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One of the best NFL talent acquisition off-seasons in several years has led the Chargers to be one of the favorites to win it all. But many are disbelievers and figuring out why is a stumper.
Standing on a high school football field in New Orleans, Louisiana, I was four years into scouting and evaluating football talent. Finding the big-name player was easy. It was finding that diamond in the rough.
The particular player I was scouting in NOLO was definitely no sleeper. He was the #1 rated quarterback in the country. As we were throwing the ball to each other, I asked the quiet and low-key quarterback what he felt was his best skill set. He didn't answer with words. Eli Manning threw a dart that went through my hands in what felt like a football impaled into my chest. A ball of velocity that 99% of high school QBs don't have. But this quarterback did.
Because of his name, he was not under the radar. But he was still a high school kid.
I have seen a great share of very talented players that are virtually unknown. Under the radar, some were not even given the time of day because of where they lived or played.
My first evaluating contract was in 1994 by recruiting coordinator Mark Lunsford of the University of Arizona. They hired me for a talent assessment and evaluation breakdown of my top 500 players.
Ever since adding NFL assessment and game scouting to my job description, I've been doing it for nearly 27 years.
I learned from one of the best. My father was a contract scout in the collegiate scouting department for several NFL teams in the 70s. Fast forward a couple of decades, I am a contract NFL game scout and a player development trainer (private coach), and I am doing the same thing my old man did, and I love it.
With the experience and what I do know, this off-season in free-agent acquisition and trades in the NFL, the new talent pool for many teams is interesting and more than any other.
As a private coach in the off-season, I worked with a former Charger who was released this past year. No team has piqued my interest more with the current and recently acquired talent than the Los Angeles Chargers.
The history of the Chargers is unique, especially in San Diego. They have always had a little problem getting respect from the league and the media.
The decent fan base in San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium was filled most of the time. About 30% away visiting team fans always gave it a cool vibe. Los Angeles is different. A castle three-quarters filled and 60% of those fans belong to the visiting team.
The Los Angeles Chargers are a different can of worms. With very little respect, as I see it, the National Football League sees the Chargers as an entity but not an organizational priority. Even with investment from the league to get them to LA.
The media and especially the football pundits, at no time in Charger history, San Diego or LA, are they more ignored than now.
Being a part of the NFL media, of course, I follow all the national media groups and the social media presence of teams and players.
However, for the first time, the Chargers are finally spending the money to get the Super Bowl-talent team. The Chargers have done an excellent job on the business side with their salary cap that has allowed them to get those players that can lead them to play in February. Again, this year more than ever.
Listening to the big-name NFL pundits, I am a little surprised by their outlook and prediction. Many believe they are a wild card team in the AFC West at best. Some have them as a possible Super Bowl team and some have them as a third-place team in their division.
What I am taking into consideration is last year’s performance.
Even though there are new players, last year spoke to me from a player, coaching, and performance standpoint. How does last year speak for this upcoming season? Coaching speaks the loudest. Almost the same staff, head coach Brandon Staley struggled at some points of the game as a head coach.
It was evident what his philosophy was last year. He lacked considerable starting rotation talent in some of the position rooms both defensively and offensively. But he has a head coach persona and ability built in him. With the lack of talent in some spots, he had superior talent in other spots.
Were the Chargers a playoff-caliber team last year? Yes. Then why didn’t they make it?
I believe most of the world saw the same two things I did: Sparse in certain key spots defensively and on the offensive line. And some dubious calls and decisions made by Staley that, not figuratively, cost them wins.
A cop-out reason is that almost every game, including home, is an away game for the Chargers. In their monstrosity castle of a new home stadium, every visiting team had more fans than the Charger faithful, give or take a couple of home games. It is a concern, but I don’t buy it.
Who knows, maybe that’s one of the reasons some are seeing the Chargers as a 10-7 type of team in 2022.
I don’t buy it.
I believe those concerns have been addressed in one of the most aggressive, high-level, off-season acquisitions a team has taken in several years.
Staley learned a lot last year and took a lot of fire from it. Secondly and most importantly, they answered the holes in their defense, and they did it with fireworks.
Future Hall of Famer linebacker Khalil Mack was one of the best pick-ups in Charger franchise history. And no, he is not too old. His game has not faded. And he is just as productive as he was as a Raider.
You must answer those concerns with facts and common sense. A superior player on two different less-than franchises with substandard surrounding talent. Yet, he still was a Pro Bowler.
So let’s look at the team Mack inherited for this upcoming season and the team the NFL media brass are challenging as a real threat:
*Top five quarterback.
*Best multi-threat running back.
*Top two receiver corps.
*Best free safety in the league.
*Best center in the league.
*Top two left tackles.
*Top two rush ends.
*Top five defensive secondary.
Of course, things like this are debatable but only by a fraction.
Why did super radio host Colin Cowherd, whom I respect, place the Chargers as the number three team in the AFC West behind the Broncos and Chiefs? The Chiefs may be. The off-season for Denver was very good, not great. It’s apples to oranges on the talent grab of the Broncos versus Chargers and it is not even close in favor of Los Angeles.
Cowherd is just one example of either a lack of knowledge and understanding of talent or he sees what he saw last year and there are still concerns in decision making, coaching, or still the lack of starting talent in some key spots.
But the bottom line is the Los Angeles Chargers still have to play the game. They beat four playoff teams and soundly drubbed a Super Bowl participant.
As an evaluator and scout, based on the talent acquired and the schedule, I see the Chargers at 12-5, splitting games against Kansas City, and LA ultimately winning the AFC West by a game. The playoffs are anyone’s game. Who comes in hot and home-field advantage.
But there is a wild card for the Chargers season with that talent, Brandon Staley. Will he learn from his big mistakes as a rookie head coach? He is one of the brightest coaches in the game, he can become one of the best there is. However, decisions are everything and last year cost him and his team a playoff visit.
Strong possibility that Staley leads the Chargers to the AFC Championship against the Buffalo Bills. That game will be a toss-up.