My thoughts are that we as fans are not as dumb as coaches and people who cover the NFL think. While we may not be "professionals" in that area, I think a good portion of the die hard fans really know the team and the league and can tell, for the most part, who can play and who can't. For years we have said that Stick should have been cut, only to watch him sign contract after contract keeping him around. Many figured it was just Telesco being stubborn keeping his guy, yet he came back again under H&H. Maybe this is because there were to many holes to fill, or Herbert lobbied for him, or to keep continuity somewhat with Day, but whatever the reason it was a mistake. The guy had an extended look in real games last year against real starters and showed he is not even a capable enough backup to come in for a few games and keep the team competitive and maybe grind out a win or two if Herbert was out for a short period. For me, that was the final nail. IMO, what Herbert needs is a vet QB to mentor him and be a calming force and has enough talent to keep the team afloat in Herbert's absence. Someone like Flacco, Hoyer or Brissett fit the bill. We also clamored for more OT depth in FA and we were gifted Leatherwood. Touted as a "turning over every stone to find value" type of move. I said it at the time that it was dumb. The guy was mistakenly a first round pick a few seasons back, if he could play at all he wouldn't be under a rock somewhere to be found. We all called for C to be addressed also, and while the Bozeman signing was a nice start (even though 3yr/18M is a little rich) it should have went further either in the draft or FA at the very least, to create some competition for Jaimes with, you know, maybe an actual guy that plays Center or at the very least has some experience as a flex G/C. We got Leatherwood for 1yr/$985k. At the time we still had decent cap space. Don't you think we would have been better off passing on him and signing Cody Whitehair and Elijah Wilkinson for 4.5 total to give us way better depth along the entire line for only 3.5 mil more? Now, to no one's surprise, Leatherwood got treated like a hand puppet by fringe roster guys and Jaimes still has no clue who to block. Now, we are left to scour the waiver wire during cut downs for some help at QB and the OL, and unless they plan on being flexible to shuffle around Salyer or Pipkins out to OT if we have an injury there, we better pray that Slater or Alt don't miss any significant time and that Herbert is able to play all 17 games. Look, I know it's not the Madden video game where you have a stud at every position and nobody gets hurt, but you don't always have to try to outsmart everyone by filling in quality depth with dumpster dives. Sometimes those reserve spots require a little more cash to guarantee quality. BTW, we still have 20M in space, so these moves could have been made and we would still have $$ left over.

From PFF on Preseason Week #1

Pick No. 5: Los Angeles Chargers: T Joe Alt

Overall Preseason Grade: 66.3 (Rank: 5/34)
Principal Opponent: Mike Morris
Preseason Week 1 Snaps: 21
Preseason Week 1 Grade: 66.3

Alt had a mediocre debut against the Seahawks. He allowed an early pressure to Uchenna Nwosu that caused an incompletion. He was also beaten inside one on occasion by Derick Hall, though that rep wasn’t officially recorded as a pressure. He mostly broke even in the run game, as well. Alt should continue to improve as he adjusts to playing right tackle, a position he never featured at in college.