Tag: Chargers Josh Palmer

4 offensive keys to a Chargers victory over Texans in Week 4

Here is what the Chargers must do on the offensive side of the ball to beat the Texans.

With Keenan Allen out for the third straight week, the Chargers may be utilizing the same short game-focused offense we’ve seen from Joe Lombardi, especially as Justin Herbert recovers from his rib injury.

Here are four keys on the offensive side of the ball against the Texans.

Get the run game going

Please, please, please get Austin Ekeler more involved on Sunday. Houston is giving up the most rushing yards per game of anyone through three games, allowing an average of 202.3 yards per contest. The defensive line has consistently been pushed off the line and safety Jonathan Owens leads the team in tackles. But the Chargers are also last in the league in rushing yards per game at just 59. Part of that has been getting away from it too early, part of it has been ineffectiveness, and part of it has, in my opinion, been about personnel. Isaiah Spiller is reportedly fully healthy, and if you want to inject some juice into the rushing attack, the rookie is the obvious choice. But Brandon Staley has said that Spiller needs to earn his spot on the gameday roster over Joshua Kelley and Sony Michel, citing special teams as their main area of concern. Speaking of Kelley, he’s looked like the best pure runner this season but was relegated to garbage time only against Jacksonville. Sunday’s matchup with Houston should give Los Angeles plenty of opportunity to get their rotation hammered out.

Exploit the size advantage

Mike Williams is one of the best jump ball receivers in the entire league, as evidenced by the toe-tap touchdowns he’s put together against the Chiefs and Jaguars. Against Houston, Williams should have a favorable matchup against rookie corner Derek Stingley, who has struggled with bigger receivers in his young career so far. Courtland Sutton, in particular, seemed to garner a target on every play he was matched up with Stingley, converting his eleven targets into seven receptions for 122 yards. Stingley has improved every week so far, but this early in his career, he’s still exploitable. Put Williams on him one-on-one and trust your guy to come down with it.

Make things easy for Jamaree Salyer

Salyer will make his first career start on Sunday, filling in for Rashawn Slater at left tackle. Before this week, Salyer hadn’t played left tackle since being drafted by the Chargers in April, which could make this week one full of growing pains if L.A. cannot provide him some help. Matt Feiler has struggled to start this year, but I think you have to have faith in him to hedge to his left to keep Salyer afloat. Keeping an extra tight end in to block in-line to the outside of the rookie is also a viable option: Richard Rodgers was signed to the active roster this week as a fourth tight end and profiles primarily as a blocking option at this stage in his career.

Limit the big play

Usually, this is a defensive key, but Houston’s defense has been pretty awful outside of a few big plays. We talked about how they’re the worst run defense in the league already, but the Texans have also created five turnovers and ten sacks, tied for fourth in the league in both respects. Part of that certainly has to do with aggressiveness: edge rusher Jonathan Greenard said this week that “we preach a lot of knocking the ball out when sometimes you just have to get the man down.” This is a porous defense that will give up yards and points if you stay mistake-free. Hold onto the ball, protect Justin Herbert, and it shouldn’t take too much else to keep the chains moving.

Chargers WR Josh Palmer due for an increased role

It’s time to unleash the Chargers’ third-round pick.

Following a standout summer, Chargers rookie wide receiver Josh Palmer was viewed as the team’s clear-cut third option heading into the regular season.

The third-round pick out of Tennessee showed off his size, ability to separate and catch everything on a regular basis, finishing the preseason with 10 receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown.

However, his snap count has not been reflective of that role to the slightest.

Instead, Palmer has been buried behind Los Angeles’ No. 3 wideout, Jalen Guyton, who has been on the field nearly three times as much as Palmer, yet has not been as productive with his playing time.

On 304 snaps, Guyton has only caught ten passes for 139 yards on 20 targets. On the other hand, Palmer has seen just 102 snaps and has turned 11 targets into seven receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.

As the Chargers’ passing offense has been underwhelming the past two games, it needs a spark and involving Palmer more frequently could lead to more positive results, as seen this past Sunday against the Patriots.

Amid all the drops, Palmer raised eyebrows with his touchdown grab in the end zone on the final drive. Over two defenders, he used body control, toughness, and hands to high-point and come down with the ball.

“When the ball’s in the air, I don’t think receivers think about the possibility of not catching it, you know we want to catch every ball,” Palmer said. “We put in a lot of work every day after practice just high-pointing the ball so that’s what I wanted to show.”

The problems with the passing game go beyond the drops that have come up as of late, and the inability to push the football down the field is one of them. Luckily, Palmer is a player who can shine on the vertical plane, possessing the separation skills off the line, deep speed and burst.

