Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Los Angeles Chargers
Transcript
- 0:00Hey there, folks, it's Jeff. We wanted to let you know we
- 0:02recorded this podcast episode on Monday, March eighteenth, twenty twenty four, so
- 0:08by the time you hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
- 0:10but we hope you enjoy the show. All right, everybody, welcome
- 0:30to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running
- 0:34weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world. That's right this April, it's
- 0:37gonna be eleven years doing this podcast on a weekly basis, and we appreciate
- 0:42you longtime listeners. If you're new to the show, we'd appreciate if you'd
- 0:46subscribe on whatever podcast platform you were on. If you're on Apple Podcasts,
- 0:50we'd appreciate it. Followed there as well. We got some great, great
- 0:54discussions coming your way this week, some great, great content. But here
- 0:58on this Opposition Territory show, we're gonna be getting into the Los Angeles Chargers.
- 1:02What is happening with this team during somewhat of a retool that we've been
- 1:06seeing thus far during this offseason, A team that's looking to rebound this upcoming
- 1:11season in a lot of different ways. So let's get to that discussion right
- 1:14now and joining us to talk about this Los Angeles Chargers team. We've got
- 1:19one of the best out there. He is the host of the Locked On
- 1:22Chargers podcast and always dishing out great, great content. We've got the one
- 1:26and only David Drugmeyer. How you doing, Buddy, Hey, doing really
- 1:30well? Obviously super busy as doing Lockdown Chargers is in almost an everyday type
- 1:36of occasion here for me. But this is life, man. I love
- 1:40it. I get to talk about one of my favorite teams and I get
- 1:42paid for it. So I have to keep that in my mind every single
- 1:46day and be blessed. And I definitely am well. We love the locked
- 1:49on network. Lots of great, great folks throughout the United States talking about
- 1:55their teams, not only that they love and cover and follow, but just
- 1:59again a great content. And just let everybody know, Dave really quick,
- 2:02where they can find you on the innerwebs out there, and you're on Twitter,
- 2:06slash X, you know, you're on Instagram. You're also on threads
- 2:08as well. Let everybody know where they can find you. Yeah, absolutely
- 2:12so, Yeah, you can find me on X That's probably where I'm most
- 2:15active. It's Droe Talk SD is my Twitter handle. I talk a lot
- 2:19of Chargers football, obviously, some Padres baseball on occasion, some WW every
- 2:23once in a while. I mean, I know there's a stigma out there,
- 2:25but I don't really care. I like what I like. I'm authentically
- 2:30myself, but I'm always a guy that's open to any type of conversations about
- 2:34sports. I'm gonna keep it casual and we're gonna have a good time.
- 2:38But yeah, just follow Lockdown Chargers on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music,
- 2:40wherever you get your podcasts. We are everywhere and we are there five days
- 2:45a week. All right, very good. Well let's get this Opposition Territory
- 2:47pod moving along here with regard to the Los Angeles Chargers, and I gotta
- 2:53say, Dave, the NFL players report or I should say, the report
- 2:58cards that were recently came out, and we're at least we've talked about a
- 3:00few here on our podcast platform over the past few weeks here, and the
- 3:04Chargers, man, they were really hit with some low grades and even some
- 3:07you know f's in certain areas of that report card. They got an F
- 3:10for you know, treatment of families, the cafeteria, the locker room,
- 3:15which is weird considering I think they're in a brand new stadium, So I
- 3:19was just like, okay, whatever, and then team travel was also toward
- 3:23the bottom of the barrel as well. I'm just wondering, like, what
- 3:25do you make of not only the Chargers overall report card, but do you
- 3:30think US fans should be putting as much stock as we do into these kind
- 3:34of you know, off season team stories. I don't know what are your
- 3:37thoughts here? Yeah, when I look at the report cards and they come
- 3:40out like the way I look at it is we're talking about multi billion dollar
- 3:46franchises, huge, right, and we're talking about things that are outside of
- 3:51the constraints of the salary cap. Like these are all controllables based on the
- 3:55amount of money that you want to spend to take care of your franchise,
- 3:59the food that you want to give them, the type of travel that you
- 4:01want to provide for them, the type of people that you want to take
- 4:04care of them and invest in your investment. Right. So for me personally,
- 4:10all of this stuff is a controllable and if it's not being graded positively,
- 4:14it's a direct reflection on the leadership and the ownership of the team.
