know why, I couldn't have been more wrong.
Speaker 1: You didn't even get an interview. But I just think
Speaker 1: the fact that jesse Menter's back, Like I was convinced,
Speaker 1: I'm like, this guy between college and the NFL is
Speaker 1: gonna get interviewed and he's so good in the room
Speaker 1: and he's gonna get a job, And for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: it didn't line up. So I think having him back
Speaker 1: for another year after what he did last year man
Speaker 1: is is huge. I just think it is huge for
Speaker 1: this team to have that second year and that goes
Speaker 1: for coach Roman too, like just another year of continuity
Speaker 1: with both coordinators back, but just what Jesse was able
Speaker 1: to do with a number of guys on one year deals,
Speaker 1: Let's drop him in, Like think about all the just
Speaker 1: the one week of Eli Apple, the one week of
Speaker 1: Marcus made the like, how good of a job? And
Speaker 1: that's and it's beyond and I say coach Minner, but
Speaker 1: it's it's everyone right, the fact that that Clink is back,
Speaker 1: that Elston's back, that all of the Navarl Bowman are back,
Speaker 1: like all these guys are back, Chrys O'Leary the safety
Speaker 1: coach has gone, you know, Fuller's in. But like there's
Speaker 1: just continuity, man, And I think that goes a long
Speaker 1: long way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, in the defense obviously is so important to have
Speaker 2: that that continuity and that consistency because the turnaround from
Speaker 2: the year before Harball and mintser guide here to what
Speaker 2: they did in their first year was just remarkable and
Speaker 2: really a big reason why they won eleven games this year. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we talk about it the Harball, the way that they play,
Speaker 2: It was really the defense because and that's why I
Speaker 2: say Hampton and I would actually kind of plug in
Speaker 2: Naje Harrows and Mackai Beckton and that too, is that
Speaker 2: they are completely trying to remake the running game here,
Speaker 2: and you know, JK had a really good bounce back year,
Speaker 2: but collectively that running game just did not look like
Speaker 2: a Jim Harball running game if you look at his
Speaker 2: history at Michigan and his time in the NFL with
Speaker 2: the Niners. I think I mentioned earlier in the podcast,
Speaker 2: PFF gave him a grade of twenty ninth in the
Speaker 2: NFL in the running game. So when you bring in
Speaker 2: Hampton and you bring in Harris, we talked about the
Speaker 2: durability of both of those guys. Beckton a guy who
Speaker 2: was a run greater for Sakuon Barkley. That's going to
Speaker 2: help Justin Herbert. And I think that if you had
Speaker 2: something like that going into a playoff game in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five, maybe that looks a little bit different because
Speaker 2: they're going to play a different way and they're going
Speaker 2: to have two guys in the backfield that just don't
Speaker 2: miss starts. And I think that was that was the
Speaker 2: biggest thing for me, is bringing a guy like Nauji
Speaker 2: who has not missed the game in the NFL, and
Speaker 2: bringing a young guy like Hampton, who, if it wasn't
Speaker 2: for gent, would be the top running back.
Speaker 1: That's a great point. It's a great point, availability man,
Speaker 1: because we saw when guys went down it was a
Speaker 1: real struggle, especially JK. Yeah.
Speaker 2: A couple more This is from Michael. Who do you
Speaker 2: guys think the opponent will be for the Brazil game?
Speaker 2: There was some chatter about Mahomes and Chiefs will want
Speaker 2: to play in it, but I think it's the Texans
Speaker 2: that makes the most sense. I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think Pro Football Talk had a report that it
Speaker 2: could be the Chiefs potential to the Chiefs, you think
Speaker 2: it's the Chiefs. Yeah, so you so you would lose
Speaker 2: that home game in so far and then play Patrick
Speaker 2: Mahomes in Brazil? Which one.
Speaker 1: It's the way it has to be, you know, Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Chiefs always get the Chargers on a short week. We
Speaker 1: go there on a Thursday night. They never you know,
Speaker 1: It's just just the way it is. And we know that.
Speaker 1: You know Clark hunt as he's all about that, man,
Speaker 1: He's all about it. And I think if the NFL,
Speaker 1: you know, here's the Chiefs, say we'll go like great,
Speaker 1: let's go. You know that's because that's I believe that's
Speaker 1: a that's a streaming game. I think or it's a
Speaker 1: peacock game.
