Tag: Alex Kessman

Updates on Chargers’ special teams position battles

Find out which kicker has the leg up and which return specialist is emerging.

Improving the special teams is one of the Chargers’ priorities ahead of the regular season after finishing as the league’s worst last year.

The team brought in a few players in hopes of aiding the department, and now they’re in the midst of position battles to solidify starting spots.

The most compelling is the competition for the starting kicker between the returner, Michael Badgley and the newcomers, Tristan Vizcaino and Alex Kessman.

The past two days at camp the team has kicked field goals, and it has been neck and neck.

Badgley made all five of his attempts — 32 yards, 36 yards, 55 yards, 49 yards and 52 yards. He did not kick on Tuesday.

Vizcaino is currently 9-for-10 — hitting from 33 yards, 41 yards, 45 yards, 49 yards and 52 yards yesterday. Today, he made his kicks from 40 yards, 44 yards, 48 yards and 51 yards and missed from 33 yards.

Kessman did not kick on Monday. On Tuesday, he went 4-for-5, hitting from 33 yards, 40 yards, 48 yards and 51 yards, with his miss coming from 44 yards.

Vizcaino appears to have the strongest leg out of the bunch.

Entering camp, the return specialist spots were wide open, but Austin Proehl appears to be moving the needle. Not only has he done well with the special teams unit, Proehl is proving himself as a pass-catching option.

Proehl, the free agent acquisition, has consistently been open, has caught nearly everything thrown his way and has found the end zone on multiple occasions.

Today at media availability, special teams coordinator Derius Swinton II named Larry Rountree III, K.J. Hill and Proehl as other options at kick returner aside from Nasir Adderley.

Projecting the Chargers’ specialist depth chart in 2021

Predicting the specialists the Chargers will roll with into the 2021 season.

Over the past month, I have been breaking down the depth chart at each position for the Chargers.

Quarterback

Running Back

Wide Receiver

Tight End

Offensive Line

Edge Defender

Interior Defensive Line

Linebacker

Cornerback

Safety

To round things up, I project what the special teams room will look like heading into this season.

Kicker: Alex Kessman

It doesn’t sound as intriguing as other position battles, but this will be one of the most polarizing in Chargers training camp. This will be a three-way competition between Michael Badgley, Tristan Vizcaino and Kessman. In my opinion, the undrafted free agent out of Pittsburgh comes away with the job. Kessman hit a career long and school record 58-yard field goal this past season and converted 12 of 18 kicks of 50 yards or longer in his collegiate career, which is the best rate in NCAA history. It’s not an easy task to fend off two veterans, but given the new coaching staff, Kessman might have the upper hand as they could be looking to start the special teams unit from scratch.

Punter: Ty Long

Long enters camp in competition with Lachlan Edwards, who was signed earlier this offseason. Even though the special teams department needs some remodeling, Long didn’t do anything last season that should put his spot in jeopardy. Despite having three of his attempted punts blocked, Long still managed to average 47 yards per punt on the season.

Long Snapper: Ryan Langan

Like the kicker position, I project that the Chargers roll into the season with the undrafted free agent. Langan, the former Georgia State product, will be fighting for the job with the third-year Cole Mazza. Over four seasons in college, Langan was a two-time All-Sun Belt player and was a finalist for the Patrick Mannely Long Snapper of the Year Award. Mazza, on the other hand, will be entering the final year of his deal that would owe him $850k. In a stat less position, Los Angeles decides to go with the cheaper option.

Bleacher Report tabs Chargers’ most important training camp battle

Special teams will go a long way to determining the Los Angeles Chargers’ success in 2021.

Strengthening the special teams department is one of the biggest priorities for the Chargers ahead of the 2021 season after finishing as the league’s worst in 2020.

Los Angeles did a fine job of adding players to aide with the coverage units, but now the team must determine who will be their starting kicker.

That is why Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay believes that kicker is the most important position battle in training camp.

The Los Angeles Chargers lacked a reliable kicker last year, a glaring issue that must be rectified if this team is to emerge as a contender in 2021.

L.A. can’t afford to leave points on the board again, so having a competitive camp during which a quality long-distance kicker can emerge will be a major boon.

L.A. has three kickers on the roster who will be fighting for the starting job: Michael Badgley, Tristan Vizcaino and Alex Kessman.

Badgley had one of his worst seasons yet in 2020, as he converted just 24 of 33 field goal attempts for L.A., with all nine misses coming from beyond 40 yards. His inconsistencies did not go unnoticed.

Before signing with Los Angeles, Vizciano bounced around a few different practice squads – Cowboys, Vikings and Bills. He made his NFL debut this past season for the 49ers, in which he made all three field goals.

Kessman, an undrafted rookie, hit a career long and Pittsburgh school record 58-yard field goal and converted 12 of 18 kicks of 50 yards or longer in his collegiate career in 2020, which is the best rate in NFL history.

It doesn’t sound as enticing of a position battle compared to others, but it will be vital to the Chargers’ success rate in 2021.

4 undrafted free agents who could make Chargers 2021 roster

The Los Angeles Chargers have had a great amount of success on bringing in hidden gems that went undrafted.

The Chargers added nine new members throughout the course of the weekend in the 2021 NFL draft. Following the event itself, they notched an additional 10 undrafted free agents who will all be fighting for a spot.

Los Angeles has had a great amount of success on bringing in hidden gems that went undrafted, including safety Adrian Phillips, tight end Antonio Gates and running back Austin Ekeler.

With that, here are four that could see their names on the 53-man roster when the 2021 season rolls around.

 

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh: First-Quarter Analysis

For a game that was billed as a defensive showdown, we’ve seen some rather decent offense so far.

For a game that was billed as a defensive showdown, we’ve seen some rather decent offense so far. Fortunately for Notre Dame, it was the team that converted better on its scoring opportunities. The result is a 7-3 Irish lead over Pittsburgh after the first quarter.

Ian Book took control on the game’s opening possession, leading a drive that included using both his running and passing abilities to achieve third-down success. During that drive, Book became the second quarterback in Notre Dame history to eclipse 8,000 total yards in a career, joining Brady Quinn (11,944). It culminated on a 34-yard touchdown pass to Northwestern transfer Ben Skowronek. In the Irish’s fifth game, that’s their longest touchdown reception of the season.

On Pitt’s opening possession, the Irish uncharacteristically surrendered a pair of third-down conversions to start but held serve on the third series of downs thanks to some nice play from their secondary. The Panthers settled for a 45-yard field goal from Alex Kessman. After that, we started to see more of that defensive showdown we thought we were going to get as neither offense was able to do much for the rest of the quarter. We’ve also seen penalties make a difference in the course of the game, which is typical for a game involving Pitt, so keep an eye out for those.