0:10

What's up, guys, Chris Harry with you on a brand

0:13

new episode of Chargers Weekly

0:15

Training Camp coming to a close. We've

0:18

been coming to you live from Jack him at Sports Complex.

0:20

I think like the last three or four episodes back

0:23

at the home studio, and

0:25

you know I love a good roundtable. This is the

0:27

first time, though, that we've done a mego

0:30

roundtable. So coming up later. Jeff

0:33

Miller, La Times, Joe Ready, Associated

0:36

Press, and the Voice of the Chargers Matt

0:38

money Smith will join me. But

0:40

first Compass on the Beat

0:43

and Hops with Pop, Daniel Popper,

0:45

The Athletic, Fernando Ramirez,

0:48

Gilbert Menzado, Fernando

0:50

of Course, Sports Illustrated, gil Southern California

0:53

Newsgroup. Gentlemen, thank you

0:55

for joining me on our first ever mega roundtable.

0:59

Great to be here, guys,

1:02

guy, I was expecting a little bit more banter.

1:05

I think at the beginning of this, gentleman, I don't

1:07

think we want to interrupt one another, so we

1:09

kinda we kind of just let Pop

1:11

say it for all of us. Hey,

1:14

Chris, I have my dog trying to barge into

1:16

my rooms. I'm like looking that way, so sorry, I'm not distracted.

1:19

My little dog heroler. Okay, it's just a

1:21

it's another little storyline within the pod. Hey

1:25

guys, let's just start with this. If you're a Charger

1:27

Span and you didn't see a snap a training camp,

1:30

you're one big takeaway from

1:33

this last month. Poper will start with

1:35

you. Yeah, I gotta start defensively

1:38

and what this new scheme is gonna look

1:40

like, because that was sort of a big question mark for me

1:42

heading into it. Where were all these pieces going

1:45

to fit into the defense? And the one thing that jumps

1:47

out to you is that there are going to be a lot of moving

1:49

parts. It is going to be the

1:52

polar opposite of what Gus Bradley

1:54

was doing with this defense over the

1:56

last four years, where it was pretty static.

1:59

I mean, guys were in one role and the

2:01

same guys were coming off when they went to sub packages

2:04

and there wasn't a lot of disguise. It

2:06

was like, Hey, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna do it at a

2:08

really high level. We're going to execute it as close

2:10

to perfectly as possible. It's

2:12

a completely polar opposite philosophy.

2:15

It's throw as many different things as the opposing quarterback,

2:17

as possible to try and confuse him. It is

2:20

distraction and disguise, and

2:22

that starts with Derwin James and a lot

2:24

of these defensive backs moving all over the place. Derwin

2:26

is playing three positions, Chris Harris is playing three

2:28

positions, Joey Bosa is going to be dropping

2:30

into coverage periodically. They're gonna have five

2:33

man fronts. They're gonna have four man fronts. And

2:35

so that is my biggest takeaways that it's

2:38

just gonna be a lot different. It's gonna look a lot different

2:40

on defense, and the Chargers are hoping that

2:42

leads to more success from their

2:44

premium players and across the board. And

2:47

I think that that's what's so fascinating is we've

2:49

seen it on the practice field. These starters

2:51

had not played together in a preseason

2:53

game. So Week one at Washington

2:56

really good be the first time we see

2:58

how this all goes down. For data, what about

3:00

you man? One takeaway for

3:02

a charge of fate who has not seen any camp.

3:05

Derwin James is back. Derwin

3:07

James is back. That's as simple as I can put it. I

3:10

mean, Derwin really

3:12

the last two years during training camp

3:15

he's gotten hurt and I mean I remember all of us

3:17

were like, oh, Like every time you'd see him go

3:19

up for a hit or even during the joint practice, you

3:21

back oh. And he was fine.

3:23

He did everything he needed to do. The thing

3:26

is his leadership too. They missed his leadership.

