Answering Bolts Fans’ Biggest Questions | LA Chargers

Steven Haglund and Tyler Schoon of the Guilty as Charged podcast are bringing their insights and perspective to the LA Chargers podcast network! In this week’s episode, the hosts are answering Bolts fans’ biggest questions. They discuss safety Derwin James Jr. PFF game grade vs the Denver Broncos, what left tackle Rashawn Slater brings to the table in 2024, and their top choices for general manager for the 2024 season.

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/chargers?sub_confirmation=1
TICKETS: http://chargers.com/tickets

FOLLOW US
Facebook: http://facebook.com/chargers
Instagram: http://instagram.com/chargers
Twitter: http://twitter.com/chargers
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@chargers

#LAChargers #Chargers

Hey what is up everybody Welcome to the guilty as charge podcast presented by the Chargers podcast Network my name is Stephen and I’m the host as always and joining me is my guy Tyler Tyler what’s up man how you doing today great man how are you I’m doing fantastic it was a a

Great uh holiday obviously with with new New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day watched some great football games yesterday the rose bow and the sugar bow while were fantastic so hope everybody else had a good New Year’s uh New Year’s weekend as well uh we’re gonna have a

Bit of a New Year’s Day uh themed show today we’re gonna have some New Year’s resolution Chargers Edition um and then we also have uh received some questions from you guys our listeners and we’ll uh address those today so should be a fun

One a lot of stuff to dive into a lot of different questions draft questions coaches questions regular season offseason questions uh you guys brought it today and I’m really excited to do dive into some of these that being said Tyler and I are fans of the team just

Like you guys are we are not employees of the Chargers this is uh this show is dedicated to our opinions and ours alone they do not reflect the opinions of the Chargers organization uh we’re very grateful for this platform and uh happy to uh have uh be covering our last game

This is uh week 18 I can’t believe the end of the season is is here um it’s been obviously an up and down season for the team but it’s been a last covering the team on the Channel with you guys and we appreciate all the great support

From the Chargers as well as you guys the listeners and the comments and on social media and all that good stuff and uh it’s just a kind of a surreal feeling that the season is a few days away from wrapping up yeah it feels like just yesterday we were drafting bejon

Robinson at 21 uh did not happen he went a little bit earlier than that and everything else is different um yeah been an up and down season for sure but it’s still been fun regardless yeah always fun fun to cover the Chargers always fun to talk about stuff watch

Film you know this is we’re football junkies for a reason and excited to dive in stuff today so like I mention uh we’re going to do a bit of a New Year’s resolution theme for this episode uh we’re going to feature some stuff from the season stuff from you know this

Upcoming week against the Kansas City Chiefs you know future uh resolutions as well it’s it is that time of the year so we tried to make the content a little bit more fun today so Tyler what is your big 2024 New Year’s resolution for the Chargers the Chargers need to start

Winning the games that they need to win in the fourth quarter and get away from the quote unquote chargering that has played them for you could say years you could say decades you could say the entire franchise’s history as a team that has not won the Super Bowl you look

At the last three years under Brandon Staley and the Chargers have 12 games where they lost where they had a lead or were tied in in the fourth quarter or lost in overtime and that frankly just isn’t good enough and I don’t know exactly where the Chargers pull from to

Get over the hump and win those games but it could be from themselves from better drafting better signings or another head coach U and a new head coach that brings something different that allows them to flip the script in several of those moments so Chargers need to be better there there are many

Things individually that I’d love the Chargers to improve at of course but overall they got a win and in particular these games where they’re very very close but close doesn’t count you got to win yeah I think that’s a a good place to start this conversation um you know

Just being able to have that closers mentality we saw glimpses of it under the Brandon Staley era obviously you know I I think the the best case there is that game in Kansas City in 2021 where you know that aggressive closer mentality was was the this the staple

Leading into the week that just needs to carry out throughout the whole season like I uh obviously I watch a lot of Pack 12 Football it’s really the only college football that I I am consuming throughout the whole year consistently um and this Washington football team that’s going to play for the national

Championship next week is just incredibly impressive they have 10 straight wins of one touchdown or less like it doesn’t matter who the opponent is what kind of style the other team brings to the table like they just have a way of making plays in key situ ation

In in clutch moments whether it’s last night in the Sugar Bowl whether it’s you know in a rainstorm against ASU like there’s just a mentality that that permeates from the coaching staff to the players that allows them to make these plays in clutch moments and that’s not

Something that has been around this team and I’m hopeful that that uh changes with the with the new regime and we can see guys obviously like Justin Herbert you know more moments like that Raiders game where he was able to you know come back from the finger injury and put put

His stamp on that game or or whether it was a Derwin James interception against Darren waller or whatever the case may be like we just you know these players deserve to have more moments like that for some reason all of the closing moments that I am picturing in my head

Right now are games against the Raiders and Chiefs uh you know specifically like one game against the Chiefs but it’s a lot of Raiders games so uh just whatever happens in those games just bring it to the to the rest of the table yeah totally get it and listen that

Contributes to the division right you’re thinking of these these games because they’re the division games and you got to win those to win the division and the Chargers have struggled there of course and of course you and I were in person in that week 18 game against the Raiders

