Tag: Chargers offense

Chargers OT Rashawn Slater ready to roll after season-ending injury

The Chargers will benefit immensely from the return of their star left tackle.

After one of the best rookie seasons by an offensive tackle, Rashawn Slater was set for a sensational sophomore campaign. Unfortunately, it was cut short by a torn biceps injury that he suffered in Week 3 against the Jaguars.

Slater missed 15 games in total, including the playoff.

Ten months later, fully healthy, Slater is ready to roll and return to his dominant ways. But now

“I definitely want to be like the best version of myself,” Slater said. “I think I’ve improved as a player since then, just in the way that I see the game and in my technique. I definitely think there was a lot to improve upon that year.

“I don’t anticipate taking any steps back, that’s for sure,” Slater added. “The nice thing about this is that it healed up really well, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”

Slater, the No. 13 overall selection of the 2021 NFL draft, allowed only 26 pressures and four sacks on 752 pass-block snaps while imposing will in the run game in Year 1. He was named a Pro Bowler and earned Second-Team All-Pro.

As Slater prepares to return to live-game action, he’s benefited from going up against the dynamic duo of edge defenders Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack in training camp as the team is now in pads.

“I take away a lot from those like. Joey and Khalil, they’re so smart in the way they play off of O-linemen,” Slater said. “Every training camp it’s like, if you have just one little mistake in your technique here, they’re going to find a way to exploit that. They really keep you honest.”

“The margin for error is so small, I think it really teaches you quickly what you’re doing wrong and what you need to fix because once they see something, it’s over,” Slater added. “They take advantage of it so well.”

Slater will be a key cog in what is arguably the most complete offensive line that the Chargers have had in many years.

Jamaree Salyer, who started in place of Slater last season, will be the starter at right guard, while Zion Johnson moves over to left guard. They also return center Corey Linsley and right tackle Trey Pipkins, who re-signed on a three-year deal.

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston standing out in training camp

Quentin Johnston is turning heads early on.

Chargers rookie wide receiver Quentin Johnston is showing out at training camp all week.

Johnston stood out in OTAs, where he quickly slid into the third wide receiver role while Joshua Palmer was recovering from an injury. It is evident that Johnston continues to be utilized frequently in Kellen Moore’s exciting new offense and has become one of QB Justin Herbert’s favorite targets this off-season.

In his college years at TCU, Johnston showed an elite ability to use trickery to his advantage, gaining much-needed yards after the catch and touting an impressive deep ball reception percentage – the highest out of his class. Johnston continues to use this trickery in training camp, making the Chargers’ defensive backs work overtime to keep him covered downfield.

In drills, Johnston’s footwork is quick and precise. He stands out among the other wide receivers as someone with speed and pinpoint accuracy. His route running is fluid and consistent, his hands are very strong, and he’s explosive off the line.

Johnston has also been showing impressive acceleration – especially considering his height of 6-foot-4. The Chargers are known for picking up bigger but often slower wide receivers in the draft and free agency, but Johnston is proving that height does not always indicate a lack of speed and acceleration.

Lining up opposite Ja’Sir Taylor, Johnston beat him for a 40-yard touchdown. It’s also important to note how impressive Johnston’s ball tracking was on this play. His ability to move downfield, beat Taylor and catch his target over his right shoulder in a tiny window is incredibly difficult. The perfect ball placement from Herbert also helped in this play, but the ball tracking was highly impressive, nonetheless.

Day in and out, Johnston has been combatting his pre-draft narrative of being a body catcher. Consistently he catches every type of pass, and the NFL is noticing. Johnston made a beautiful grab outside on the third day of camp, impressing the crowd and coaches with a toe drag that secured the catch.

Johnston has also been standing out while practicing jet sweeps and check-downs. His footwork, combined with speed and agility, makes it easier to utilize him in multiple different ways – but it’s in space where he truly shines. Herbert has stated that they will be throwing the ball down the field this season.

Chargers 2023 roster review: QB Justin Herbert

Justin Herbert looks to take his game to the next level under Kellen Moore.