- 4:18Like that's exactly the way I see it. I mean, yes, these
- 4:23guys are getting paid millions of dollars. Obviously I understand that that's not naive.
- 4:28I'm not naive to that fact. But these are all things that give
- 4:30you just that little edge, that one percent over your opponent that allows you
- 4:35to go out there and beat them on Sundays, right, Like, these
- 4:39are all the things that if you take care of and you do properly,
- 4:43and you make sure that your players have these things and they don't have to
- 4:46worry about their families, and they don't have to worry about the food,
- 4:48and they don't have to worry about the trainers and the amount of people there
- 4:51to be able to take care of them, then they can go out there
- 4:54knowing that their employer has their best interests at heart and is doing everything they
- 4:59can put them in position to have success. That's all that we want.
- 5:02And obviously in the NFL, when your shelf lives are so short, you
- 5:06want to have the greatest possibility of success as soon as you possibly can get
- 5:12it. So I didn't like some of the things that that I saw,
- 5:15but also you have to understand they have a new facility that's going to be
- 5:18opening up this you know, right before training camp. Okay, so a
- 5:23lot of these issues are going to be completely you know, taken care of.
- 5:28Okay, So that new facility facility, Okay, that's that facility has
- 5:30not been open because I'm looking at I'm looking at SOFI Stadium. I'm thinking
- 5:33like locker rooms and stuff. Right. No, yeah, no, it's
- 5:36talking. They're talking. No, they're talking about their training facilities, gotcha.
- 5:40Okay, which you know they've been at an off site while their new
- 5:44facility, the state of the art, like quarter of a billion dollar facility,
- 5:48is being worked on and being constructed. So it's kind of understandable that
- 5:53they would have some of these issues. Like one of the things I don't
- 5:56like is food, Like, come on, guys, like get a cater
- 6:00like get a like hire a chef, Like talk to your players, ask
- 6:03them what they want, What is the type of fuel that they need?
- 6:06Yeah, partner with your nutritionists and get that done. Like, yeah,
- 6:10that should never ever be a complaint to me. I mean I think that's
- 6:13that's pretty uh, pretty amateur, to be honest with you. Yeah,
- 6:15really quick, I read a report and I forget where I read it,
- 6:18and it was it was a viable source where they said that the equipment,
- 6:24the chargers equipment would actually try like go with the team. Usually teams take
- 6:30the equipment on a separate journey and they arrived prior to the team being there
- 6:34too, in terms of the prep work and things like that. So what
- 6:38happens is the team actually has to stay on the tarmac, wasting time inside
- 6:43the plane while everything is getting aught, like while the equipment is being taken
- 6:47care of first and foremost. So again you talk about that, you know,
- 6:50that little one percent that can make all the difference in the world.
- 6:55It's a report I read some time ago, and I thought it was interesting.
- 6:58Yeah, no, I mean that's just something that was also echoed in
- 7:00that report card you know that came out. It was that story and oh
- 7:04is that where Okay, yeah, that's that's where that was. And so
- 7:08yeah, that's that's not a good look. I mean, let's just ask
- 7:11yourself, like, anytime you've been on an airplane and you land, you
- 7:15want to get off the airplane as soon as possible, like just a normal
- 7:19person. Okay, so obviously they want to do the same thing. They
- 7:24just went in a cramped, confined. Probably not as cramped and confined because
- 7:27they're on a jet, but they're on a jet for hours at a time,
- 7:30and they want to get off and they want to go get to the
- 7:32hotel, relaxed, unwind all that stuff, and they have to sit there
- 7:36for an hour or an hour and a half waiting for them to unload all
- 7:41of the equipment that they put on the planes. Crazy. Yeah, I
- 7:43think that's something that might change under Jim Harbaugh. I think that, you
- 7:46know, an old school football coach kind of understand. Also, you know
- 7:49a player in the NFL at A played at a very high level for a
- 7:54long time. So I think some of those things are probably going to change
- 7:57with the new regime. Yeah. Place, Well, let's get into this
- 8:01new regime here, David. I really have been finding this Chargers team interesting
- 8:05over the past few years. And look, I know the record necessarily doesn't
- 8:09reflect perhaps maybe an interesting NFL team at times, I do find them to
- 8:15be interesting because I feel like they are always that team that's on the verge
- 8:18of really taking that next step here. So again, getting into what this
- 8:24offseason has looked like for the Chargers, there really seems to be this concerted
- 8:30effort about really bringing about this new era and direction of this offseason with Jim
- 8:35Harbaughs, He's taken the reins. You know, Greg Roman as the offensive
- 8:37coordinator, Joe Hortitz Ortiz, Hortiz, Sorry, I'm always messing up names,
- 8:45as everybody knows here, as as the GM here. So like I'm
- 8:48wondering, like, what are these vibes here? What are the vibes you
- 8:52know, coming from the front office, the team essentially as they're looking at
- 8:56this retool here with this Chargers organization. What are the vibes here coming from
- 9:03this team? Do you think? Well, I think I have to answer
- 9:05that pre keenan Allen trade and then post keenan Allen trade. I think that's
- 9:09probably how I have to address it. So pre keenan Allen trade, when
- 9:13Jim Harbaugh was hired by the Chargers, it was euphoria. I mean it
- 9:18was absolute euphoria because we finally had an adult in the room. You know,
- 9:24after having three straight first time head coaches who you kind of had to
- 9:28see the growing pains as they were going through their tenure coaching the team.