So I understand why you’re pulling from that one um so yeah got to be better there for sure I think uh my resolution for 2024 is to have the Chargers find a consistent Run game um I think there’s been far too much pressure um on Justin Herbert to carry the offense over the

Last three years um for a variety of Reason really four years if you want to go back that far um you know this is this is a team that has not been able to find that consistent you know Run game we saw glimpses of it again in 2021

Glimpses of it last year we saw 240 yards this in week one this year but it’s it’s being able to find that consistency and this is not a singling out of any one person this is you know a collective effort and Kell Moore has has preached that from the beginning it’s

All living guys like uh I watch a team like the Detroit Lions and their wide receivers block their tails off every single week and obviously they have a great offensive line and some very good backs but it doesn’t matter if everybody is not doing their jobs and I think that

Is again a change that I think needs to come to fruition you know this season has not you know that was something that was promised from Kellen Moore and Doug NM coming over and um you know the changes that were made were not sufficient obviously um but how many of

These games over the last three years do the Chargers win if they have that consistent Run game and it’s just been moments and finding that consistency for me is really a key thing in how I am looking at like these head coaching candidates how I’m looking at the GMS

How I’m looking at what they’re doing with Kell Moore now that you know he’s kind of taking on a larger role of the offense how am I looking at these players over the last few weeks and their potential role for next year going forward on our new coaching staff so um

We know that Justin Herbert is going to be a great quarterback regardless of who is coaching him it’s about how do you support that quarterback and the Run game for me has been severely lacking over the last three years and I would like to see that changed in

2024 yeah and by extension of that my other resolution just because we’re on the same track here the Chargers need to find alignment and we’ve discussed this several times between the general manager and who who they pick and the offensive coordinator and how he wants to use those players um particularly

From the jump now not every player has to be puka akua and breaking records in you know 1500 yards in his rookie season I don’t expect that but the charges have it’s been so difficult for them and if you want to talk about the Run game you

Know the running backs and the tight end in particular it’s been difficult for these guys to get going from the jump and if you look at their last nine skill position players on offense that they’ve drafted which is Joshua Kelly Joe Reed KJ Hill Josh Palmer Trey mckitty Larry

Rry Isaiah Spiller Xander horbath and Quinton Johnston those players in year one have a combined 1581 yards uh in their rookie seasons of those nine players which averages about 176 total yards um average for each of those players in their year ones which is about 10.3 yards total yards per game

These guys are not getting going from the jump uh and again not everybody has to be pukaa but these guys need to be a lot better and I think that you have to align yourselves more because I think that GM I think ton Tesco has picked good players I think that there are

Coordinators who can make it work with the players that they have these guys come together and it doesn’t amount to as much as we’d hope the Chargers have really struggled to get some of these guys going and that’s why I think you know partially why they can’t close out

These games and why the Run game isn’t going because they take players that I think when we all look at the draft we go okay yep I see that I see that that’s a good player that could work there’s some development there and then they get onto the field and again these players

Those nine players average 10.3 yards per game total and that’s just not good enough so they got to be better in that regard as well yeah I think when it comes to the draft like there’s a certain philosophy and in evaluating players and how things get done from a

Front office standpoint but at the end of the day once the once the selections are made it’s it’s on the coaching staff to figure out ways to develop these players and figureing them figure their specific roles out and allow them to become their best selves and I don’t

Like it’s an alignment thing but it’s also an execution thing and it’s you know having the right preparation for the draft it’s having the right preparation for the plan and being able to have the coaches who can execute that plan on a week- toe basis on a year-to-year basis and you know

Development is not linear obvously these players who are still on the roster can still figure things out like we’ve we’ve seen you know players across the league be able to you know have some struggles in the year one then they figure it out in year two and and that’s certainly not

Uh impossible for these young guys who are are maybe struggling right now but at the end of the day like they’re on the team it’s on the coaches at this point to figure out how to use them properly or we’re fine guys who who can you know execute that role in in a

Better fashion yeah I agree uh another resolution from you Stephen yeah I’m gonna highlight specifically this last week against the Kansas City Chiefs as the team closes out the 2023 season um this past week we saw what I think was a a very solid to you know above average performance from

Mr Jordan mcfaden getting his first career start at left guard um so my resolution for this week is to get more positive momentum from the last two draft classes is against the Chiefs on Sunday you know whether that’s a big Quenton Johnson game whether that’s been

A big tul Tui pelu game um whether that’s in Isaiah sper touchdown or or something of that matter somebody besides Jordan mcfaden I I would like to see some real positive momentum to close out the season um and be able to show whoever the incoming coaching staff and

Gmr this kind of game tape and be able to have that evaluation um to lesser extent we saw a little bit of Deion Henley on Sunday against the Broncos he according to GI Smith was dealing with a groin injury but when he was on the field there were some real positive

Moments he was a key piece in defending that quarterback sneak from Russell Wilson that that led to that stop he had another key tackle against I think it was little Jordan Humphrey um you know later on in that same drive so maybe Deion is somebody who can come in here

But my the resolution here is more positive momentum from the young players heading into 2024 I agree go anybody listening go make a Google sheet or Excel spreadsheet and just start making up the roster the projected roster for next season how many blank spaces are there how many question marks are there