The 2023 season is just a month away, and with weeks of dead time during the quietest part of the NFL offseason, Chargers Wire is endeavoring to document each of Los Angeles’ players before the start of the team’s training camp.

The Chargers are in a great position to have their quarterback of the future on the roster.

Herbert has been nothing short of outstanding in his first three seasons with the Bolts, throwing for 14,089 yards, 94 touchdowns and 35 interceptions and shattering various records along the way.

However, Herbert has yet to fully unlock what makes him such a great player: his immense arm strength and talent.

Last season, Herbert battled fractured rib cartilage and a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, other key players on the offense dealt with injuries and they did not have a speed option, which limited him from uncorking it.

That should change, however. Insert offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and wide receiver Quentin Johnston.

Moore’s system is the recipe to success for Herbert, and so is the return of all key members on the offensive side of the ball, including left tackle Rashawn Slater and the addition of Johnston.

Contract (2023): Herbert, entering the fourth season of his five-year rookie contract, is scheduled to earn $4.23 million. He became eligible to sign a long-term extension at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

Acquired: The Chargers selected Herbert in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft (No. 6 overall).

Quote: Moore on Herbert:

“Yeah, there’s some obvious stuff. The biggest thing is obviously his arm talent. But his combination of size, throwing ability, athleticism, I mean, there’s only a few on earth that can have that combination and play at such a high level. It’s really fun to see. I was a 6-foot, kind of hanging-on quarterback for six years. And I laugh, there’s a few throws sometimes he makes that I say, ‘I would never think about trying that throw, but here we are.’ It’s opened my eyes to some things.”

Highlight:

Why the Chargers need to carry 6 wide receivers in 2023

Considering the Chargers’ future and the necessities for what the offense will require, six WRs makes more sense than the traditional five.

By the end of August, the Chargers will face tough roster decisions for the 53-man roster cutdown. Making the proceedings more interesting this year is the NFL’s new 2023 rule: teams will be able to have one round of cuts from 90 to 53 instead of having three specified cutdown dates.

In both of his first two seasons at the helm, Brandon Staley has elected to keep five receivers on the final roster. Traditionally, it’s been four true wide receivers plus a special teams returner. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Josh Palmer, and Jalen Guyton were the core four wide receivers in 2021 and 2022. K.J. Hill and DeAndre Carter were the two returner receivers that made the final roster in those seasons, respectively. Carter muddies the waters a bit, given the injuries last season and the fact that he had to step up, but the original intention was for him not to be as active in the offense as he was.

Fourth-round selection Derius Davis is expected to step into Carter’s role from last season as the full-time kick returner/punt returner. That itself feels like a pretty seamless transition. But drafting Quentin Johnston in the first round was a shake-up to that aforementioned core four from Staley’s first years.

If the Chargers decided to carry five wide receivers for the upcoming season, Jalen Guyton would be the odd man out in a final Allen-Williams-Johnston-Palmer-Davis depth chart. Given his connection with quarterback Justin Herbert that has been built up over the years and his straight-line deep speed, it’s a hard cut to truly imagine taking place.

Guyton is still rehabbing an ACL injury from the 2022 season, but indications to this point are that he’ll be ready by the time the season kicks off in the fall. An alternative option if he isn’t ready in time for September would be starting the season on the PUP list post-training camp. Until more information comes out about his injury recovery or other guys winning out in camp, it would be a surprise not to see Guyton on the team’s final roster.

Aside from it being unlikely that any of the primary receivers are waived, position group health is another factor to consider. Allen and Williams missed a combined 11 games last season (12, if including Williams’ missed playoff game). A harsh reality for the Chargers is that Allen is 31 and Williams is approaching 30. It doesn’t become easier for wideouts to stay healthy in the NFL as they age.

Most of what went into the decision to draft Johnston and Davis was the long-term view of the franchise. The last time the Chargers selected multiple wide receivers within the first four rounds of the draft was 1996. Contract restructures of Allen and Williams only strengthen the idea that the wide receiver group will look different in 2024. But part of the decision also had to be a short-term view for this season. The Chargers played games last year in which Carter and Palmer were their top two wide receivers when Allen and Williams couldn’t play. If Los Angeles is truly going to contend this year, that type of depth problem couldn’t be allowed to happen again.