- 9:33Now you don't have to worry about that. You have a bonafide winner,
- 9:37like a bonafide, real, legitimate head coach who has won every single stop,
- 9:43whether it was his first stop at USD, whether it was Stanford,
- 9:46whether it was Michigan, the forty nine Ers, every single place that he
- 9:52went, he turned a bad team into a good team in short order.
- 9:56So it's just straight up excitement to get somebody who the Chargers didn't skimp on
- 10:03like they went out, they put their money where their mouth was, and
- 10:05they made a major investment in getting a top five head coach in the NFL
- 10:11for their franchise. So just straight up before you have very excited and a
- 10:16lot of happy people, a lot of happy Charger fans. Then then you
- 10:22have the Keenan Allen trade, and then the business side of the NFL rears
- 10:24his ugly head. And as someone who has followed the Chargers for well over
- 10:31twenty five years and has watched every single catch of Keenan Allen's career, that
- 10:37was a tough pill to swallow. That one was a tough pill. I'm
- 10:39not gonna lie, and that sentiment is echoed from many different Charger fans.
- 10:45It's definitely not something we were ready to deal with now. You know,
- 10:50because he just came off of one hundred and eight twelve hundred and forty three
- 10:54yard seven touchdown season which he set the franchise record for receptions in the seas
- 11:00playing fourteen games. Yeah, so it's it's insane, Yeah, because he
- 11:05was so super uber productive even at this stage in his career. So that
- 11:11is why that definitely ruffled some feathers probably. I mean, there's still a
- 11:16lot of confidence obviously in the new regime, because hey, you try to
- 11:20do the same thing over and over again and expect different results, that's insanity.
- 11:24And so the Chargers had to change things. They had to make some
- 11:28difficult decisions and they did. They cut Mike Williams, they traded Keenan Allen,
- 11:31and they restructured Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. So the defensive side stays
- 11:35together, the offensive side is getting a major shakeup. Yeah, we're definitely
- 11:39going to get into Keenan Allen that trade, as well as Mike Williams and
- 11:43the wide receiver corps just a little bit here, but I wouldn't want to
- 11:48dive into this offseason a little bit further with you, David, because you
- 11:50know, they've made again Eric Kendricks, I mean releasing Eric Kendricks. I
- 11:58maybe that was foreseen, possibly, not sure, but bringing in yeah,
- 12:03yeah, I mean bringing in tight ends like Hayden Hurst, Will Disley.
- 12:07They were signed running back Gus Edwards. He was also signed to overall though
- 12:11like not the biggest names on the free agent market coming to this Chargers team.
- 12:16So I'm wondering, how do you assess what the Chargers have done in
- 12:20free agency thus far in terms of bringing talent into the organization. I would
- 12:24assume they're not done, and of course we know the draft is going to
- 12:26be coming, which we're going to be getting to in a little bit as
- 12:28well. But how do you assess what has happened thus far here? Well,
- 12:33I mean for this offseason for the Chargers, the first thing that they
- 12:35had to do was get under the cap. They were well well over the
- 12:39cap, and obviously that really is what dictated how they were going to be
- 12:45able to approach free agency. So they, you know, they had to
- 12:48make a couple moves. They cut keenan Al or excuse me, they cut
- 12:52Mike Williams, They cut Eric Hendricks, They restructured Joey Bosa's contract where he
- 12:58took a pay cut, rutured Khalil Max contract where he took a pay cut,
- 13:01and these were all moves to help get the Chargers under the cap and
- 13:05give them some kind of financial space to be able to make some moves.