On that roster trying to place these guys as you know are they starters are they even like the second you know are the backup for the team it’s very difficult to do that right now and I don’t know that one game is going to change that but like you said I’d love

For the momentum to carry into next season so you start to see okay like maybe maybe we feel better about this particular player maybe we don’t have to reach for this other player in the draft or we don’t have to you know take this position so early or spend this much

Money or whatever it is um answering those questions would be great another player that I’d love to have momentum carry into in this game and carry into next season is Derwin James who I think had a very very good game against the Broncos recently and I I know that like

We’re not big for Pro Football Focus grades necessarily we like you know different stats um we like our eyes and what we see but Derwin James that was his best PFF game grade since November of 2021 and a top five game grade for him in his entire career that is what we

Need to see against the Chiefs if possible we need to see that kind of Derwin James because while we don’t love using grades that grade kind of fit what we saw it just felt like we were seeing Derwin James again it felt like we saw

The best version of him and what he was able to do thankfully not flagged but he was flying around rushing the passer hitting very hard being very um physical and aggressive that’s the kind of stuff we were used to seeing with him that’s why we all fell in love with him in 2018

When he instantly took the league by storm and so if we can start getting back to that and if Derwin James can continue that momentum into next season you’re feeling a lot better because I do think Derwin James sticks around I do think he’s still a very very important

Piece of this defense moving forward being a really really great player again would be fantastic for this defense yeah I mean this isy this is a guy who has been you know arguably the face of the franchise you know Justin Herbert is is obviously the the franchise quarterback

But he’s not super public all the time Derwin has been that guy a lot for for this team you know and this is a guy who means so much to this locker room who has consistently been you know one of the game captains consistently has been

The tone Setter you know me and you were in training camp and there was yeah you know a bit of a defensive struggle there for a little bit and Derwin James was the one to Rally the guys and you know Asante made a play and then uh Morgan

Fox made a play and everybody rallied around Duran James um he’s been one of the best safeties in the league he’s been a proo player he’s been an all pro player I still believe that player is in there I still believe that that guy can be brought out for an entire season in

Different circumstances I do truly believe that and I think we saw glimpses of that on Sunday against the Broncos I would love to see that continue um you know maybe he gets that interception that he missed this past week maybe he gets that on Sunday um I I still think that he can

Be a game-changing presence and we’re seeing the value of a uh of a player like him in the Ravens with Kyle Hamilton um and Derman James is a significantly better athlete like objectively you know numbers wise is a much better athlete than C Hamilton was

So there’s still a place in the NFL for Derwin James I think people are being a little too harsh probably far too harsh on Derwin James this season and I I still think that with the right defensive coordinator or head coach who calls plays on defense can get Derwin

Back to the player that we’re used to seeing because I think we’ve seen glimpses of him this season it’s just you know I think there’s been too much on his plate I think that the penalties maybe there’s an injury I don’t know but I still believe in Duron James I think

That he has a big 2024 in store for for this Chargers team yeah I I would agree Derwin James is too good I think to have I don’t want to say the same kind of season because that means it sounds like it was a really terrible season it was

Not it just wasn’t the Derwin James season it wasn’t you know what we’ve become accustomed to but they’re going to have to lean on him quite a bit next season because as it currently stands they’re going to need at least another outside corner a slot Corner one of the

Other safeties potentially another you know depth Corner another depth safety like they’re going to have to rely on James so much because he is that guy he is that veteran he is the high paid guy he is the star on defense um they might not ask him to do as much but they’re

Still going to rely on him to be out there and be that presence and hopefully he can kind of have the same kind of season that khil Mack is having where he just is that guy out there and driving this defense forward yeah 100% um my last one here this is kind of

A resolution but also kind of a wish I guess um and that’s a healthy season for ran Slater in 2024 because a healthy ran Slater is arguably the best left tackle in the sport and I think we’ve seen him be significantly healthier over the last six weeks of the Season specifically um

Duke Manny weather uh said online a few weeks ago that he was dealing with a double high ankle sprain which sounds incredibly painful to me I can’t imagine playing a football game consistently every single week on a high ankle sprain let alone a double high ankle sprain

Whatever that means I’m not a medical expert that being said I can see with my eyes quality offensive line play I can look at the numbers and see quality offensive line play and that’s what ran Slater has been giving this team you look at his first three weeks of the

Season he was consistently again being graded objectively depending on how you feel about PFF uh he was consistently being graded in the high 80s which which is Elite grades for an offensive tackle he allowed three pressures total in the first three weeks and then that’s kind

Of when the injury happened uh you know after the Minnesota Vikings game and we saw some some off play there you know there was an eight pressure game against the Jets there was six against the Dallas Cowboys but over the last few weeks you know going back to the

Patriots game you’re looking at one pressure allowed there one pressure allowed against the the in the first Broncos game two against the Raiders zero against the bills and one this past week uh against the Denver Broncos and the grades and the pressure numbers the film is all lining up to the player that

We know that rwn Slater can be um this is a guy who was a second Team all proo as a rookie after not playing in 2020 his final year at Northwestern this is a guy who is arguably one of the highest ceiling left tackles in the league and I

Want to see that guy fully healthy again man because when he’s been out there for the Chargers it’s just been incredibly high in tackle play and uh you know the team obviously missed that really severely last year as well when he was dealing with the high ankle spraying