Versatility is another reason the Chargers should carry six receivers aside from depth. All of the Chargers’ wide receivers tend to specialize in their specific skill sets. Allen’s finesse route running has always meshed well with Williams’ big body jump ball game. To supplement those guys, Palmer is a little bit of a mix of both in terms of functionality and can step in when asked, considering an injury. Guyton, as mentioned earlier, is the prototypical straight-line speed guy. Johnston adds an insane YAC factor that all of the aforementioned wideouts lack, and Davis could be the fastest player in the league with the ball in his hands. It would make the Chargers ultimately more one-dimensional if they gave up any of these skillsets to keep five wideouts instead of six.

In most of Kellen Moore’s five seasons with Dallas, they kept six receivers partly because they wanted to stay versatile and have guys develop in the background. It would be counterintuitive to cut a player like Guyton or Palmer that allows the team to be multiple and access the deep parts of the field.

Considering the Chargers’ future, current position group health concerns, and the necessities of what the Moore offense will require, rolling six deep at wide receiver makes more sense than the traditional Staley five.

Chargers’ Max Duggan heaps high praise on Derius Davis

Max Duggan had nothing but good things to say about Derius Davis.

The Chargers loved what they saw out of the TCU Horned Frogs offense last season, and drafted their quarterback Max Duggan and two of his receivers, Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis.

The team rose to prominence as a gritty Big 12 contender that made the College Football Playoff and national championship game in a Cinderella story that fans won’t forget any time soon.

For his part, Duggan seemed thrilled to reunite with his college teammates in Los Angeles during his comments to the media after practice at the Chargers’ rookie minicamp.

Though Johnston was a known commodity by many fans who follow the draft, his counterpart Davis flew under the radar a bit during the scouting process, but Duggan made it clear that he helped make the Horned Frogs’ offense click.

“D.D. was a huge threat for us [at TCU], whether it was in special teams, punt return, kick return,” Duggan explained. “Then, obviously, he was a big threat for us as a receiver, too. He can do a lot of things, obviously. His speed is what he’s known for, but he’s savvy. He knows how to run routes. He knows how to set people up with leverage. He’s a great worker and he’s going to be a good one.”

While he won’t be much of a contributor on offense early on, Davis is the favorite to be the return man, as he was arguably the best in college football in this department.

In his collegiate career, Davis returned five punts for a touchdown in just 44 attempts. He averaged 15.0 yards a return. Davis also has experience in kickoff returns, as he had one touchdown in that department and averaged 29.6 yards a return in 2021.

Chargers’ Tom Telesco says he has no plans to move Keenan Allen

Chargers GM Tom Telesco put all the speculations regarding WR Keenan Allen to bed.

With the Chargers currently $20.39 million over the salary cap, there’s been speculation that Keenan Allen could be moved to clear some up. But general manager Tom Telesco all but put the murmurs to bed.

“Keenan Allen isn’t going anywhere,” Telesco told reporters at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, IN, on Wednesday.

Allen is scheduled to earn $15.5 million in 2023, with $21.7 million charged against the salary cap. If he were released before June 1, Los Angeles would save $14.8 million against the cap.

In 2022, Allen missed seven games due to a hamstring issue, finishing with 66 catches for 752 yards and four touchdowns.

The 10-year wideout has been vital to the Bolts’ offense throughout his professional career. During that span, Allen has caught 796 passes for 9,287 yards and 52 touchdowns.

“Keenan Allen, to me, he’s our Andre Reed. He’s our Charlie Joiner,” Telesco said. “He’s an incredible football player. We have a great quarterback, we need weapons around him, there’s never been any thought of that.

While he is getting up in age, set to be 31 this season and coming off an injury-riddled campaign, Allen is productive when healthy. He is still one of the best route runners in the league. He is a safety blanket to third down.

The Chargers need to add speed to their wide receiver room, but letting go of Allen would do more bad than good to the state of the offense.