- 13:09But the way I look at this offseason for the Chargers as far as free
- 13:13agency is concerned, is targeted strikes. Everything's very intentional. Every move makes
- 13:18a lot of sense. The Chargers were a horrible rushing team last year.
- 13:22Awful. They were one of the worst in the league. They were bottom
- 13:26five. They could not get anything going. They had no consistent running game
- 13:31pretty much outside of Week one against Miami. After that, they were an
- 13:35embarrassment pretty much the entire season. They couldn't run, block, they couldn't
- 13:39get any forward momentum, so that had to be addressed. The offense was
- 13:41way too one dimensional. They had no running game. So that's the major
- 13:46point is well, that's why they go get Gus Edwards, who obviously played
- 13:50under Greg Roman in Baltimore, is very very productive over five yards of carry
- 13:54while Greg Ruman was the offensive coordinator, so a lot of familiarity there.
- 13:58Will Disley's the best run blocking tight ends in the entire National Football League.
- 14:03Look at his run block grades on PFF. They're all very very strong.
- 14:07Hayden Hurst is, you know, that receiving option because of Jerald Everett leaving
- 14:11in free agency. He's a I think a BILOC candidate. See if he
- 14:15can kind of bounce back a little bit with a very good quarterback in Justin
- 14:18Herbert. But it's all targeted strikes Pooniford, you know, defensive tackle like
- 14:22these are and you know, most recently Denzel Perman, who's kind of going
- 14:26to be that replacement for Eric Hendricks. All these moves are intentional. They
- 14:30all make sense. The Charger didn't have a lot of space. I wasn't
- 14:33expecting any big splashes they've made the type of move moves I've expected them to
- 14:37make to add needed depth here in free agency. I really thought they were
- 14:43going to go more toward really bringing in some offensive line talent or trying to
- 14:48reevaluate and reassess where they are in terms of the line. And maybe this
- 14:50is something that Harbaugh is going to be looking at a little bit more as
- 14:56we know what the offensive line and the trenches actually mean to I was a
- 15:00little surprised that we didn't necessarily see some new offensive line additions at least thus
- 15:05far during the course of this Chargers offseason. Were you surprised that, Yeah,
- 15:09for sure, I was a little bit surprised. I mean not very
- 15:13surprised, just because there's only a couple of positions that I think that the
- 15:16Chargers really can look to upgrade at on the offensive line. Left tackle is
- 15:20spectacular, one of the best in the league, yep, and Rashaun Slater.
- 15:24The guards are still very young. Is Ion Johnson and Jamii Sallier are
- 15:28very very young. And also I think that an upgrading offensive line coach is
- 15:33going to make a big difference as well. I don't feel like there was
- 15:35enough development from that offensive line. And also, just to be honest,
- 15:41as soon as Corey Lindsley got hurt, you see the immediate drop off.
- 15:45I mean, that's an all Pro center that was in the middle, that
- 15:48was able to help your guards out to make them, you know, take
- 15:50work off their plate, to be able to help them with their protections and
- 15:54helping them understand things like that's a huge, huge loss. Like it's hard
- 15:58to quantify. Right tackle Trey of Pipkins is under contract, that's gonna be
- 16:03one that's gonna be a little bit tough. I mean, to have that
- 16:06much money on the bench. I mean, yeah, he was not great
- 16:07last year. He gave up nine sacks, which is awful. But yeah,
- 16:14I think there's definitely a room for them to grab a center. And
- 16:17free agency, I would take a look at Bozeman, who played with the
- 16:19Ravens. I think that's a natural fit if they want to go there.