This year so uh again kind of a resolution kind of a hope but rashan Slater I hope has a healthy 2024 that would be amazing man ran Slater is fantastic it double high ankle sprain so I believe I talk to Jameson and he said

That was just one in each leg so not not a double on one leg but like two legs High sprain awful awful awful thing to be playing with in addition to the back the neck recovering sort of from the bicep from the previous year so much

Stuff to have to to go through and to be able to play through all that is incredible um I can’t do a single thing against Michael Parsons if my life depended on it I can’t imagine with a double high ankle sprain at multiple injuries granted I’m I’m not exactly as

Talented as ran Slater either I I hope he’s healthy because he is fantastic and you and I had the argument that he was in terms of where he ranked relative to his peers the best player on the team not the MVP right that is Justin Herbert until it’s no longer Justin Herbert but

In terms of who is the best at their position okay well maybe now it’s Cameron Dicker but ran Slater is certainly one of those guys I want ran Slater to do well because it is just different when he is healthy when he is excellent because he is excellent yeah

There are people out there like talking about the offseason decisions for the Chargers and like oh they have a hard decision on ran Slater no they don’t extend him give him a blank check I’m I cut you off do not talk about right tackle movement for ran Slater you have

An all pro left tackle leave them there it’s working great yeah yeah big fans of ran Slater over here hopefully he can uh stay healthy next year and uh prove everybody right so uh Tyler any other uh resolutions you want to get to before we get to some of these questions I just

Health for the whole team then everybody’s healthy everybody’s perfectly healthy let’s do that yeah I think you can make the same thing I just said about ran about Justin Herbert no more rib injuries no more finger injuries yes healthy 2024 please I agree all right uh we’ll take a quick break

Here and then we’ll come back to uh dive into some of these questions hey guys VIP ticket packages for the first ever Super Bowl in Las Vegas are now on sale and only on location offers all inclusive experiences worthy of the entertainment capital of the world ticket packages boast an array of

Offerings such as premium seating to the game epic pregame parties with headline Talent NFL legend appearances premium drinks and fair and much more visit nflonlocation tocom or search NFL onlocation today your football experience of a lifetime awaits only with on location all right Tyler again some of these questions are fantastic really

Excited to to jump into them appreciate everybody who sent these questions um you know we’re obviously not able to get to all of them that you guys sent in um we’ll do our best to make sure we provide an answer on social media but um we’ll get to some of them as possible

There’s a lot of draft questions in here uh obviously understandable that the fan base is kind of pivoted to to that area right now me and you have started watching prospects and it’s been a lot of fun to dive into so first question here from Jay webin OC he said based on

The current projected draft order how many quarterbacks taken are taken in front of the Chargers at six again that could certainly change um and then based on that a answer who do you think the Chargers uh could take in the draft um so for those who are are kind of not

Paying attention I think it’s safe to say at least two Kayla Williams and Drake May uh are really solidified they’re potentially one and two overall Tyler do you think there’s a chance that maybe one of these other quarterbacks could sneak into uh the draft ahead of the Chargers at

Six yeah definitely so whoever trades up with the Bears at one that’s going to be whoever that quarterback is and maybe it’s someone already ahead of the Chargers let’s say it’s New England or the Bears at one what’s that or the Bears stay at one or the well I I don’t

I think they’re set with Justin Fields um I think unless they want to take Marvin Harris Jr first overall which I guess I would get um regardless I think someone ends up trading up I think they trade out um two quarterbacks for sure and I think it ends up being three

Because you have Washington New England the Giants and then you potentially could have another team jump in front of those other teams or try to move up to take a quarterback so I think three quarterbacks go ahead of the Chargers whether they are graded as being players that should go

Top five you know that doesn’t it’s not always necessarily the case it’s the quarterback thing you could have a second round hopefully if you trade up you don’t have a second round great on this quarterback but some of these quarterbacks may not be great but you

Got to trade up for one because it’s quarterback so I think three go and I think Marvin Harrison Jr obviously goes before the Chargers um probably to Arizona if they’re sticking with Kyler Murray which it seems like then that’s if if the P if the if the Cardinals are

In front of the Chargers they’re taking Marvin Harrison Jr and like you said I guess the Bears could stay put and take him as well so unfortunately that’s not happening I really do think it comes down to the two skill position players in Brock Bowers and Malik neighbors as

Long as those guys you know are healthy everything checks out they interview well combine’s all good those guys should be top sevenish picks in this draft they are the Blue Chip Bonafide great players that you can take nothing is a sure bet but if you’re going to bet

On anybody those two players are ones to bet on and I I do do think until proven otherwise I really do think Brock Bowers is the pick and I could tell you that now on January 2nd and as long as things don’t change in terms of draft order

That’s probably their pick in a few months because they desperately need a tight end they desperately they don’t have one really going into next season and he’s a great gosh darn player and when there’s a great gosh Dar player in front of you you take him some guys are

Just different Brock Bowers is like I don’t know where he’s going to grade out for you but he’s like a pan some prospects are just really really great and I know there’s some position value worry there so sure it’s not a tacle like pan but there’s Brock Bowers and