Speaker 2: It's a peacock game, and it's a Friday peacock game
Speaker 2: that they wanted. They want a big they want a
Speaker 2: big team next to Herbert and the Chargers for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's think about what what Goodell's
Speaker 1: I'll just just look at the look at the read
Speaker 1: the tea leaves. You know, what did Goodell say around
Speaker 1: the draft? He said, you know, we we expect to
Speaker 1: have sixteen of these games a year, and it's another
Speaker 1: revenue source where they can sell these sixteen games you buy,
Speaker 1: we're selling the international package. You get all the international games.
Speaker 1: Who wants it, and that's what they're going to do.
Speaker 1: And so this is a showcase. And to have the
Speaker 1: first one be justin Herbert Patrick Mahomes, you know, and
Speaker 1: a standalone in a market that's only four hours you know,
Speaker 1: it's only one hour ahead of New York time, four
Speaker 1: hours ahead of LA Like, yeah, we can PLoP this
Speaker 1: thing in primetime and we're rolling Man on a Friday
Speaker 1: night and let's go sell this package and make billions
Speaker 1: and billions of dollars more. I love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would prefer it be the Raiders. I think
Speaker 2: Jim Harball versus Pete Carroll Week one in Brazil, Silver
Speaker 2: and Black versus the Chargers would be fun.
Speaker 1: But yeah, just not. They need that game to cook.
Speaker 1: Look at last year it was Eagles Packers. You know,
Speaker 1: it's two playoff teams. It's gonna be too. That's why
Speaker 1: I thought maybe the Texans would make sense. But there's
Speaker 1: just not enough sizzle. I mean no, Herbert Mahomes is
Speaker 1: serious sizzle and that's what they want. You know, before
Speaker 1: the international games were here, you go, here's here's two
Speaker 1: bottom feeders whatever. And now it's just totally changed where
Speaker 1: they want big markets or really good teams with superstars
Speaker 1: and that's what that's what the international game is now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not it's not six am on the West
Speaker 2: Coast on Sunday either. This is this is the first
Speaker 2: Friday of the NFL season, So you're right, it needs
Speaker 2: to be star power last one.
Speaker 1: Where Where are we? Where are we?
Speaker 2: Where are we? This is from Jason Delgado with the
Speaker 2: tag on JK. What do you think the chances are
Speaker 2: that he'll be back? Do you agree? If he does
Speaker 2: come back, it would be our best backfield? Says LT
Speaker 2: Turner and Sprolls probably would be. But I don't know.
Speaker 2: The Melvin Gordon Austin Eckler year in twenty eighteen was
Speaker 2: pretty good. But you know, I'm happy for JK if
Speaker 2: he does come back. I do hope that he gets
Speaker 2: an opportunity to actually it'd get a little bit more
Speaker 2: playing time somewhere else, just for me professionally, you.
Speaker 1: Know, for him, I hope he doesn't come back because
Speaker 1: it would mean that he's coming back on a one
Speaker 1: point seven million dollar deal, you know, So I've got
Speaker 1: to believe someone out there is willing to flip him
Speaker 1: three or four million bucks or you know, something along
Speaker 1: those lines, based on what he showed last year. Unless
Speaker 1: the medicals are just like that, that move, that move
Speaker 1: is just rolling the dice that you can get a compick.
Speaker 1: Let's let's see if we can roll the dice and
Speaker 1: a team, you know, he clears medicals and maybe a
Speaker 1: team gets an injury early and they need it back
Speaker 1: and they sign him, you know, and he goes out
Speaker 1: and performs and now here's a compick for you. Here's
Speaker 1: a fifth, here's a fourth, here's a sixth, whatever, and
Speaker 1: that that that's just what that deal screams to me,
Speaker 1: is there's an opportunity for them because he made it
Speaker 1: through the first wave to get a compick back. That's
Speaker 1: all that was, Yep, because he's gonna get out, He's
Speaker 1: going to get an offer for more money than that.
Speaker 1: I just I've got to believe he is again.
Speaker 2: Once you get to training camp, that's when you know,
Speaker 2: especially these running backs, there's like there's I think Nick
Speaker 2: Chubb is out there. A couple of the guys are
Speaker 2: out there too right now. So sometimes injuries in mini
Speaker 2: camp and training camp will will kind of speed up
Speaker 2: that process. Anything else, money, We got Joe Ortiz next week.
Speaker 2: Schedule released next week. So to your earlier point at
Speaker 2: the beginning, Man, it never stops. We'll maybe get a
Speaker 2: brief lull in June and then back at it for
Speaker 2: an early training camp.
Speaker 1: Exactly looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: Man, cool, all right? For money, I'm Chris. This has
Speaker 2: been charges weekly