After leaving the fan base in limbo for a week, concerned that Joe Hortiz and Greg Roman may actually see Bradley Bozeman as the starting center moving froward, they make a brilliant pickup of Andre James who is an immediate favorite to win the job.
Andre James was someone that caught my eye last year when writing the 105 Contract Projections with Josh Queipo. Before he was extended by the Raiders, he was our #2 center entering free agency. The projection we had for Andre is below.
The Chargers have now added two offensive line pieces that have blocked for a 2000 scrimmage yard running back in recent years. While the center job isn’t going to be handed to Andre, his prior success in a turbulent system and young age give hope that he can not only succeed in 2025, but that the Chargers may have found a guy that can be a foundational piece of this line for years to come.
Bradley Bozeman will now likely have a two-position battle to try and break camp as a starter, one against Zion Johnson at left guard and one against Andre James at center. As discussed when the details of his deal were announced, the Chargers gave him respectable pay for a solid depth piece, with heavy playtime incentives, indicating they were intent on bringing him competition and that Bradley was willing to bet on himself.
If this team is set on acquiring blockers on the line of scrimmage that have paved the way for 2000 yard backs, the rumors of Dallas Goedert and Mark Andrew’s availability may lend a hint to where they may go shopping next.
James was clearly better under McDaniels power-heavy schemes in 2023:
With Roman running a similar scheme, I’m guessing the thought is that a 27 year old James will play more like the 2023 version (and not the 2024 version that had to play under the dumpster-fire 2024 Raider staff).
Overall, good signing. I have said this previously; the key problem with the 2024 interior OL was their inability to pick up stunts. I have to believe the coaching staff was showing them film. Johnson is supposed to be a bright guy, so my assumption is that Bozeman has a low football IQ and was unable to call protections. It’s either that, or the Chargers OL coaching is shit (or a combination of both).
James 2023 season was better than any season Bozeman’s put up at center. If he can get the protections right and play above average center, then I think Zion has an opportunity to reduce the mental breakdowns that have plagued him his entire career. Get Zion sorted (and playing like a 1st round pick) & James playing at a 2023 level, and the 2025 Chargers OL could be very good. This is the happy path, I know, but it’s March and I’m choosing to be optimistic.
The defensive staff showed that they can take below-average players with traits and get above-average play. The offensive staff did a BIT of this with Dissly and… Well Dissley was the only offensive player that elevated his game under Roman.
James has traits favorable to Romans schemes. Let’s see if this staff can elevate his play.
Not really. Compare their best seasons:
James (2023):
963 offensive snaps (380 run blocking, 583 pass blocking)
74.6 offense grade; 75.0 run blocking grade; 71.2 pass blocking grade
19 pressures allowed (4 sacks, 4 hits, 11 hurries); pass blocking efficiency 97.9%
3 penalties
Bozeman (2021, under Roman):
1125 offensive snaps (407 run blocking, 718 pass blocking)
73.6 offense grade; 71.1 run blocking grade; 73.8 pass blocking grade
21 pressures allowed (3 sacks, 3 hits, 15 hurries); pass blocking efficiency 98.2%
1 penalty
If I was forced to pick one of those seasons as being superior, I would pick Bozeman’s, and it came in Roman’s offense.
James played in McDaniels’ offense in 2022 and 2023. He easily had his career best season in 2023 but didn’t play as well in 2022. So I wouldn’t assume that it is as clear cut as you suggest (great in McDaniels’ offense, poor in other offenses).
Wouldn’t it seem like that would have been reported at some point from his previous seasons? I’m skeptical it was all Bozeman.
I admit that this is my guess. But, if not Bozeman, who’s responsible for setting protections, who’s fault was it that the interior OL continually missed stunts in 2024? It’s either Bozeman or coaching (or both). Clapp had the same problem in 2023. The dude could play at a decent level, but the OL as a whole was much worse when he was in the game.
Courtney Hall was the center of the Chargers super bowl team. Good player. Great at setting protections. I don’t want another season of watching Bozeman blocking air while a stunting lineman smashes Herbert. Whoever plays center in 2025 needs to understand how to make protections.
Point taken on Bozeman’s lone decent season. The two seasons are similar. It is important to note that:
James is 3 years younger and entering his prime
We saw Bozeman in Roman’s offense last year and it was not pretty
If I’m going to pick one of two similar players to have a rebound season, I would go with the younger player switching to a team who’s offensive schemes are more aligned with his strengths.
Are James or Bozeman the long-term center? At this point, I think it would be foolish to bank on that. Is James an upgrade? Possibly. Creating competition at center is a good move. The position still needs to be addressed in the draft.
PFF grades by year:
2024:
James: 55.6
Worst run blocking grade (50.2) of 43 centers who played at least 100 run blocking snaps
Bozeman: 61.0
2023:
James: 74.6
Bozeman: 62.2 (CAR)
2022:
James: 62.8
Bozeman: 63.1 (CAR)
2021:
James: 64.8
Bozeman: 73.6 (BAL with Roman)
It seems like a solid approach to let James and Bozeman battle for the starting center spot. If anything, it appears that Bozeman has an edge, given he has played 5 seasons for Roman and by PFF grades seems to have played better overall, though it is close.
It seems like an upgrade in the starting lineup is possible, but not a given, but at minimum this seems to provide a depth upgrade.
To Kyle’s point that Bozeman could also compete with Zion to start at LG, it is worth noting that Bozeman started at LG in Roman’s Baltimore offense in 2019 and 2020.
Not sure how easy it would be for Bozeman to try to split snaps between both positions and beat out one of the others, who will be devoted exclusively to one position.
I’m assuming this development means Hortiz was just blowing smoke when he said the team intended to try Zion at center. If true, I think that’s a good thing.
Breathing a sigh of somewhat relief about the position.
This leaves us in a good spot for the draft. We aren’t going in with any holes on the OL and we can still take an IOL if we like one available to us.
Let’s hope he returns to 2023 form