Then everybody else and I think I I think it’s going to be him the Chargers desperately need another tight end so it’s the easy answer it’s the safe answer but I also think it’s the right one yeah uh I I love Brock Bowers I love Malik neighbors both of those guys are

Are fantastic prospects um quickly on the quar back thing I do agree that it’ll be three um there’s a lot of momentum around Jaden Daniels uh being a potential top five draft pick um again maybe that doesn’t equate to him being you know the fifth highest graded

Prospect across the board but we’ve seen this year like how hard it is to find a quarterback like these teams are gonna you know there’s always quarterback overdraft um if the class is good enough and this quarterback class is is good enough in my opinion um after last night

There’s a lot of Michael penck talk um there’s definitely some questionable medical history there um he’s also going to be 24 at the start of next season before the Chargers I think on penck is a little bit much for me um you know based on on those two things um but

Jaden Daniels I think his ability as a runner his growth as a passer um he’s also older but I I think his his ceiling is continuing to point up I think penx you’re a little bit worried about how far his ceiling can get because of the the injury history so I think Jaden

Daniels is at is in play in the top six maybe that equates to the Chargers potentially trading down and somebody you know taking Jaden Daniels there that would be fantastic um so I think ultimately it’ll be three quarterbacks it’ll be Marvin Harrison Jr for sure off the board before the Chargers pick so

That puts the Chargers in a great spot maybe again you can take uh you know Brock Bowers Malik neighbors it’d be a great selection maybe you convince one of these teams to trade up for one of the offensive tackles I know that there’s a lot of people who want the

Chargers to take an offensive tackle uh I happen to really like Olu fashanu and JC leam from Penn State and Alabama respectively um so I think the Chargers are in a great spot my thinking into the draft though is that you take the highest end player at their position and

You figure everything else out that to me is Brock Bowers Brock Bowers is to me the best Prospect in this class and uh outside of Marvin Harrison Jr so if Marvin Harrison Jr’s on the board you take him if not it’s Brock Powers all day every day for me and I know that

There’s position concerns but if we could go back and redo the draft class how high is Sam laap Porter going how high is Dalton G going and nobody’s gonna pivot to well draft value equates that their second round picks you know it’s it’s the production it’s the

Prospect and I think you know there’s there’s justification for Brock Bowers going that high I think he the best Prospect not Nam Marvin Harrison Jr in this 2024 draft class yeah I agree go take the players that make the rest of college football look like children go

Take them those a good players sometimes yeah yeah um okay this is a good question as well from sylvestre uh if the draft were today what’s bigger the need on defense or the need on offense this is kind of taking out where the Chargers are picking here um what do the Chargers

Need more of where do they need more help at what’s your answer there Tyler so this surprised me because I thought I was going One Direction I believe that their number one need in terms of which specific position is the most empty right now is corner or I guess defensive

Back that’s not even really a question to me but I actually think overall if you have seven picks I think the offense actually needs more help I think there’s more issues in terms of holes on the roster on offense than there are on defense and I think that Cory Lindley

That situation did not help them and becoming going from All Pro to we are not even sure right now at this current point in time I’m not sure that changes a bit the running backs you know you go one two three four technically and they all are either gone next year or haven’t

Worked out so far that changes quite a bit so you might need a tight end one a tight end two or rb1 an rb2 A Center a swing tackle potentially another receiver I mean there’s a lot for the charg just have to fill here all of a

Sudden and so while I think that corner is the most obvious need for the Chargers I don’t think it necessarily means that defense overall needs the most help in the draft yeah I I think that’s fair I think we’re projecting obviously a lot of roster turnover with this these free

Agency moves and and there’s going to be some decisions that have to be made I think that you could make a real argument that pass rush in general could be the biggest need that the Chargers have um Tuli obviously is going to be on the roster I think Morgan Fox is going

To be on the roster um he’s still under contract and and there’s really no point in moving off of him because that doesn’t benefit them um I think khil Mack or Joey Bosa one of them will still be on the roster but at the end of the

Day like this is a league that is is really morphing into like you need four high-end pass rushers or at least three and one other guy who can contribute at a high level at an efficient level and when the Chargers had Joey Bosa healthy khil Tuli and Morgan Fox that was that

Was their best pass rush performances obviously Joey gets injured and then things change and Tuli has kind of slowed down a bit recently he’s still impacting the run at a very high level but as a pass rusher it’s been it’s been a bit tougher for him over the last few weeks

So due to the uncertainty there I would almost lean towards pass rusher being that much of a draft need um this is not necessarily it doesn’t sound like a great quarterback class um but there’s a great pass rushing defensive tackle in this class Johnny Newton from uh

Illinois there’s Leu latu for the edge rusher from UCLA there’s Jared verse from Florida State like if you’re talking about pure draft need I think quarterback is the big biggest position need but based off of where they’re potentially taking in the draft I think you could make a real AR argument that

It’s pass rush that’s a good point I definitely think that defensive tackle is a position that chargers chargers fans aren’t really talking about as much that needs to be addressed and I think when you move on from Sebastian Joseph day that really heightens the need for another defensive tackle in this class

So all the more reason to trade back because that second round range especially I feel like the last couple of years has yielded some really strong defensive tackles in the draft and I think the charers need to take advantage of that but you also need a center you