Telesco will have some wheeling and dealing to do, as the Chargers must comply with the salary cap at the start of the new league year on March 15. But that will likely be without moving their top wide receiver.

“It’s not tempting to me,” Telesco said at his end-of-season press conference. “Good players make money, and I would rather have a lot of good players on our roster than a lot of cap space.”

Chargers OC Kellen Moore says designing his offense will be collaborative effort

Kellen Moore said that he will seek input from other coaches and his players when designing the Chargers’ offense in 2023.

The LChargers filled the most important vacancy on their coaching staff when they hired offensive coordinator Kellen Moore last week, and he gave fans plenty to talk about in his introductory press conference.

When he was asked about how he might utilize his skill position players to give the Chargers an edge, Moore explained that his offense’s design will be a collaborative effort.

“I’m just really excited to get to work with them,” Moore said. “I think the beauty of football and the beauty of the system is that you want to build it around the players. I’m excited to figure out what they do best, how they’re wired, how they work and put them in the best situation to be successful. Whatever that system ultimately looks like, we’ll build it together.”

Moore said that system will feature different offensive styles that have molded him as an offensive coordinator, including the Air Coryell scheme, which originated from former Chargers head coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist Don Coryell. In addition, there will be some elements of the West Coast offense.

Most importantly, Moore is going to keep things that play to quarterback Justin Herbert’s strengths.

Innovation will be key for Los Angeles in 2023 as the Chargers look to break out of a stagnation that has seen the team go winless in the playoffs since 2018. Under Moore, change should be expected, and fans should rest assured knowing that he will be seeking input from his players and fellow coaches on how he might deploy his offensive weapons most effectively.

“From an offensive perspective, you take bits and pieces from everyone, and I think that’s the beauty of it,” Moore said. “We’re going to build a 2023 L.A. Chargers offense.

QB Justin Herbert will have input in Chargers’ next offensive coordinator

The Chargers need to find someone to unlock Justin Herbert’s full potential.

The Chargers will have a new offensive coordinator for the 2023 NFL season, and their star quarterback will have a say in who gets to call the plays.

On Thursday, general manager Tom Telesco spoke with the media at his end-of-season press conference, noting Herbert has earned that responsibility.

When asked what traits the team will be looking for in their next offensive coordinator, Telesco cited leadership, the ability to teach and communicate concepts in a simple manner, backgrounds, and who they’ve learned from.

Additionally, Telesco noted experience is not necessarily as important.

This season, the Chargers ranked near the bottom in every rushing offense category. But most notably, Justin Herbert finished 2022 with career lows in touchdowns and yards per attempt.

That is why it is imperative for Los Angeles to successfully find and bring in someone who will not only improve the run game but unlock Herbert’s full potential.

Instant analysis of Chargers firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi

Here’s what led to the firing of Chargers OC Joe Lombardi.

Joe Lombardi is out after two seasons in Los Angeles, leaving Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco to search for a new offensive coordinator in what will likely be a make-or-break season for both head coach and general manager.

Lombardi’s firing is no surprise, and that it was paired with the firing of pass game coordinator/QB coach Shane Day should also not be a shock. The Chargers’ offense took a step back in nearly every meaningful way this season, falling from 4th in DVOA in 2021 to 19th in 2022.

So what went wrong?

For starters, injuries. To get out in front of this: no, that’s not an excuse for Lombardi. The way he handled injuries to key players, however, informed his ability (or lack thereof) to adapt the offense on the fly. When Keenan Allen was injured in Week 1, Lombardi had no way to scheme other receivers open. DeAndre Carter, Josh Palmer, and Michael Bandy ran Allen’s routes like nothing had happened, except those less talented players failed to get open at the same rate Allen did. After Corey Linsley left the game in Week 2, Lombardi continued to run traditional drop-back passing concepts. At the same time, Kansas City’s defensive line took advantage of miscommunications on the offensive line, eventually leading to Justin Herbert’s rib injury. Mike Williams’ injury resulted in Palmer plugging directly in for him. Injuries along the offensive line, namely to right tackle Trey Pipkins, decimated the Chargers’ control of the pocket while Lombardi refused to get Herbert on the move.

