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Rumph making some noise? Better try to keep him around, Bosa already dinged up.
A little video from joint practice with the Rams.
Get healthy soon, Herbie!!!
Thanks for sharing Buck! Love to see the defense playing fast! B Rice made a really good catch on that crosser! He is having a solid camp.
Middle of the night here in Montana and my thoughts are filled with my favorite sports team of all time. I need to get a life for sure, but it is what it is. I love football and I love the Bolts. I’m pretty much in an uncomfortable sleeping position because my 6-month old Blue Heeler, Maggie, is sleeping where my legs/feet would normally be! Damn Aussies!!
I’m wrestling with the injuries piling up and especially Justin Herbert’s foot. I went into this season with great optimism that the infrastructure had changed and that long-term this franchise was finally on the right track. I believe they still are. My concern is that the short-term optimism that I could sense was building is now being tempered with the reality that this season could easily be a season with a losing record. As valiant as the effort to reload this roster has been, the reality is that Harbaugh/Hortiz started their career in LA with a full arm tied behind their back with a depleted roster and a massive cap mess.
To couple that with the loss of Herbert for most of the training camp and I’m trying to maintain my excitement, but I’m tempering that with the current reality.
- Brand new offense.
- Brand new coaching staff.
- 4th offensive scheme in 5-years.
- QB will be out for all of camp.
- Franchise QB will most likely not be 100% all season.
- Completely new RB room.
- Completely new WR room.
- Completly new TE room.
- 3/5 of the offensive line is brand new.
- 2/5 of the offensive line is playing out of their normal position.
- Backup QB is not a very good backup.
- The defense will suffer as well throughout camp because steel sharpens steel and going against Stick for weeks and weeks is far from steel.
- Razor thin position groups: IDL, CB, S, QB, & IOL.
- 5-WRs with 1-year or 0-years experience.
The prospect of this being a rough season is very real at this point. Harbaugh will get the most out of these guys, but this hill was high to start with and now it is going to be even more challenging.
Im just trying to adjust my mindset. This is a big rebuild and this team is off to some rough luck right out of the gate. 7-wins? 8-wins? At this point that may be optimistic.
@spanos-must-go not saying your wrong, but I am a bit more optimistic than you. Coaching matters & this is the best Charger coaching staff ever assembled. To your specific points:
- Brand new offense. Yes
- Brand new coaching staff. Yes, thank god. Significant upgrade
- 4th offensive scheme in 5-years. Yes
- QB will be out for all of camp. Most, maybe all of camp
- Franchise QB will most likely not be 100% all season. TBD. My experience with plantar injuries is that you can manage them. I expect Herbert to be close or at 100% in week 1.
- Completely new RB room. Yes, thank god. The ghost of Ekeler was shot last year and the lack of interest in Kelley shows how bad a back he is. This new group is an upgrade
- Completely new WR room. Not entirely true. While the receiver room may have less experience and some could argue less talent, the bottom of the 2023 receiver room was horrible, and those guys played far too much. While I think WR 1-3 has less talent (Allen, Williams, Palmer vs. Palmer, McKonkey, Chark) the bottom half is far better CJ, Rice, Davis
- Completely new TE room. Mostly true, but this is another upgrade.
- 3/5 of the offensive line is brand new. Isn’t this 2/5ths? Boseman and Alt are replacing Salyer (who moves to backup) and Clapp/Jaimes. This is an upgrade.
- 2/5 of the offensive line is playing out of their normal position. True. I am not excited to see Pipkins at guard.
- Backup QB is not a very good backup. I think Stick is an average backup. He was playing with a shit OL and shit skill position players and still managed to play respectably in 2023. Stick’s 66.5 PFF is not elite, but it’s comparable with Tyrod Taylor (71.4), Gardner Minshew (62.0), Aidan O’Connell (65.9). Interesting to note that one of the two last QBs will be starting for LVR.