Also need a corner so yeah trading back would be good and defensive tackle I think is something they they definitely need to look into they could do it in round one newton is awesome and I totally get it but round two round three definitely got to go find somebody else

There too yeah there’s some uh some great defensive tackle play on display yesterday for Michigan and Texas uh especially if you watch those two games um all right we had some similar questions there about those topics from Kurt as well as swipa um and Bartholomew W so we’ll uh you we appreciate you

Guys’ questions but hopefully we we answer them in some aspect there um let’s get to some coaching questions here Tyler um Bill bohart asking I’m not sure if you have already covered this and I missed the podcast episode but hypothetically let’s say Jim Harbaugh stays at Michigan um do you then pick a

GM first and allow him to control the hiring process so there’s a lot of questions out there like this I just wanted to use uh bills question specifically to talk about this the Chargers have said that they’re going to do both at the same time and then

Whoever is kind of like the best candidate like they’ll let that person pick the one or the other basically um but Tyler if michig if Jim Harbaugh stays at Michigan um what are your thoughts here about pivoting first to the GM I believe that especially in terms of

The demand there’s only one GM candidate you absolutely have to go do first uh and that is Adam Peters and if if that is your number one and I think it it seems like unanimously around you know people who the media personalities and people who discuss this and um even

Among fans Adam Peters is the number one candidate out there I think that’s the guy you got to go get first if you do not get him then I do not believe it really matters which order you go I think Adam Peters is the only person you

Go out and you go get first and figure out the rest later if Jim Harbaugh does not go to the Chargers yeah I would agree with that um Adam Peters the assistant general manager for the San Francisco 49ers for those uh who don’t know um he’s he’s consistently the number one option from

A GM standpoint um Ben standig from the athletic had you know a great article covering the commander side of things but great a lot of great information about the candidates overall and Adam Peters had like this huge blurb of like six or seven paragraphs and every other

One was like one or two um you know there was another survey from the athletic back in September and Adam Peters was the only assistant general manager to get mentioned by agents that were surveyed to be one of the top talent evaluators everybody else was actual like GM candidates uh so Adam

Peters has a lot of fans around the league a lot of poll around the league so I do tend to agree like if your if your pecking order so to speak is you know Harbaugh’s the top candidate for the head coaching side he’s off the

Board if you want to Pivot to to Adam Peters at that point I’m okay with that but like Tyler said I I feel great about like eight candidates from a GM side of things I think there are such a quality pool to pull from you know from the

Personnel side of things and there’s not as many openings I think we’re gonna see three maybe four GM openings there could be six seven eight head coaching openings so um and there’s not eight head coaching candidates I think uh right now so that that I think there’s a

Much deeper pool at GM where you could be a little bit more patient there and then of course if you do hire a coach who’s tied to a certain GM candidate maybe you want to go that route um so I think I agree I’m I’m cool being a

Little bit more patient on the GM front yeah I that’s a good point to bring up actually because we’ve discussed that that especially on offense there’s not a huge pull of of head coaches to pull from there’s really nobody out there as as far as we can

Tell we haven’t seen what happens at the end of the year when when some other teams make some pretty significant changes at head coach so yeah that could change things but for right now yeah there isn’t a ton out there uh so I guess yeah I could see head coach being

Solidified if you want I I think Ben Johnson seems to be the the hottest name in terms of offensive minded offensive I guess not counting Harbaugh offensive side of the football so maybe you have to go get him first but I think that Adam Peters is the only one you really

Have to go out and actually get 100% first because everybody’s going to want him yeah a certain owner in Carolina very much wants to hire Ben Johnson so that’s been very well documented um he was delivered a very large fine today um so that’s going to be a very interesting

Thing to watch over there um all right next question here uh sticking in the coach realm here Ryan kenzinger you guys think there’s any possibility Kell Moore is back as the play caller next season and would you be happy with that what do you think there Tyler yeah I I think

There’s a chance he’s back next year I think that one just Herbert does very much so like him and I I think I would understand the Chargers looking at what happened the first few weeks of the season and going like that was the plan this this could have been something yeah

This could have been the team that threw for 450 yards had four touchdowns against the Vikings and Justin Herbert up until that point the best game of his career in my opinion you know the team that dropped 34 on the Dolphins I think that the Chargers could look at that and

Go we need to go with that and they probably looking at what Shane styken is doing going man what if we had one more year now we don’t know Shane Sten in Philly I think grows more than Shane Sten if the Chargers kept everything the same so it’s not a perfect match there

But I think you look at what he’s doing go maybe one more year so if if the Chargers believe that kellmore can bring them what they did the first three weeks and Justin Herbert really likes him which I believe he does and by the way like Justin Herbert was improving I

Think it was his best season until it wasn’t um with all the certain injuries and whatnot but what he was able to do at the line of scrimmage yeah what he did against the Lions we have not seen that you know what he against the Packers one of his best games um you

Know him calling things the line of scrimmage making audibles that’s very different so in terms of Keane and Allen of course and Justin Herbert yeah I think Kell Moore could stick around because he made those players really really good ah made them good sounds mean sounds like the other guys

