The Chargers blew the doors of the Lions in the 2025 preseason opener in Canton, Ohio. A 34-7 win is one hell of a statement to make in front of a TV audience just shy of 7 million people, the most watched Hall of Fame Game since 2021. However it was the consistency and efficiency of that dominance that was so impressive to me. Most preseason games fade in the second quarter as the talent level drops but the Chargers executed on both sides of the ball through all four quarters.
Scheme Watch
The defense offered very little room for the Lions new offense to operate in without showcasing anything complicated. It was basic coverages, a mix of 2, 3 and 4 down fronts and a couple of man-blitz calls on third down as you’d expect. The truth was that the Chargers’ defenders were better prepared for this game and almost every player Jesse Minter put on the field executed at a high level. The performance was methodical, quick and clean. You can’t ask for more than that as a defensive coordinator.
Meanwhile the offense found ways to churn out yards to extend drives which is no easy task in preseason games. The NFL has an offensive lineman problem in that there just aren’t enough good ones to fill out two rotations for each team. That is the main reason why preseason games tend to look terrible in the second half, it’s because the average talent of third string defensive lineman far exceeds what a backup offensive guard can muster. Therefore whilst the Chargers’ 3.5 yards per carry looks paltry, I’m okay with it because as anyone with eyes could tell, the gaps just weren’t there to exploit.
Greg Roman kept things relatively simple, the pass concepts he used were basic even for him and the play action was just the same Boot Flood design from different formations. I thought the run concepts in the first quarter showed a bit of juice though, he called seven straight gap runs in the first quarter with a lot of Wham and Trap with some interesting variations that I’d like to see the starters run. Later on the game it was back to more of the simple zone concepts you’d expect to see in the preseason. Every team runs zone concepts the same way more or less whereas every coach has their own way of gap concepts so that’s why the numbers are usually skewed at this time of year.
Winners
Defense:
Jamaree Caldwell
There are no two ways about this; Caldwell was flat out dominant last Thursday night. The Chargers’ third round pick was blasting through the Lions’ offensive lineman with a brutal blend of power and agility beyond what should be capable for a guy who weighs 340 lbs. I will never stop being amazed at how fast he can get off the ball or how he can stop on a dime to change direction.
There are certainly areas for improvement, whilst he finished one or two plays he still has a tendency to either be accelerating into the breakdown point or completely stop his feet. Both of those will mean he misses NFL skill position players as they’re too elusive to fall into his lap but these are definitely traits that will improve with time on task especially with Mike Elston in his ear.
I’m so excited to see Jamaree with the starters once he earns that right because with his pocket pushing skills Mack and Tuli won’t have to go searching for the QB as he’ll be stuck on his mark waiting for them.
“I have been unreserved in my praise of the Chargers’ 2025 draft class and Jamaree Caldwell is a big part of my reasons for that. He was my favorite defensive pick and although I was high on him at the time, he has only climbed even further since I went deep into his film.”
From my Roster Reset article on Defensive Lineman
Emany Johnson
I’m very confused why no one has realized that Emany was playing inside linebacker for all of his 27 snaps last week. Not only did he step into a completely new role but he ended leading the team in tackles with seven and even added a pressure on a blitz call. I can’t find a single reference to him switching positions or even cross training in the box but he looked very good doing it. In fact, he outplayed Junior Colson who was by his side in the Chargers’ nickel packages.
When players switch positions the part that catches your eye is usually the final execution; did they make the tackle? Did they hit the right gap? But with Emany it wasn’t just the execution part of the play that drew my eye. His alignment was on point, he flowed within the rhythm of the play and he maintained his leverage to play multiple gaps at once which is necessary in Minters’ system. That’s well beyond what the coaching staff would have been anticipating from Emany.
Look at how he hits the fullback in the clip below! For a former safety to be hitting like that at 218 lbs is impressive. It’s too early to say he could be pushing for starting snaps, he’ll need to show consistency first but his tape got me excited which means I’ll be looking for #38 against the Saints this weekend.
