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Greetings StormCloud!
Ryan Watkins broke down his favorite defensive targets on our latest installment of PowderKeg Podcast. I’ve also posted the slides below for your reading pleasure.
I will also be creating separate, smaller videos for each target soon, if you don’t feel like watching these long-form epsisodes.
Note – the NFL blocks the footage from being viewed outside of YouTube, so follow the link to check it out!
Hope you enjoy, let us know what you think in the comments below!
I would not spend what it would take to sign Hilton. He is exclusively a slot corner, and the Chargers have James, Still, and Taylor to man the slot. Not that I want Taylor to play much, but I expect he is going to make the team, and he is primarily a slot corner. Plus, Hilton is 31. No thanks.
IMO the Chargers need to sign a starting veteran free agent outside corner.
On the Guilty as Charged podcast, they stated that Ward said at the end of the season that he would never play in California again. Who knows if he will stick to that, but that makes me think he is not likely to sign with the Chargers.
I would absolutely love to see the Chargers sign Milton Williams. I also wouldn’t mind BJ Hill, since he is a NC State guy.
Ryan believes Deane is still more than capable on the outside for us, making a grouping of Still, Hart, Deane, and a rookie CB pretty dang solid at outside corner. Hilton’s 32, but as a rotational guy, he brings such a solid presence against the run that it’s incredibly enticing to me. I personally don’t want to chase the “elite” CB’s because we seem to have a knack for finding CB talent, so I’d prefer our top signings go to the OL and IDL.
Milton is definitely one of the top 3, must-have kinda guys for me.
@kylededi I’m a Deane fan too. Injuries limited his time, but the dude was balling in preseason. And he played really well against HOU.
But I seriously hope there’s no more Taylor in the DB room.
Agreed, I think Hilton would replace Taylor at this point.
The only think that makes me want to retain Taylor is his heads up ST play, but that’s likely more on Ficken’s coaching that should be able to be replicated
@kylededi Taylor played 353 defensive snaps last season. You would sign Hilton for $10M+ APY to replace Taylor’s role, playing fewer slot snaps than James and Still? I wouldn’t even consider that.
On the flip side, Taylor was not good on special teams last year. But, given he was better in previous seasons, IMO it makes much more sense to keep Taylor as #3 slot corner behind James and Still and sign an outside starting corner (Fulton or to replace Fulton).
Tarheeb had 197 snaps in the slot, 28 in the box.
Taylor had 311 snaps in the slot, and 22 in the box.
I don’t think saying Hilton would force DJ to play differently than he did last season has much merit. Still having over 200 snaps around the slot/box and Taylor having 333 suggests there are plenty of snaps for something that can come in and improve the position/allow Still to play outside full-time as a starter.
As we mentioned in the video above, I dont see him getting 10+M per year, and would pass at that price. We currently have him projected between 7-7.5M APY, at which price I would happily sign him to a 2 year deal.
You’d then have two elite run defending DBs on either side of the OL, which is enticing, and in plays where Taylor was an absolute liability last year, a strength.
I agree that Hart is still a question mark health-wise, but I don’t believe Minter needs a top-flight CB1 for his defense to flourish. I’d rather our big bucks be invested in the trenches, and to value-engineer the CB room.
@kylededi I don’t agree with these CB comments at all.
I like Hart’s talent, but no guarantee how much he will be able to say on the field given his concussions last season. I am optimistic, but the team has to account for the risk.
I like Still, but he has one season in the NFL. No guarantees going forward. I am optimistic, but the team has to account for the risk.
I like Leonard, but he has struggled to stay on the field and also has never been thrust into a true role that required a lot of snaps on defense. I am optimistic, but the team has to account for the risk.
Rookie CB could mean anything from 1st to 7th round, but IMO the Chargers are likely to prioritize Edge, IDL, TE, RB, WR in some order in the early rounds (and I think they should do that). They proved they can find gem CBs late with Hart and Still, but I would be hesitant to assume that another late round rookie would be enough, paired only with Hart, Still, and Leonard as the outside CBs. In fact, I wouldn’t just be hesitant, I flat don’t believe that is good enough. Hence, my rationale that they should sign a veteran starting outside CB.
As for Hilton, I will just have to disagree. Hilton is a good slot CB. He is good against the run. He is a good pass rusher. But so is James, who led the Chargers in slot snaps last season. So is Still to a lesser degree, who was second in slot snaps. Signing Hilton is not a good use of resources, unless the coaches have determined they want to move James away from playing the slot. I haven’t heard that, and why would they do that?
On top of all that, Hilton is 31 and would not likely sign a bargain contract. No. IMO this is a much bigger example of irresponsible spending than signing Adams to a $30M APY contract.
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