Shouldn’t get enough credit um they all worked really well together and so I could understand them keeping him around so I would I would totally understand why yeah I think the the vision of the offense feels incomplete because of all the injuries but when it was complete it

Was a ton of fun to watch it was an objectively top three unit in points EPA per play success rate all that stuff um and like you mentioned it really felt like Justin was taking that next step and then all the injuries kind of der the season so I think from an ownership

Standpoint you know they came out and said you know Justin Herbert is our number one priority in like supporting him well if he feels like Kell Moore is his best chance at staying supported there’s absolutely a chance that Kell Moore can stick around and there are definitely some things that I think I

Would like to see changed if Kell War uh does stick around from like schematic standpoint as well as Personnel usage and things like that but it’s really tough for me to say you know what this the future of kellen’s status is without knowing Who the head coach is because if

You hire somebody who’s an offensive coach maybe their offensive philosophies Clash if you hire a defensive coach maybe that makes kellen’s job a little bit safer you know you look at what the Miami Dolphins did when the har and Mike McDaniel they still kept the same defensive coordinator because it was

Kind of viewed as like well Mike can fix the offense somebody that’s been in the building can stay with the defense and kind of keep things running and I think that could be a possibility in for the Chargers depending on who they hire as as the head coach um you know Kell Moore

Still has a lot of fans around the league uh it was reported a few weeks ago that the Panthers would still be interested in interviewing him for their opening so we’ll see but at the end of the day if Justin Herbert wants Kore to stick around I think that has

Significant pull this time around yeah I would agree I wish we got eight games of Kell Moore in that offense because we’ feel a lot differently we’d see what it looked like for half of a season and then injuries pile up of course but yeah I wish we got more time with that

Offense to really see what they could bring for more than just three yeah I agree there all right next question here uh kind of Shifting Gears a little bit um ride or die Chargers asked how do the Chargers go about upgrading their secondary how deep is this year’s free agency and draft

Classes for Corners specifically is his uh second question there what do you think Tyler yeah so it seems like to me especially after watching I haven’t watched the Iowa corner but watching three of the four top corners in this class class it feels I don’t mean this

As a knock but it feels like last year’s wide receiver class where the depth is probably going to be very strong and there’s some good guys you can get end of round one into round two Etc but maybe you don’t have to take one super early maybe you could wait and there’s

No real like number one guy there’s no Gonzalez there’s no Witherspoon there’s no joy Porter Jr not that those guys you know like mckinstry and Wiggins can’t be you know really good corners and aren’t really good prospects they are I just think that those guys were like top

Seven players in their class I think for me they were top six on my draft board not that anybody cares but for what it’s worth I really did like those guys I think this corner class um I didn’t watch mckinstry specifically yesterday so maybe that changes but I think you

Can wait a bit um the Chargers need to go get some veteran presence some sort of stop Gap in free agency that it’s tough to find a good veteran that’s also cheap in free agency because those guys are going to be more expensive but got to find some veteran presence out there

I think in free agency um to start opposite assalto s Jr yeah I think if you’re expanding this a secondary I think the one place I would start is bringing back alohi Gilman and maintaining some continuity at the safety position um Jaylen Hawkins has looked pretty good U you know as the

Safety three so I think that’s something you can uh continue to invest resources in obviously you’re not handing jobs out by any means but you know you can probably solve the safety position a little bit easier if you keep alohi around and then you can really devote more resources to the quarterback

Position um you know like Tyler said I I do kind of agree that this is probably a deeper class more than a high-end cornerback class um you know I I was a big fan of Nate Wiggins of Clemson relative to this class but I don’t think

He’s you know in that same kind of range as the guys that Tyler mentioned as a guy like s Gardner or JC horn but he’s a good player he’s a first round Corner if you trade down to 12 and you take Nate Wiggins I think that’s that’s fine I I

Think that’s a a fine selection there but at six at seven I think that’s probably a little bit too early for the quarterback group um so you’re probably talking about a second round pick you’re probably talking about maybe a third round pick depending on you know the center position depending on wide

Receiver tight end whatever the case may be pass rusher um there’s a lot of question marks obviously surrounding this roster so I think this is a quarterback room that you can definitely add to on day two of the draft and I think you could look at maybe what the

Lions did with their secondary group this year where you’re adding just a bunch of solid veterans and then you you drop in a second round pick a top 50 selection wherever that is and I think you feel better about that room maybe Dean Leonard kind of takes a step

Forward maybe just Taylor continues to take take a step forward eing bass’s played well over the last few weeks so I think you just you add as many pieces as you can you let them sort it out in training camp and you drop in a top 50

Pick and and uh kind of go from there for the secondary as a whole yep all we need is the NFL to let a Brian Branch type player drop all the way to the second round and we’re good to go somebody that that I would been very

Happy if the Chargers had taken at 21 not to say that Quinton isn’t that guy but um Tyler any of these other uh questions that we compiled stand out to you were running a little short on time so maybe one or two more um sure I can find one let’s see

Um from Darren more of an X is another question I’m curious because I don’t keep track necessarily and it’s been harder to pay attention the last few weeks um is it just me or are there no design RB screenplays in Kelly Mor’s cookbook can’t remember the last time