- 16:23I think that they need to probably add to one in free agency and one
- 16:27in the draft. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see what happens with
- 16:30this line for sure. But you know, you touched on it earlier and
- 16:33we got to get into what this wide receiver corp is really gonna look like
- 16:38Keenan Allen. I mean, that trade just a surprise for me, and
- 16:42like you were saying, a surprise for Chargers Nation as well. And you
- 16:47know, apparently it came from Keenan Allen's disagreement with the front office about taking
- 16:52a pay cut. That's what led him to being dealt to Chicago. From
- 16:56my understanding, you mentioned Mike Williams being released as well. I mean the
- 16:59team thus far here as we're recording this on March eighteenth, twenty twenty four.
- 17:03The pretty thin at the wide receiver position in a league that really prioritizes
- 17:08the passing game here, So, how do you see the Chargers really addressing
- 17:11this position in the future here? I mean, considering there still are some
- 17:15receivers on the market who could I think help this team. Of course,
- 17:18we have the draft coming up to how do you see the Chargers really addressing
- 17:22what is a big, big hole right now? David, Yeah. I
- 17:26mean, first of all, with the Keenan Allen trade, I hated it.
- 17:29I still hate it. It's a very productive ide receiver in the league,
- 17:33a guy that doesn't need speed to win because he's such an artist and
- 17:37as a route runner, he's a straight up artist. You know, his
- 17:41release packages, his route running, his understanding what the defense is doing,
- 17:47like he knows all of that stuff. He uses it all too great advantage,
- 17:49and he still gets open. He's like seven to eleven on third down,
- 17:52Like, it's just unbelievable how many first downs this guy creates on third
- 17:57down. Still very productive, I think. You know, obviously this is
- 18:00a move to give some comfort to Caleb Williams, who's going to be coming
- 18:04in to get picked number one overall and he's gonna play for the Bears,
- 18:07so you know, this is getting him a legitimate, like superstar wide receiver
- 18:11that's still productive in the league, and it's gonna be He's gonna be a
- 18:15good player for them, and we're definitely gonna miss him. But to the
- 18:18Chargers, the Chargers have the fifth overall pick in the draft, so they're
- 18:22in prime position to be able to grab a bona fide, legitimate threat at
- 18:27that spot. And there's a couple of scenarios that you know can play out.
- 18:32I think one of them is four quarterbacks go and you know, somebody
- 18:36trades up with the Arizona to to grab a quarterback, like maybe the Vikings.
- 18:40You know, they definitely need one. I think that's a potential trade
- 18:42there. And if that happens, then guess what the Chargers get Marvin Harrison
- 18:45Junior. And then I think that would they would absolutely run up to the
- 18:48podium to make that pick. And then if that doesn't happen and Arizona takes
- 18:52Marvin Harrison Junior, then the Chargers have the ability to grab him. The
- 18:56league neighbors, who is an absolute superstar, hes a guy that is a
- 19:00natural separator and a just a straight up weapon. A guy that you get
- 19:04the ball in his hands, then he's gonna be dangerous. He can take
- 19:07it to the house every single time he touches the ball. So there's some
- 19:11options there. They need to make sure that they address it early in the
- 19:15draft, first or second round. They have to infuse some legitimate talent into
- 19:21that wide receiver room because right now, I like some of the guys they
- 19:23have. Josh Palmer is a pro. I think he's a very solid wide
- 19:26receiver in the league. Quentin Johnston has some growing to do, but there's
- 19:30talent there if it's used properly. And Terius Davis is one of the fastest
- 19:36guys in the NFL. He's a guy he's definitely a natural punt returner,
- 19:38but you get to the ball in his hands in space, he can make
- 19:41some magic happen as well. But infusion of talent has to happen. I
- 19:45wouldn't be surprised if they grab a veteran in free agency, but they're going
- 19:51to prioritize it in the draft. Absolutely, all right again, folks.
- 19:53Talking to David Drogmeier from the Locked On Chargers podcast. I listen on Apple
- 19:57Podcasts. You should listen on whatever podcast platform you're listening to us on if
- 20:03you've not heard them talking. He and his co host Great Great podcast.
- 20:07And look, as we're moving along here, I mean the Chargers, Dave,
- 20:11they finished this past season with the third worst pass defense in the league.