Caleb Murphy
Caleb Murphy kicked off his 2025 season with a dynamic hit that led to a forced fumble on the opening kick off against the Lions. Murphy only added to his stock after that with a couple of impressive pass rush attempts, including the play below, and he also earned a pressure when running a tight loop on an interior stunt.
Murphy looks like he can really set the edge now too which is a departure from his previous experience as a pass rush specialist. This coaching staff builds run fits around their edge players being able to seal off the outside lanes by playing square and strong so it’s a big step for Murphy to have developed that side of his game. His growth actually provides a template for us to see how Kyle Kennard can develop in the same system. That said, Murphy has peaked in the preseason before so he’ll be one to keep tabs on to see if he can turn this promise into a roster spot.
“Murphy took off during his first preseason in 2023, he had 7 pressures which led to 4 sacks and 3 hurries across 50 pass rush snaps however his run defense was poor according to PFF and he failed to break into the 53-man roster and spent the season on the practice squad.”
From my Roster Reset article on Outside Linebackers
Others
- Nikko Reed and Myles Purchase both came away with incredible interceptions. Reed’s was a brilliant display of how to play quarters which should earn him some more play time. I have high hopes for the former Oregon man as a special teams contributor as well
- I thought Naquan Jones was the more impactful of the veteran interior defensive lineman he showed a quick get off and a nose for the ball carrier, he needs to finish plays better to break into the starting rotation.
- Kylan Guidry had a very nice pass rush rep where he took the right tackle off of his toes and carried him back into the quarterback’s lap, I didn’t see that kind of strength in his film so I’m curious to see if he can repeat that against the Saints.
Offense:
Keandre Lambert-Smith
I don’t really need to say anything that hasn’t already been said. I think the collective hype for Oronde Gadsden II and KLS might stack up to more than the other 38 fifth round draft picks combined.
“His fit to Roman’s offense is clear to me as downfield speed threat who can push safeties onto their heels with his efficient speed cuts to threaten on post routes but he’s not just a blazer as he showed against DeJean where he exposed Cooper’s slower vertical directional change with eyebrow raising deceleration skills on comeback routes.”
From my Roster Reset article on the Wide Receiver group
What I didn’t expect to see from Keandre was a set of technical routes, short area explosiveness and route strength to carry momentum through contact which is normally tough ask for undersized rookies. On his 24 yard catch down the Lions’ sideline he put those growth areas all together starting with a reset release move to give himself some space before working through contact to beat a talented corner for a big play.
Trey Lance
Lance displayed a lot of the traits that enticed the 49ers into drafting him third overall however it wasn’t any single trait which made his performance so intriguing; it was how he was deployed that pleasantly surprised me. This wasn’t a gimmicky offense built to hide limitations and use his legs, this was the Justin Herbert offense albeit one stuck in first gear. He made good decisions within Greg Romans’s structure, he went through his reads and had an overall control over the offense.
On the touchdown to KLS he illustrated his ability to manipulate the defense pre-snap. He used the motion into the backfield to determine it was man, then he checked the back side and saw the potential stand up rusher didn’t shuffle with the rest of the linebackers. This meant he knew he had Cover 0 behind the man blitz so he could hit the slant early and low.
I liked what I saw from his arm too, the touch on his sideline ball to KLS was very delicate and the layering on his first touchdown throw to Will Dissly was great to see. The play above was a fantastic throw into a white paint window only his receiver could catch it but it ended in a drop.
Overall it’s clear to everyone that Taylor Heineke is now in a fight with Trey for QB2 which is a surprise considering the team traded a Day 3 pick for him.
Josh Kaltenberger
The Chargers added Kaltenberger as a UDFA after a four year college career between Purdue and Maryland. His incredible 9.72 RAS score caught my eye after the Bolts added him in the immediate aftermath of the draft. He tested as one of the biggest and most explosive centers of all time but once I got to his tape I could see why all 32 teams thought he wasn’t worthy of a draft pick.
