Chargers 2024 offseason position preview: Quarterback

Evaluating the Chargers’ quarterback room entering the offseason.

After receiving a contract that briefly made him the highest-paid quarterback of all time, Justin Herbert was largely the same player on tape in 2023 that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in most of his other seasons. Unfortunately, what surrounded Herbert on offense was not as strong. Several high-profile, season-ending injuries collapsed the Chargers season around him in addition to the adverse coaching situation.

20 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and 3000+ yards in 13 games wasn’t going to win him awards, but it also became clear that the state of the offense, in addition to his own personal injuries affected what the potential production could’ve been.

Herbert played through fractures of his non-throwing hand throughout the season. Eventually, he’d be shut down after he injured his index finger on his throwing hand against the Broncos in Week 14. While he could’ve potentially played through it under some circumstances as opposed to opting for the surgery outright, the Chargers rapidly falling out of the playoff picture made the decision to sit him easy.

To kick off our offseason position preview series, we’re evaluating the quarterback group entering the offseason.

Chargers sign 11 players to future contracts

The Chargers signed 11 players to reserve/future contracts. All spent all or part of the season on the practice squad.

With the 2023 season over, the Chargers have signed 11 players to future contracts, according to the NFL Transactions wire.

EDGE Brevin Allen

DT Jerrod Clark

RB Elijah Dotson

QB Max Duggan

WR Simi Fehoko

DB Matt Hankins

OL Brent Laing

DT Basil Okoye

DB Chris Wilcox

RB Jaret Patterson

DL Christopher Hinton

All 11 players spent time on either the team’s practice squad or active roster in 2023.

The players will be added to the 90-man active roster when the 2024 offseason officially begins.

Chargers make roster moves on Tuesday

The Chargers made a handful of roster moves on Tuesday.

The Chargers made a handful of roster moves on Tuesday.

Los Angeles signed quarterback Will Grier to the active roster. To make room for Grier, the team waived rookie QB Max Duggan.

Additionally, L.A. signed center Cameron Tom to the active roster from the practice squad and placed Will Clapp on injured reserve.

The Chargers also signed center Brent Laing to the practice squad.

Grier will be the backup to Easton Stick.

With Clapp on IR, Brenden Jaimes will serve as the team’s starting center.

Chargers make flurry of roster moves in wake of Justin Herbert’s season-ending injury

The Chargers made an assortment of roster moves on Tuesday.

The Chargers officially placed Justin Herbert on injured reserve after he spent Monday meeting with hand specialists. Per Ian Rapoport, Herbert underwent surgery on Tuesday. The move comes as an expected big blow for the Chargers, who will now start Easton Stick against the Raiders on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles made an assortment of roster moves based on Herbert’s injury. Wide receiver Josh Palmer was activated from IR after he missed over a month with a knee injury. Brandon Staley expects Palmer to play Friday. However, he also said that the third-year receiver is unlikely to play a “full, normal receiver load.”

2023 seventh-round draft pick Max Duggan will also spend his first game on the Chargers’ active roster on Thursday. The former TCU star was signed to the active roster from the practice squad.

Cornerback Matt Hankins was re-signed to the practice squad with the open spot vacated by Duggan’s signing to the roster.

Know Your Foe: Five TCU Horned Frogs to know for regular season finale

Oklahoma takes on TCU in their final Big 12 home game to end their regular season. Here are five TCU players to know as the Sooners prepare.

Friday will be an emotional day of celebration. The Oklahoma Sooners (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) will host their Senior Day. This will be the last time the Sooners host a Big 12 game on Owen Field.

The crimson and cream have made it through another Big 12 slate. The chances of earning a trip to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship are slim but not quite zero. The Sooners will need help from other Big 12 members to make that happen.

All Oklahoma can do is worry about finishing their final Big 12 slate with a win at home.

Their opponents were the first Big 12 team not named Oklahoma to make it to the College Football Playoff. Sonny Dykes orchestrated a masterful coaching job to get TCU (5-6, 3-5) to the national championship last year. Things didn’t go so hot in their game against Georgia, but his work speaks for itself.

The Horned Frogs lost a significant amount of production from that team, and this season has hardly been as fruitful. This team can still hang with many teams and is hungry for bowl eligibility. They are one win shy of playing in a bowl game and would love nothing more than to spoil Oklahoma’s festivities and get that sixth victory.

There is no Max Duggan, Quentin Johnston, Kendre Miller, Dee Winters, Steve Avila, or Derius Davis for this year’s TCU Horned Frogs. That group of players was the backbone of last year’s team and a big reason Oklahoma lost 55-24 in Fort Worth last year.

With so many faces gone and off to the NFL, who are the players to know for Sonny Dykes’ team? We break down five TCU Horned Frogs to know ahead for Oklahoma’s regular-season finale.

WR Quentin Johnston needs to be more involved for the Chargers

Quentin Johnston has not been used much on offense and the Chargers need to change that quickly.

Back in April, the Chargers used their first-round pick to select TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston. Los Angeles had not used a first-round selection on a receiver since Mike Williams was drafted out of Clemson six years ago.

Johnston’s college career was defined by his freakish YAC ability. He made consistent highlight reel plays once he got in the open field. Plenty of missed tackles were forced as TCU found ways to display his versatile, gazelle-like athleticism. His draft stock skyrocketed during his team’s College Football Playoff season.

Johnston showed out in Chargers training camp with plenty of explosive moments. And yet, since the beginning of the regular season, the Chargers’ first-round receiver finds himself primarily sidelined.

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that the Chargers have a loaded receiver room at the top. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Joshua Palmer are all receivers who have had 750+ yard receiving seasons for the team. Getting Johnston on the field would not be as easy as the situations fellow rookies Zay Flowers or Jordan Addison walked into.

