Los
Angeles Chargers
2018 Record: (12-4) 2nd AFC West
2018 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 26.8 (8th)
Yards: 372.6 (11th)
Pass Yards: 255.6 (10th)
Rush Yards: 117.1 (15th)
Defense
Points: 20.6 (8th)
Yards: 333.7 (9th)
Pass Yards: 227.9 (9th)
Rush Yards: 105.8 (9th)
Coming into the 2019 season, we had the Chargers
pegged as one of our sleeper Super Bowl favorites based on how good this roster
appeared. While the Chargers didn’t go to the big dance, they had a season of
great success.
Seeing the Chiefs and the Rams in weeks 1 & 3
respectively, the early test on the year would show to us how good the Chargers
could become. While they lost both contests to those high-powered clubs, they
did show sound effort in dropping those contests. Managing to show better
outings in the first half of the season, the Chargers went into their bye week
holding a 5-2 record and pushing the Chiefs for top spot in the division.
While coming off their week 8 bye, the Chargers
winning ways continued as they handled the opposition to the tune of holding
7-3 record and tying Kansas City for the AFC West crown at 12-4. Unfortunately
for Los Angeles, the tie-breaker left them looking up at the Chiefs and
ultimately losing out to host games in the postseason.
Based on standings, the Chargers were forced to travel
to Baltimore to face off against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, a team they lost
to 3 weeks prior. In this matchup, coach Anthony Lynn had his troops armed and
ready utterly dominating the Ravens for majority of the game. Securing the win
showed they could potentially make a run.
Riding high off their wildcard victory, the Chargers
took their talents to New England to try and complete with the mighty Patriots.
Unfortunately for all those who wear the lightning bolt with pride, the team
was grossly unprepared for what Tom Brady and company would dish out. While the
score appeared better than the play on the field, the Chargers literally had no
shot in the divisional round.
When all was said and done, gaining playoff experience
should go a long way in how the Chargers respond in 2019.
2019
Offseason WorkBook:
The
Coaching Staff
With little changeover to this staff as a whole,
Anthony Lynn will remain as the sideline boss for the Bolts this upcoming
season. Keeping the same cast of characters together for 2019, Ken Whisenhunt
will return as the offensive coordinator, and Gus Bradley will retain his spot
as defensive coordinator.
There is a lot to be said for comradery and
consistency, and the Chargers look to make waves in the new year.
The
Offense
Starting with the most important position in football,
we look to Los Angeles quarterback and long tenured Charger - Philip Rivers.
While it seems that Rivers has played in this league a long time, he truly has.
Entering his 16th campaign in the NFL, all with the Chargers, he
looks again to be leading the way in hopes to finally get that coveted Super
Bowl trophy. Admittedly, we had great reservations on if Rivers could again
produce at a high level in 2018. Simply due to age and his ability to throw a
great deal of interceptions, we felt the Chargers would be wise to move in
another direction.
With that said Rivers slapped our opinion in the face
and again managed to put up near career high numbers in many categories. While
it’s still out contention to see LA find the heir to the throne, Rivers should
be able to again muster another great season in 2019.
When studying the running back situation in LA, we
provided gushing reviews to both Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler in the 2018
offseason, believing this would be the year we see the full potential reside.
Though Gordon was on pace for a banner season, injuries once again derailed the
overall output. When the Chargers went to Ekeler in relief, he too proved he
could be a trusted source of production, but his overall skill was better
utilized in the pass game.
As the Chargers continued to push, Ekeler himself went
down to an injury making way to another player with high talent and ability –
Justin Jackson. He too found solid stat-lines in the absence of his teammates
showing the solid depth this group employs. The Chargers backs simply need to
remain healthy for the entire year for this team to see the promise land.
The receiving core of the Chargers still is dominated
with the brilliance of star Keenan Allen. Leading the team in all categories
(except touchdowns), Allen again proved he is a top player at the position.