- 20:15And as we shift over to the defensive side of things here, I
- 20:18mean, they really need to, in my opinion, address the safety position,
- 20:21cornerback positions with regard to that pass defense. How much of a concern
- 20:26is the secondary and can they kind of really turn this unit around pretty quickly
- 20:30or do you think it might take some time. Yeah. So a major
- 20:33part of that pass defense and just that defense overall was that Brandon Staley was
- 20:38the defensive coordinator and head coach of the Chargers, right, and you know,
- 20:42he was not great. I mean he had one year don Rams where
- 20:47he led the number one defense in the NFL, and then every subsequent year
- 20:51after that they were twenty third or worse in the league in total defense.
- 20:56So it's just it's been something that's been a chronic problem for the Chargers.
- 21:02I think that with Jesse Minter coming in and not only jesse Mincher coming in
- 21:07but pretty much bringing his entire staff from Michigan over. I think that translation
- 21:12of him being able to teach his defense to the Chargers players and his approach
- 21:18to be able to do it, I think it's much more sound because Brandon
- 21:22Staley when he brought in, he got coaches from kind of everywhere to try
- 21:26to bring in and be able to teach his scheme. This is the entire
- 21:30Michigan coaching staff for the most part on the defensive side. So these are
- 21:33all guys that have been in it. And jesse Mincher's defense in Michigan was
- 21:37number one by a mile, like it was absolutely not even close. They
- 21:42just dominated, They suffocated offenses that they played. They were very physical,
- 21:48they were strong swarming tackling, They played sound coverage, they got great pass
- 21:53rush. There's elements to that defense that obviously are going to translate to the
- 22:00NFL, and the Chargers have some talent there. They definitely need to add.
- 22:03I feel like they need to add two corners, probably a slot in
- 22:07an outside corner. I would like to get them more of a natural free
- 22:11safety behind Derwin James and the lowhig Gooman Lohi Goiman's fantastic by the way.
- 22:15I think he's a player that really sprouted in his fourth year in the league.
- 22:19He's not the fastest dude, but he's really smart. He understands where
- 22:22he needs to be, He's very instinctive, and all of that plays out.
- 22:26He's a playmaker. So he's a great He's a good player to go
- 22:30a pair with Throwin James. But yes, there's definitely some work to do
- 22:33on that defensive side. But I think the new coaching staff, the new
- 22:37approaches, and the new defensive coordinator are all reasons to feel like this defense
- 22:41is going to be much better in twenty twenty four. Yeah, I think
- 22:45they will be too. It's really going to be interesting to see just how
- 22:48this new era, this new Chargers era, is going to take shape.
- 22:52It's going to look different. Oh it is, it really is. And
- 22:55I wonder how that's going to translate to the guy who's going to be haken
- 23:00the snaps. You know, as we know, the quarterback position is probably
- 23:03most important position in sports, as many have dubbed it over the years.
- 23:07So I'm wondering here, David, as we're closing things out here, what
- 23:10does Justin Herbert need to work on most this offseason based on what you saw
- 23:15this past season, And you know, is this gonna be kind of like
- 23:18a make it or break it year for Justin Herbert. I know he's got
- 23:22a huge contract, but we see what's been happening with quarterbacks that do have
- 23:26large contracts in this league. Front offices are able to make some moves here
- 23:30and there. I don't know, what are your thoughts about Justin Herbert,
- 23:33what he needs to do this offseason, and what he may be looking at
- 23:37perhaps down the road as well. Yeah, So one of the things that
- 23:40I kind of alluded to earlier is that the Chargers offense was extremely one dimensional
- 23:45last year. It was Justin Herbert's big right arm and that was pretty much
- 23:49it. And it's really easy to play defense against the team that has absolutely
- 23:53no running game, that has no rushing threat, that you're not worried about
- 23:57the quarterback throwing deep because they're prepared to defend the deep pass. That are
- 24:03all Those are all elements that affected Justin Herbert's ability to play quarterback and the
- 24:08overall, you know, productivity of the offense. Like Justin Herbert was having
- 24:14to put his cape on and play Superman every single game and have have to
- 24:18try to throw them into and keep them into games when it's really hard to
- 24:23do that when you don't have a running game, you don't have a way
- 24:26to lean on an opponent, you don't know how to have a way to
- 24:27chew the clock to be able to impose your will. Like, those are
- 24:32all things that are really necessary, especially if you want to be a productive
- 24:36in the passing game. You need that play action nobility, and you need
- 24:40that believability that they can hurt you on the ground and through the air,
- 24:42and that just was not there last year. And I think that's why Jim
- 24:47Harbaugh, Joe Hortiz, Greg Ruman is all saying, hey, Justin Herbert's
- 24:51great, Let's see what he looks like with a running game, Like,
- 24:53let's see what he looks like when they have to actually defend the run and
- 24:57they can't have their safe he's like lurking deep on every play. Then watch
- 25:03out and see what Justin Herbert is capable of doing now. As far as
- 25:07growth personally, for Justin, I like to see him, especially on third
- 25:11down, third and long situations, be able to set protections more effectively to
- 25:17try to hinder against the Blitzes because and I know it's not all his fault.