That refusal links back to another issue with Lombardi’s offense: it seemed like he never truly figured out what he had in Herbert. The running joke online was that Lombardi was running the late-stage Drew Brees offense with the Chargers’ signal-caller. Brees, in his later years, had a weak arm but a sharp processor, so running a series of quick routes for him to snap through was an effective game plan. Herbert has similar processing ability but also is able to make throws that few other people on Earth are capable of. Downfield throws, no matter how often they worked for the Chargers, were limited to one or two chances a game. Again, getting Herbert on the move was frequently not a consideration, despite it working to perfection nearly every time they called the plays. It often felt like Lombardi had a script after the script; that no matter what his opening script told him about the defense, he was sticking to his pregame notions of how to win the game.

This stickiness, if you want to call it that, was a large part of why the Chargers could not get any offense going in the third quarter this season. (The Stick-iness of the offense was also a problem.) Lombardi would script out the first few drives, LA would get a lead, and then he’d decide his job was done, and they just needed to sit on the ball until the game ended. Defenses would adjust at halftime, Lombardi would not, and the offense would stall. Herbert would either make magic happen to pull the game out, or the Chargers would lose.

Red zone playcalling also proved to be problematic for Lombardi, who consistently could not design run plays to get the ball into the end zone and ran pass plays that were designed short of the goal line. This was despite having the basketball team of Gerald Everett, Donald Parham Jr., and Mike Williams available at his disposal. Granted, all three of those players missed time at one point or another, but even when all three were on the field, Lombardi preferred to run bubble screens to a hamstrung Keenan Allen than draw something up for one of his taller receivers.

All in all, Lombardi’s tenure with the Chargers is emblematic of his refusal or inability to adjust to his circumstances. Press conferences midseason included many quotes from the offensive coordinator about how they didn’t have the speed to attack downfield, despite deep crossing routes to Mike Williams working when Herbert rolled out. Lombardi doesn’t have the final say on the roster construction, and I get that, but part of the job is to turn what you’re given into something functional. Coaches like Brian Daboll in New York are running better offenses, with Daniel Jones throwing the ball to Richie James and Isaiah Hodgins. Lombardi got head coaching interviews recently as a year ago for what he did when everything was perfect: no injuries, only the base version of the offense installed, lower stakes. How he fared when things got messy is why LA let him go on Tuesday.

Chargers fire offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi

The Chargers’ offensive system will undergo reconstruction.

On Tuesday, the team announced that offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi would not return for the 2023 season. Pass game coordinator/QB coach Shane Day was also fired.

It ends a tumultuous tenure for the 51-year-old Lombardi, who joined the Chargers as Staley’s offensive coordinator prior to the 2021 season. After piloting LA to a top 5 offense by DVOA, the talk was much more about how high the ceiling could go rather than how hot Lombardi’s seat was.

2022 was, unfortunately, not the sequel Chargers fans were hoping for. After offseason talk about how much more of the offense LA could install, the Chargers plummeted to 19th in offensive DVOA. Injuries certainly played a part: Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Rashawn Slater, Corey Linsley, and Trey Pipkins all missed multiple games and Justin Herbert, Gerald Everett, and Josh Palmer spent stretches banged up. But Lombardi showed an inability to adjust when those injuries occurred, which resulted in a midseason stretch of Herbert trying to force throws to DeAndre Carter and Michael Bandy running Allen’s routes without much success. Offensive sequencing consistently felt off, the offense fell flat after the opening script concluded, and Lombardi insisted on running the same concepts even after they were proven to be ineffective. Perhaps the cardinal example of this was the refusal to get Justin Herbert on the move, despite generating highlight play after highlight play when they did and facing immense pressure when they didn’t because of the banged-up offensive line.

All this coalesced into a season-long discourse about Lombardi and his viability as offensive coordinator going forward. With Staley’s job also subject to a number of rumors, sacrificing Lombardi to buy himself one more year always seemed like the likeliest outcome.

The Chargers will now embark on a search for a new coordinator, preferably one who can extract the best out of the ascending Herbert.