With youngster Mike Williams taking the next step in his development becoming a
trusted target in the redzone and jump ball situations, LA feels they have two
viable targets to move forward with. While Austin Ekeler and Hunter Henry were
poised to be relief valve players for Rivers, all was lost when the offense
lost Henry before the season. We could see added depth to this group this
offseason, but the outlook is still very high here.
The
Defense
When speaking of this Charger defensive group after
drafting perhaps our favorite rookie in the entire 2018 draft class (Derwin
James), we had nothing to positives to say.
The Chargers defensive front led by athletic freak
(Joey Bosa) looked to make their presence known early, the sack production was
lost due to him missing half the year while nursing an injury. With the line
housing the likes of Corey Liuget, Brandon Mebane, and Darius Philon, they were
in great hands to help this defense stop the run while plugging holes for their
rushing specialists. Melvin Ingram clearly held down the fort in the absence of
Bosa, but when he returned to action, it was clear what this unit was capable
of as a whole. Adding depth will be a true requirement as the Chargers look to
be parting ways with Liuget and Mebane, leaving gigantic holes on this line.
Thankfully enough for them, the draft holds many talents at these
positions.
The line backing core for the Chargers lead by Denzel
Perryman, did show good production, but too lost time to nagging injuries.
Perryman (like Bosa) was only able to muster half the year himself, which
allowed Jatavis Brown the opportunity to step up. Brown proved he could be a
player on the defense with the support of the safeties which placed him atop in
leading the team in tackles with 97. With recent news that LA has resigned
their middle line backer (Perryman), they also added veteran Thomas Davis to
help round out the skill of this group. While this is a short term solution,
adding younger depth will be on the menu.
Seeing the secondary employed on this Charger team is
where we got most excited when we chose to evaluate before the 2018 season
kickoff. With Casey Hayward and Jason Verrett holding down the corner positions,
while being anchored by Derwin James and Jahleel Addae, we literally couldn’t
contain our enthusiasm for this group. As Derwin proved to be a polished NFL
ready product as he was advertised, time lost to injury also hit this unit.
Verrett was lost for the season as well, but fortunately enough, Desmond King
stepping in admirably.
This secondary was still able to amass a top ten
finish in pass defense and will be looking to move on from both Verrett and
possibly Adrian Phillips, leaving opportunity for this group to continue to get
younger and more dangerous. The outlook is still very high in this defensive
back room.
Team
Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
With the Chargers proving they can win in one of the
tougher divisions in football, they presently still sit with a decent amount of
funds on the books. Currently holding 20 million (+$20,910,903) against the
cap, it’s clear Los Angeles won’t be huge players on the open market, but
should have enough to poach talented players on day three and four of free
agency.
With their cap situation far from a crisis state, Los
Angeles also holds a mere 17 team free agents while already signing line backer
Thomas Davis as mentioned above. The potential does exist for the Chargers to
bring back Corey Liuget and Jahleel Addae at lower rates even though they have
been released from the team. Outside of that, LA will be looking to the draft
to continue to stock pile talent.
Normally the goal is to find players to identify as
cut candidates, but in the Chargers case, finding as much talent to put around
Rivers is the primary objective given that lack of years he has left in his
career. We feel evaluating the Chargers books for players to release will be
more beneficial next offseason.
The
NFL Draft
Entering the
2019 NFL Draft, the Chargers still hold all of their 7 picks in the class while
they currently sit with the 28th overall pick in the first round.
Los Angeles
can literally move in any direction in this draft selecting the best player on
the board. Securing more talent for the defensive line looks to be the highest
of priorities, while adding depth to the line backing core and defensive back
room should go a long way in rounding out the unit.
It’s not out
of the question to witness the Chargers select a quarterback in this draft
provided they have a player in mind. Having a clear succession plan for when
Rivers finally calls it a career and hangs up the cleats. With that said, continuing
to move in a direction to win the Super Bowl should trump all moves to cover
their bases for future passers. We will be very interested to see how LA adds
to this team.
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