Palmer has stayed after practice to build chemistry with quarterback Justin Herbert since Day 1, and it is only a matter of time until we get to see that translate to live game action on more of a consistent basis.

Chargers WR Josh Palmer’s first NFL touchdown among few positives in loss to Patriots

Chargers WR Josh Palmer made the most of his limited action.

The Patriots defense stifled Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Sunday.

Heading into the final drive, Herbert completed just 12 of 26 passes for 143 yards while being down 10 points.

After taking its foot off the gas, New England allowed Herbert to scamper up the field on Los Angeles’ final offensive drive.

With 40 seconds left in the game, Herbert found rookie wide receiver Josh Palmer in the end zone. Over two defenders, Palmer showed the body control, toughness, and hands to high-point and come down with the ball.

The touchdown grab was the first of Palmer’s professional career.

“Hell of a catch. Hell of a catch,” wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “That’s the type [of] stuff we need. Especially late like that, we need a play, somebody’s gonna make one, Josh came up and made a play.

It’s big time … A ball like that, a catch like that, that’s a momentum shift. You make a catch like that; you automatically think we’re gonna get the onside kick. It was good stuff.”

Selected by the Bolts in the third round out of Tennessee, Palmer has flashed in spurts when he has been on the field. On 11 targets, he has caught seven of them for 82 yards (11.7 yards per reception).

In need of an offensive spark after stalling the past two games, Palmer could possibly see his target volume increase moving forward.

Chargers WR Josh Palmer reveals who he models his game after

Chargers wide receiver Josh Palmer’s skillset is pro-ready.

Everybody in the NFL has somebody they model their games after.

For Chargers rookie wide receiver Josh Palmer, he patterns his game after Falcons’ Julio Jones and Buccaneers’ Antonio Brown.

Having not played a single regular season game yet, Palmer is nowhere near the two from a talent standpoint. But you can see some similarities that could eventually put Palmer in position to produce as much as they have.

While Palmer’s physical profile is more comparable to Jones, all three have good initial releases off the line of scrimmage to get into their routes in a hurry, explosive and crafty ways of consistently getting open.

Palmer’s pro-ready skillset and size have been on display all summer, as the former Tennessee product has raised eyebrows with his ability to separate and catch everything on a regular basis.

“He’s polished,” Keenan Allen said of Palmer. “You can tell he’s polished and knows what to do. He obviously knows releases, he knows leverage. He just knows how to run routes already.”

Entering camp, the battle for the third wide receiver between Palmer, Tyron Johnson and Jalen Guyton was anyone’s game, but the rookie gradually stood above the pack.

Even though offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi constantly rotates his receivers in based on the defense’s package they’re in, it will be hard to keep Palmer off the field.

With his ability to win at all levels of the field and make things happen with the football in his hands, Palmer should quickly become one of Justin Herbert’s go-to targets.

Chargers WR Josh Palmer listed as ‘most dangerous new weapon’ in 2021

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox identified the Los Angeles Chargers’ most dangerous new weapon.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox listed each NFL team’s newest weapon by using factors like physical potential, proven production, scheme fit and projected role.

For the Chargers, Knox tabbed rookie wide receiver Josh Palmer as the team’s “most dangerous new weapon.”

While Palmer didn’t compile gaudy statistics in college—he never topped 500 receiving yards in a season—he was a four-year contributor with a polished skill set and impressive size (6’1″, 210 lbs).

Palmer shined at this year’s Senior Bowl where he matched up against other future NFL competitors.

While Palmer may not have the raw impact of additions like [Rashawn] Slater, his pro readiness could make him a dangerous complementary target from day one.

Palmer never produced eye-popping production at Tennessee due to the fact that he played alongside two current NFL wide receivers for two seasons and the team’s ongoing quarterback problems.

Palmer, the 6-foot-1 and 210 pounder, ran mostly vertical routes in the Vol’s offense and rarely got targeted because of it. On top of that, 31% of his targets were uncatchable.

However, when he was targeted with a catchable ball, Palmer shined against some elite college corners, including Jaycee Horn, Patrick Surtain II, Tyson Campbell, Eric Stokes and Kelvin Joseph.

Now on a team with a competent quarterback in Justin Herbert, Palmer is definitely in a position to be more productive in the NFL than he was in college.

In Year 1, he will be in the mix for snaps. Given the fact that offensive coordinator Joe Lombard goes through a lot of different personnel packages, Palmer will have his fair share of opportunities, with potential to grow into a large role.

With his ability to separate at all levels of the field, especially vertically, Palmer could quickly become one of Herbert’s go-to targets this upcoming season and beyond.