“These natural skills do not translate to good tape as often as he would have needed to be drafted. Josh slips off blocks too easily and doesn’t look in control of the contact battle in either run or pass. He does identify stunts and help with protection calls so that’s a positive as that means he has the mental as well as the physical potential”
From my Roster Reset article on the Interior Offensive Line
However it was clear that if he found some affinity with professional level coaching, he could put it all together to turn into a viable asset in the NFL. Well, after the first preseason game there are already signs that this could be the trajectory Josh is on as he was very impressive across his 36 snaps. Kaltenberger showed a mix of pass protection prowess, a keen awareness and some necessary nastiness in the run game.
I was going to put together some clips showcasing his best reps but luckily for me the boys at Saturday Morning Inspection already did it as you can see below.
Others
- All of the running backs had a positive impact which is a great place to be in for a team that wants to grind out wins on the ground. They amassed 116 yards on 28 carries between them which, considering the deficiencies of preseason blocking, was a damn good showing.
- Omarion Hampton displayed his strength and speed on his 8 yard gain in the redzone.
- Jared Patterson was a pass protection monster once again.
- Hassan Haskins had some eye catching carries where he blended power with good footwork.
- Kimani Vidal looked good all around with some nice routes on third down.
- However my biggest takeaway from the group was that Nyheim Miller-Hines still has the juice that made him one of the best change of pace backs in the league and I cannot wait to see what more he can add as the preseason goes on. To make cuts like he did on the play below after three seasons away from football is absolutely wild, I can certainly see why the team wanted to get him in camp.
Losers
Junior Colson
I wish I was the guy who could bring optimism to the Junior Colson discourse but as much as I tried to find reasons for hope in his film, there really wasn’t much to work with. The truth of the tape is the right now he’s a long way away from being a factor in the regular season and if he doesn’t improve on his dismal showing in this game then he may find himself down to 5th on the inside linebacker depth chart instead of 2nd where we all expected him to be. It’s not just the fans who are starting to ask questions about his place on this defense either; Jesse Minter left him on the field for 41 snaps, the most of any defensive player, which is never a good sign for someone who was meant to be an ascending star.
Colson’s biggest issue right now is that he can’t handle being on the backside against zone run concepts as he outruns the backside gap which leaves an easy cutback lane once the running back sees Junior overcommit. These are basic run fit principles and he is still getting them wrong. This happened three times against the Lions on simple concepts which all led to chunk gains.
Colson is yet another example of the reasoning behind why even the elite college linebackers can fall to the end of Day 2. There were very few concerns about his Michigan tape and he was going into the exact same system, so he looked like a safe pick. Yet it so far looks like he is not only failing to see the game but the physical prowess he carried has completely left him as he steps into a league where being 6′ 3″ and 247 lbs is just not enough to win the down. He also looks a great deal smaller than that these days, if he has lost weight on purpose then I don’t think has helped his game.
I will hold out hope for some improvement once the game starts to slow down for him after a full preseason but I think we are getting near to the moment when we can close the door on him becoming a star anytime soon.
Deane Leonard & Ja’Sir Taylor
I haven’t spoken much about the corners as their job was incredibly simple against a Lions team that couldn’t get anything going especially in the second half. However Leonard and Taylor were really struggling with their angles and pass-offs whenever they were paired together early in the game. The communication between those two should have been a lot better considering the time they’ve had as teammates. They gave up two big catches to the Lions’ hometown receiver Isaac TeSlaa after failing to work out how they dealt with the crossing routes. Once is a mental error, twice is a problem.
Trey Pipkins
I am usually not one to highlight issues with a guy who’s become a scapegoat but this game was unforgivable from Pipkins. He may have graded out respectively because he was where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to do, but go back and watch any of his run block attempts and you’ll see him fail to land any of them. He consistently slipped off of down blocks and lost his balance far more often than an experienced lineman should be. It was just not good enough to justify his position as the de facto swing tackle.
I thought it was finally time to move on from him in order to allow the younger players to grow past his limited ceiling however the football gods are cruel and seeing Slater go down has forced priorities to shift. With the news of his torn patella tendon causing the entire plan for the season to be thrown out, the team can’t afford to lose depth with the kind of experience Pipkins offers. Trey will have to find ways to improve with his likely move back to starting right tackle.