- 25:22Let me make sure I say that very clearly. The offensive line was
- 25:25not great for the most part of last year, but far too often Justin
- 25:30Herbert was in situations where it was third and long, it was obvious that
- 25:34the team was coming after him, and they got home and they ended the
- 25:38potential comebacks for the Chargers. So he needs to get a little bit better
- 25:42on making sure he can protect himself as much as possible and hopefully again that
- 25:48they don't put him in as much of those situations as they did in previous
- 25:52seasons. But I think for personal growth, I think that's where I'm at.
- 25:55It's definitely not a make or break year for Justin Herbert. He dealt
- 25:57with two broken fingers, one on each hand, played through one he did
- 26:03not play through. Justin Herbert is still phenomenal. Like, let's not get
- 26:07it twisted. He's still a five quarterback in the league in my opinion.
- 26:11Yes, he hasn't won a lot of games in this game in this league,
- 26:15but this is not a QB stat. I don't care what anybody says.
- 26:18You can't play defense, you can't run the ball yourself, you can't
- 26:22catch the ball yourself. It's a team game. It is a team game.
- 26:27So when Justin Herbert has a better supporting cast around him, a better
- 26:32coach, a more competent defense, a consistent running game, You're gonna see
- 26:36them win a lot more football games. And I don't think we're gonna have
- 26:38to wait a lot longer than most people out there are thinking. Jim Harbaugh
- 26:44is a winner and he's gonna win quickly. It's gonna be interesting to see
- 26:47what happens with this Chargers team. For sure. We're gonna be following it
- 26:49here and again, folks. David Drogmeier from the Locked On Chargers podcast,
- 26:55Buddy, it was great talking to you. Thanks so much for taking the
- 26:56time. I'd love to talk to you another point down the Let's talk some
- 27:00NFL some more Chargers at some point in the future, my man, anytime,
- 27:03Jeff, thanks for the opportunity to talk to you. Brother. The
- 27:07Los Angeles Chargers are certainly going to have their hands full this upcoming season.
- 27:11I mean there's a lot of different dynamics happening. Of course, as we
- 27:15know, within the AFC West, the Denver Broncos have been making changes to
- 27:18their team. You've got the reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, They're
- 27:22not going anywhere anytime soon. The Las Vegas Raiders, what are they going
- 27:26to be doing in this offseason too? Hoping to do an opposition Territory podcast
- 27:30on the Raiders in the near future. But really, this Los Angeles Chargers
- 27:33team, I'm always always very enamored by what this team does or doesn't do.
- 27:41Quite frankly, I mean the Los Angeles Chargers, and back when they
- 27:44were in San Diego, they were a team that I really would enjoy following
- 27:48during the course of their season, especially when Philip Rivers was their quarterback.
- 27:52But now during this new era where Justin Herbert is really going to be able
- 27:56to take this offense in the future or some new leadership and the run office
- 28:00coaching leadership as we know. Yeah, y'all know how I feel about mister
- 28:04Harbaugh. Those of you who have been listening for some time. It's just
- 28:08gonna be a real interesting division here with this AFC West. So it's gonna
- 28:12do it for us here on opposition Territory again. As I mentioned at the
- 28:17top of the show, if you are new to listening to us, we'd
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- 28:27If anything happens to your podcast feed, you can always head on over to
- 28:30Philadelphia Sportstable dot com. We've got all of our shows over there, and
- 28:34you can follow me on the Twitter slash x at mister I'm sorry I had
- 28:38Jeffrey underscore Warren at Philadelphia pSTS, where you can follow the show. You
- 28:42can follow me on threads at mister jeff Warren and the show at Philadelphia Sports
- 28:48Table there again on threads. So take care of folks, We'll catch you
- 28:51next time.