- The defense will suffer as well throughout camp because steel sharpens steel and going against Stick for weeks and weeks is far from steel. TBD. I think the DL will be challenged against a very good Charger OL. I also think Minter is going to bring a swagger to the D
- Razor thin position groups: IDL, CB, S, QB, & IOL. I would argue that the IDL is neglected and probably the worst position group on the team. CB, S and IOL has respectable depth. QB has average depth, but think Duggan should be selling insurance. Hopefully the XFL dude beats him out for the PS job
- 5-WRs with 1-year or 0-years experience. There are 2 vet receivers, which (likely) means there will be 4 receivers with 0-1 years of experience.
Not gonna argue the points you raised, except to say that you could come up with a similar depression-inducing list for many or most teams at this point, if maybe not with quite as many issues.
But relax, it works both ways. If you could extrapolate the season results from the preseason landscape, the Chargers would have multiple Super Bowl trophies in the case.
I foresee a number of rookies and fringe guys stepping up into the opportunity here, and a coaching staff that can give them that chance. Ten wins.
But I’m a Chargers fan from waaaay back, so unjustified optimism is a way of lfe at this point.
@nickcoulter Not trying to have a “depression-inducing list”, just walking through the real football stuff and have a realistic take on the Chargers. If they win 7-8 games that would not be a disappointment to me based on the mess that they were left with, And if they are playing a physical brand of football that they can carry into the next season and add to. That would be a reason for optimism. I would have pegged them at 9-wins this season with all of the change, but this injury to Herbert will set them back.
I think they have a steep uphill battle in implementing another new offense and having their linchpin QB on the shelf. I am not aware of any other team that has their franchise QB on the shelf for most of the training camp. And that has this many new players to the team. Offense takes longer to jell than defense and this will no doubt set that timetable back.
@spanos-must-go I don’t think Joe Burrow was able to participate in training camp after his appendectomy. Not 100% sure. But then again, they weren’t implementing a brand new offense either. This is truly uncharted territory for Herbert & the Chargers. I trust that the mental aspect will be fine since Herbert is a brainiac. But the timing, rhythm & chemistry aspect is a major question mark heading into week 1 of the regular season. Am I concerned? Yes. Is it dire? I don’t believe so. I believe they’ll be able to work through it. Fortunately the early part of the schedule will allow them to take longer to get up to full speed. It’ll probably take at least a few weeks.
Not practicing Today/Tuesday: LB Junior Colson (Off to the side but in pads and went through team warm up for first time RB Kimani Vidal (working off to the side w/o pads) WR Ladd McConkey OL Trey Pipkins S Derwin James OLB Joey Bosa TE Hayden Hurst OL Jamaree Salyer QB Justin Herbert
From Popper Day 13 (8/7)
Not practicing: Justin Herbert, Joey Bosa, Ladd McConkey, Gus Edwards, Junior Colson, Tony Jefferson, Cam Hart, Ben Mason, Jamaree Salyer, Will Dissly, Hayden Hurst
Back today: Derwin James, Trey Pipkins and Kimani Vidal.
The Los Angeles Chargers received a welcome boost this week as rookie receiver Ladd McConkey returned to practice on Thursday, following a brief scare. After exiting early from Saturday’s practice with a limp and missing Sunday’s joint session with the Rams, McConkey’s return is a sigh of relief for both the team and fans alike.
@spanos-must-go Indeed! Happy to see him back. I’d love for him to make an appearance in tomorrow’s preseason game. I’m assuming he’ll play.
If he and Herbert stay healthy and McConkey plays in 17-games (hopefully more) I can see him catching 90-passes. I also think that Hayden Hurst can catch 75-balls if he can stay healthy as well. I think that Hurst may end up being a great signing.
From Popper today:
Not practicing: Justin Herbert, Joey Bosa, J.K. Dobbins, Bradley Bozeman, Hayden Hurst, Derius Davis, Chris Rumph, Justin Eboigbe, Andrew Farmer, Ty Shelby, Jamaree Salyer, Tony Jefferson, Simi Fehoko, Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, Jaylen Johnson, Cam Hart
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