1-Man’s Opinion on Sports–Wednesday. “Chargers Mid-Season Report Card”
“Chargers Mid-Season Report Card”——–
Halfway thru the NFL season, it is a season of ups and downs for a team desperately trying to become a signature franchise in LA market.
Mid season grades for the Chargers (5-4) season
OWNER…Dean Spanos trying to be one of the big boys. Last we heard, he was one of the poorer owners in the NFL according to the Forbes Magazine rankings of team valuations…Last we heard still being sued by his sister, Dea, for failing to make charitable foundation contributions…Last we heard, unable to finance building of a new practice facility, he will rent new digs in El Segundo from the company building it…Nothing has changed since he fled San Diego…Still looking for handouts…Grade: (D)
GENERAL MANAGER…Close to winning, Tom Teleseco-John Spanos, but not there yet…Have loaded the roster with tons of athletes and have the QB in place to do it, but still have to win to get a better grade…Offense-so talented…Defense still deficient…Grade (C)
COACH..Brandon Staley is a fun guy, full of positivity and philosophy…Struggling a bit now that the league has caught up to his offense and trashing his defense-but upside there..Creative Off Coor-Joe Lombardi-just needs to get more of his different skill guys on the field to create mismatches that make Herbert spectacular…haven’t seen it yet…Grade (B)
QB..Justin Herbert is all things superstar in the making..Hits all the check boxes-now going thru his own learning curve..Does not get flustered, seldom turns it over..Too much on his shoulders though-but he does not flinch…Future in front of him..Grade (A)
WR..Keenan Allen-Mike Williams but still searching for the right third guy in the mix…Show me Guyton-Palmer-Ekler in exotic formatikons…Grade (B)
TE..Jared Cook-Stephen Anderson-Don Parham can play-just need to be thrown to more to replace Hunter Henry…Grade (B)
OL..Left side fantastic..right side awful…Rashawn Slater has 1-penalty, 1-sack allowed in 9-games-a stud for the future..The veteran left guard and center are solid..the right side is a mess and virtually all the draft picks Telesco chose, burned out or were run off…Not a complete unit yet…Grade (C)
RB..Austin Ekler has so much heart-but cannot do it by himself…Would wish Justin Jackson could stay off the injury report-get on the field as a compliment…Too early to tell what Larry Rountree will turn out to be..Just not heavy duty reliable yet…Grade (C)
DL…Front has been pushed all over the field-despite big bulk from a strong season from Linval Joseph-Justin Jones…If the Rams have the best, Bolts a long way behind them…Rest of front are just guys and deficient…Grade (C)
LB…Wonder if they were ever on the field together for full time, how good they would be? Too many injuries though….and now the Covid scare with Joey Bosa-unvaccinated….This could be a dynamic group if it ever gets totally healthy…..Kyzer White-Dru Tranquil…Kenneth Murray..Uchenna Nwosu…Joey Bosa..what a group-but not seen them in an extended period of time together…Grace (B)
DB…Help needed….Aging Chris Harris…too many kids…Asante Samuel makes plays, gets beat on plays…so does Nasir Adderley…Gilman-Campbell overwhelmed…Still have not seen consistency breakthrough from Michael Davis despite third year back there…Derwin James is rock solid but because moved around so many different roles-is not the intimidator I hoped he would be…Think he could be an Ed Reed-Ronnie Lott type guy..A year from now will be better…Grade (C)
K..Finally a trust worthy field goal guy in Dustin Hopkins-ex Washington..Ty Law okay as punter…but it has been years since they have been keys to wins…Grade (B)
KR-PR..Utter failure trying to return kicks and definitely defend kicks…No progress despite coaching changes…player changes…how can it be so hard to teach them to do it weekly?…Last in kick cover-punt cover-keep putting other guy on short field…Grade (D)
OVERALL GRADE..(2.38)…C-PLUS
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