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Our Chargers’ NFL draft preview series continues with the offensive line.
After taking a steady approach in free agency, signing just one external player in linebacker Eric Kendricks and re-signing a handful of their own, the Chargers now have their sights set on the draft where they will look to bolster their roster with their selections and make a deeper run in 2023.
Before, we’re going position by position to break down where Los Angeles stands entering the draft.
Next up is the offensive line.
Catch the previous previews here:
The Chargers locked up their backup center.
The Chargers re-signed center Will Clapp on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Clapp was signed by Los Angeles last offseason after four seasons with the Saints. A seventh-round pick of the 2018 NFL draft out of LSU, Clapp appeared in 34 games, seven being starts.
Clapp started three games while Corey Linsley was out with a knee injury and a concussion. He was strong in pass protection, allowing just four pressures on 252 pass-blocking snaps.
With Clapp staying in the blue and gold, the Chargers have their backup center to Linsley locked up through the upcoming season.
Ohio State football class of 2023 scouting report: Luke Montgomery #GoBucks
The Ohio State football recruiting class of 2023 is complete and despite some murmurs of negativity in the crowd, this class is fantastic from top to bottom. One of the studs of this class is a four-star homegrown talent interior offensive lineman from Findlay, Ohio in Luke Montgomery.
Montgomery is widely viewed as a top 120 prospect in the class of 2023 and a top-five interior offensive lineman and of course a top-five prospect in the state of Ohio. The offensive line was great last season, but with the departure of a few studs, there could be potential for a youngster to see time sooner than expected. Let’s dive into what we can expect from Montgomery.
Name: Luke Montgomery
High School: Findlay (Findlay, OH)
Height: 6-feet, 4-inches
Weight: 295 pounds
4-Star Interior Offensive Lineman
Pro Football Focus released their top 101 players from 2022, and the Chargers had two players make the list.
The Chargers had a few key contributors on both sides of the ball this past season.
Pro Football Focus released their top 101 players from 2022, and Los Angeles had two players make the list.
The first player mentioned was center Corey Linsley, who checked in at No. 95.
Linsley allowed just seven pressures across 15 games this past season, none of which were sacks. His run blocking wasn’t quite at the same level, but he has been arguably the best pass-blocking center in the game for several seasons.
Despite missing two games, Linsley continued to show why the Chargers signed him two offseasons ago. The 31-year-old Linsley was dominant in pass protection, finishing with Pro Football Focus’ best pass block grade in the league and zero sacks allowed.
Next up was safety Derwin James at No. 65 overall.
There may not be a more complete NFL safety than Derwin James, who was able to post his second straight largely injury-free season for the Chargers. James has yet to earn a below-average PFF grade in any facet of play over a season in his NFL career.
James, the do-it-all defender, finished the regular season with 115 tackles, five for loss, four sacks, six passes defended, two forced fumbles and an interception in 14 games. He earned his third Pro Bowl nod and was named AP Second-Team All-Pro.
While they didn’t make this list, other players, like quarterback Justin Herbert, running back Austin Ekeler, cornerback Michael Davis and edge defender Khalil Mack were more than deserving of making it from their play this past season.
The Chargers offensive line was in the bottom 10 of the NFL in sacks allowed this past season.
In their effort to keep quarterback Justin Herbert upright throughout the 2022 season, the Chargers offensive line struggled mightily, giving up the seventh-most sacks of any team in the NFL.
One of the primary factors to their struggles was not having left tackle Rashawn Slater, who missed 15 games due to a biceps injury he sustained in Week 3 against the Jaguars.
Slater’s replacement, rookie Jamaree Salyer, took over in Week 4 and remained there for the rest of the season, providing to be a viable pass protector to Herbert’s blindside.
There were more injuries, as center Corey Linsley and right tackle Trey Pipkins each missed three games. Pipkins showed signs of growth as a player, but there were moments when his sprained MCL hindered his play.
Left guard Matt Feiler proved to be a solid signing in 2021. But he regressed this past season significantly, allowing 38 pressures and five sacks.
Rookie Zion Johnson, who manned the starting right guard position, dealt with growing pains. While he was strong as a run blocker, Johnson had his fair share of struggles in pass protection, allowing 40 pressures and seven sacks.
When Pipkins missed time, Foster Sarell got the start at right tackle, and he did not show much to warrant the swing tackle job for the foreseeable future. Sarell allowed 18 pressures and two sacks on 186 pass-block snaps.
For once in a very long time, the Chargers won’t be in the market for starters along the offensive line, assuming that they re-sign Pipkins to remain as the starting right tackle. Feiler could be on the chopping block, but it’s presumed that Salyer is a candidate to be the starting left guard in 2023.
Nonetheless, Los Angeles still needs depth.
At center, Linsley’s backup from this season, Will Clapp, will be a free agent. Brenden Jaimes is the only backup guard. Also, bringing in competition for the swing tackle spot with Storm Norton and Sarell would be beneficial.
Kellen Moore oozed confidence when talking about his offensive line during his introductory press conference.
The Los Angeles Chargers have assembled a highly effective offensive line in recent seasons, and their new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore seemed almost giddy to work with his front five in comments made during his introductory press conference.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Moore made it clear to reporters that despite not having met with the offensive line group yet, he is well aware of the elite talent he has at his disposal.
“I’m still in the process of going through that,” Moore said when asked about his line. “I’m really excited. We haven’t had an offensive staff meeting yet to really dig into this stuff. Certainly, the investment has been huge. Having a guy like [C] Corey [Linsley] as the center — you guys certainly probably feel it, but some people I think don’t recognize the importance of a veteran center and a guy who really runs the show. Corey has been one of the best in the NFL for a number of years. That is really exciting.
“I think that helps the quarterback. It relieves some of the workload and the volume that a quarterback has to do pre-snap. Having a guy like Corey run the show has been great. Certainly, there has been a lot invested there from a youth standpoint. Tons of younger players have had an opportunity to play. I’m excited to just see those guys continue to develop. They’re young players. Their future is skyrocketing right now. I’m just really excited to work with those guys.”
Certainly, the benefit of having a capable offensive line to protect the Chargers’ franchise quarterback will prove to be a huge advantage to Moore in his first year in Los Angeles. Keeping Herbert upright and well-protected in the pocket should enable Moore to utilize aggressive play calls in his game plans and should help the Chargers become a force in the stacked AFC next season.
Handing out awards to the Chargers players who stood out in the 2022 regular season.
The Chargers finished 10-7 and lost their first playoff game since 2018 in a season where they faced many injuries on both sides of the ball.
While many fans are ready to put this season to bed and focus on the offseason, it’s only right to reflect and hand out the season awards to certain players for their efforts on the field.
Six Chargers players who are the most likely to have their contracts touched by GM Tom Telesco.
The Chargers enter the 2023 offseason $19.8 million over the salary cap, per OverTheCap, the fifth-highest payroll in the league.
To clear space to sign a rookie class and free agents, as well as extend eligible players like quarterback Justin Herbert, LA will have to do some money maneuvering.
These six players are the most likely to have their contracts touched by general manager Tom Telesco.
These 10 Chargers were Los Angeles’ top performers in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Los Angeles Chargers’ season came to an abrupt end when they blew a huge lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round of the AFC playoffs, but it is said that in great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.
Though any glory the Chargers found over the course of the season pales in comparison to the sting of their playoff loss, with the offseason on the horizon, Pro Football Focus’ year-end offensive player rankings will become all the more important as Los Angeles looks to re-tool for 2023.
Here are the Chargers’ top-10 offensive performers by PFF’s metrics:
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.