Still, it’s hard to feel that the Chargers have done their best when looking at his usage. Johnston played 22 snaps in Week 1 out of a possible 81. In Week 2, that number dropped to 10.

The most effort the Chargers have put toward designing a play for their first-round pick so far was a pitch toss that got blown up in the backfield by Miami’s Christian Wilkins. Through two weeks, Gerald Everett, Mike Williams, and Derius Davis have all run jet sweeps/end-arounds.

Against the Titans, his former TCU teammate Davis played more snaps than Johnston. The coaching staff is finding a more consistent role for their fourth-round kick returner than their first-round receiver.

That’s not to say Davis isn’t worthy of those snaps. He’s impressed when he’s been on the field. But not utilizing Johnston on sweeps, end-arounds and screens feels like a misunderstanding of what got him to where he is. The YAC threat the Chargers drafted isn’t meant to overtake Allen or Williams in year one, but he cannot be as much of an offensive afterthought on the smaller stuff.

It’s traditional for the Chargers to bring on their rookies slowly. But adding Johnston’s open-field abilities would make the offense more dynamic than it already is. With his frame and skill, he provides something that no other Chargers’ offensive player can. It’s up to Moore to seek out those looks more consistently than he has.

Chargers sign 12 players to 2023 practice squad

The Los Angeles Chargers announced 12 players that will begin the 2023 season on the practice squad.

The Los Angeles Chargers began announcing members of their practice squad on Wednesday, signing the following players:

EDGE Brevin Allen

RT Zack Bailey

WR Terrell Bynum

DT Jerrod Clark

DT Christian Covington

QB Max Duggan

WR Keelan Doss

EDGE Andrew Farmer

CB Matt Hankins

TE Hunter Kampmoyer

DT CJ Okoye (IPP)

G/T Austen Pleasants

Teams can have up to 16 players on their practice squad, but for the Bolts, they can have up to 17 players because they have an exemption to add Okoye as an extra player through the International Player Pathway Program.

Therefore, five more players will be added to round out the group.

Stay tuned for more information.

Which 2023 draft picks failed to make the initial rosters

Tracking which 2023 NFL draft picks did not make the initial 53-man rosters, including a Heisman finalist and the nation’s leading rusher in 2022

The NFL draft is an inexact science. Every year there are rookie draft picks who can’t make the initial roster for the teams that selected them months earlier. This year’s draft class is no exception.

A total of 17 rookie 2023 draftees didn’t make the cut, not counting players who went on injured reserve.

Perhaps the biggest name is Colts CB Darius Rush. Indianapolis quickly gave up on the fifth-rounder from South Carolina. Baltimore also cut a fifth-round cornerback in Kyu Blu Kelly.

Jacksonville had three 2023 draftees that didn’t make the cut. Sixth-round CB Erick Hallett II and seventh-rounders FB Derek Parish and DT Raymond Vohasek didn’t make it.

Chicago waived two of its picks, DT Travis Bell and S Kendall Williamson. Both were seventh-round picks. Miami waived sixth-round TE Elijah Higgins and seventh-round OL Ryan Hayes, two of the Dolphins’ four selections in the 2023 draft.

The nation’s leading rusher in 2022, Dewayne McBride at UAB, couldn’t crack the Vikings roster despite being a seventh-round pick. The same was true for TCU QB Max Duggan, a Heisman finalist for the Horned Frogs. The Chargers waived Duggan, a seventh-rounder.

Other 2023 picks who got waived:
Jets TE Zach Kuntz (7th round)

Bills DB Alex Austin (7th round)

Bills OL Nick Broeker (7th round)

Texans S Brandon Hill (7th round)

Packers WR Grant Dubose (7th round)

Buccaneers EDGE Jose Ramirez (6th round)

The original post had an omission and has since been edited

Projecting the Chargers’ 17-man practice squad

The Chargers can start constructing their practice squad on Wednesday. Here is who we think will make it.

The Chargers trimmed their roster to 53 on Tuesday, but the work in building the roster is not yet done. More moves will come before the opening of the season, beginning with the construction of LA’s practice squad on Wednesday afternoon.

While the NFL has a limit of 16 players on the practice squad, Los Angeles has an exemption to add defensive lineman CJ Okoye as a 17th player through the International Player Pathway Program. For that reason, this projection includes 17 players.

Chargers waive rookie QB Max Duggan

The roster cuts continue to roll in for the Chargers.

The roster cuts continue to roll in for the Chargers on Monday. 2023 draft selection, Max Duggan was released in favor of Los Angeles keeping two quarterbacks for now.

The Chargers spent most of the preseason and training camp process giving reps to Easton Stick at QB2. Unlike last offseason, there was never a competition between QB2 and QB3. Duggan was a distant third throughout the process. It was only a matter of whether the Chargers would keep two or three quarterbacks.

Considering the draft investment, the Chargers are most likely hoping that Duggan isn’t claimed on waivers so he can be placed on the practice squad. As Tom Pelissero indicated in his original tweet, though, Duggan isn’t necessarily a lock to clear waivers given his national status. He was a Heisman finalist amid TCU’s run through the College Football Playoff last season.

Barring another move or waiver claim, the Chargers are preparing to keep two quarterbacks on the main roster. 2018 was the last time there were just two signal callers on the final roster. Philip Rivers and Geno Smith made up the main quarterback room that year.

Duggan was a mixed bag this preseason. While he showed off his athletic ability as a scrambler, his processor was still as delayed as on the TCU tape. Several passes, even completions, were left relatively short of their initial targets. Hopefully, if he does return to the practice squad, Duggan can start developing his NFL repertoire for next preseason.