The Chargers ran one for Eckler have those been missing it’s more of a asking you question If you happen to to know I guess we could have dialed up Argin and phoned a friend here to see how many screens the Chargers have actually run um but even outside of RB screens it

Feels like the Chargers have run fewer screens in general tends to be more like I we were frustrated that Quinton Johnson was not getting the 10 screens that they would run every week to start the season to Mike Williams to Josh Palmer to Keenan Allen to Gerald Everett

So I feel like overall that’s that’s gone away but I could be wrong yeah so according to Pro Football Focus uh Austin Eckler has uh 31 targets behind the line of scrimmage obviously not all of those are going to be screens but that’s a a decent amount for him obviously the

Checkdowns things like that I I think that they’re they’re a part of the Playbook I would like to see more of them especially with e stick around I would like to see more screens for Darius Davis I do agree that that’s a part of the Playbook that I would like to see

Increased I love when kellmore does run a screen we’ve seen terce Davis have huge plays off of the screens we’ve seen Austin Eckler have big plays off of the scen screens when they’re there and when they’re called I think they’re fantastic plays and they’re very well designed and

Executed for the most part um but I do agree I think there needs to be a a greater emphasis going forward yes for one game for one game and then if Kell’s back next year for next season yep all right did you have another one

There that you wanted to hit on oh I get to do another one okay so who are some of your favorite this is from McKenzie by the way who are some of your favorite coordinator candidates so of course it slightly depends on who the head coach

Is but who are some of the names that keep popping up in your mind that we’ve discussed before Etc to help round out this staff yeah I think uh when you’re looking at coordinator names I think my my eye is kind of drawn towards you know like quarterbacks coaches as well as

Like defensive line coaches we’ve talked a few and I’ll let you hit on some of the defensive line guys but um from a a offensive standpoint um I’m super intrigued by Gerard Johnson the quarterback’s coach in Houston um the Chargers interviewed him for the offensive coordinator position last year

Um and he’s only added to his resume working with uh CJ strout in Houston as well as getting a positive game out of positive two game stretch out of Case Keenum uh so that’s somebody that I’m I’m super interested in as a potential offensive coordinator candidate obviously Bobby slowick is is a

Potential head coaching candidate that pairing would do very well for me um you know I think there are some other ones too but I’ll let you h on some of the defensive guys that we’ve talked a bit about um specifically the uh gentleman in Tennessee oh goodness yes that’s my

Uh coordinator crush is Terell Williams from Tennessee the assistant head coach defensive line coach for the Titans even got to be the head coach for a game in the preseason against I believe the Bears this past year excellent def defensive line ties to khil Mack from

Los Angeles would love him there um as far as offense goes Tanner angstron the Lions pass game coordinator I brought him up last year as a potential OC option I think again like many others he’s only built his resume with another really good year Chris kerak of course

The 49ers defensive line coach that’s a pretty popular one a lot of ties to um the 49ers including one Adam Peters Cowboy secondary coach and pass game coordinator Joe wit Jr he’d be great great and then I think with so many ties to this guy and with so many potential

First year head coaches I think dolphin’s QB coach and past game coordinator Daryl Beville with his experience would be a good person to lean on we’ve talked about these guys quite a bit you’re more than welcome to go back to our Channel and watch our big four episode and other rankings and such

Yeah those guys really stick out to me but there there’s there’s plenty of good options yeah I think uh also on the defensive side uh Al Harris the secondary coach in Dallas is is going to be a hot commodity he’s somebody who’s who’s done awesome work there from a

Secondary perspective um sounds like he’s going to be sounds like some of these head coaches that were potential like DC OC options or a lot of them are potentially keeping their jobs so we’ll we’ll see what happens there um speaking of defensive line coaches we we brought

Him up on our show again Tyler mentioned it you can check him out but jock cesair former charger uh is building a very positive coaching career down there in Houston right now as the defensive line coach will Anderson uh is doing some great things down there as a pass rusher um I forget

His first name Collins the the defensive tackle I think Malik yeah Malik Collins um you know so joyir has been kind of a budding defensive line coach I love the idea of getting a defensive line coach as a coordinator because it just you know adds that emphasis up front in the

Trenches um Terell Williams would be a great option uh jacqu shizar as well fits that mold and I think it just be really cool as to get you know a former charger who’s in coaching in the NFL uh would be cool to see him brought back to

Coach the Chargers in some some capacity yes the Chargers fans are definitely claming for a former Chargers player to be a coordinator for the Chargers um but C for the the defense will be just fine yeah 100% all right I think that’ll do it for us today Tyler any final thoughts before

We head out uh nope man just uh Happy New Year Happy New Year to all you guys continue to follow us like subscribe comment say good things say bad things whatever comments always help the channel grow so we’ll take anything you got yeah 100% uh and sincerely I do

Appreciate all the great work from the Chargers and their production team Eddie and Greg specifically have worked uh wonders with us all season long producing the show we are super appreciative of their their work and Megan and everybody on the social team putting out our content it’s been a a

True treat to cover this season obviously we wish there were more wins uh but it’s been a fun of fun working with the best production team in the league and I sincerely mean that so appreciate all you guys for listening appreciate you guys for supporting like

Tyler said uh check us out on our own channel as well um we do appreciate all the support over there uh as always uh we’ll see you at this time next week as always B Up