3:28

He really is the guy that that goes

3:31

up. And I remember there was a play earlier

3:34

in training camp where he's telling a

3:37

Sandy Samuel while they're running. He's like,

3:39

stay inside, stay inside. I got the outside. You

3:41

could hear him screaming at him, and

3:44

Asante obviously kind of messed up and took the outside

3:46

a little bit, and he's like, no, no, no. They come off

3:48

the field and Derwin goes straight to him and starts talking

3:50

to him and starts telling him, no, dude, you stay

3:53

out, you stay inside. I'll stay I have

3:55

the outside. So that's the thing that the Chargers

3:57

missed his leadership because Joey is a

4:00

leader, but he's more of a quiet leader. He's

4:02

lead by example stuff like that. When

4:06

Derwin is a vocal leader and he really

4:08

takes that, he really takes

4:10

that to the next level. Jim Trotter from NFL

4:12

Network wrote today that a lot of the employees

4:15

around the Chargers believe that he's

4:17

the first leader that they've had on defense since

4:19

Junior say out and not saying a lot. So

4:21

definitely they missed Drwin.

4:23

Derwin is now back, and I think I saw

4:26

the other day a stat where it said that Joey

4:28

and Derwin have only played twelve games

4:30

together. So hopefully

4:32

they can ascend that to all sixteen this season, because

4:35

to watch Joey and Derwin on the field at the same

4:37

time would be very special for

4:39

the Chargers defense to have them both. Yeah,

4:41

and that's going back to twenty eighteen, So just imagine

4:44

those guys together for maybe seventeen

4:46

games this year. And yeah, Trotter had a great Dace.

4:50

Jeremy Fowler also had a good piece on Derwin.

4:53

You guys should check out Gil. What about you, man? Yeah,

4:56

I think I feel like it's every other year

4:58

kind of thing with the focus being on the offensive

5:01

line. I feel like for the for the Charge

5:03

to go really far, it depends on the offensive line,

5:05

because you know, they look pretty good with the starters,

5:08

but there isn't like we got a little glimpse of it. There's

5:10

an injury. Things to go pretty bad

5:12

and pretty south, really fast.

5:15

Uh, you know, Rashawn Stater looks really good.

5:17

Corey Lindsay looks like it's really great as well.

5:20

But if there's an injury to his offensive line, I'm

5:22

getting worried about the charge of overall. We

5:25

saw, you know with Trey and Stormy they're

5:27

kind of they're struggling. But if that five

5:29

guys, those starters are in there for to

5:32

protect us in Herbert, they should be okay.

5:34

But that's asking a lot to stay healthy for an

5:36

offensive line throughout the whole season.

5:41

All negative. Nancy Froze very

5:47

we're gonna let this playoff

5:49

the NFL. But

5:55

we didn't get any of that, Gil

5:58

Froze. Gil was making some excellent points about the offensive

6:00

line. I think he's back now, back now,

6:03

pick up where you left up where you're we're

6:05

on a role so you're yeah, you're just saying, how you join

6:07

the band my bandwagon of worrying about

6:10

the Chargers offensive line, Deppe

6:15

and they're when over you

6:19

can see something you can have said justin Herbert

6:21

is a machine. But Gilbert, it's

6:23

a great point because again this is

6:25

this is gonna be something that we haven't seen yet

6:29

Week one. This offensive

6:31

line of what we expect to be Slater,

6:34

Filer, Lindsley,

6:37

a Bushe and Bulaga

6:40

week one against Washington and their defensive

6:42

line probably the best in football. So um,

6:45

it's it's one of those things, just like Papa was talking

6:47

about with the defense. Um, we're gonna actually

6:49

see how this all goes down. It's one thing to

6:51

see them practice, but but transferring

6:54

that into a game September twelfth at Washington.

6:56

I think that's what Chargers fans are are really

6:58

excited to see up paper.

7:01

Let's talk about just performances

7:03

at camp. A non rookie, which

7:06

non rookie has impressed

7:09

you the most throughout training camp

7:11

including the games? Oh,

7:15

non rookie who has impressed

7:17

with the most? I would say Kaiser White. Yeah,

7:20

he has been to me the

7:22

most productive defensive player

7:24

on the field at any position.

7:27

Obviously he has the two interceptions, but he just seems

7:29

really comfortable in the scheme, which

7:31

is saying something because it's very complex.

7:34

There's a lot of moving parts. Like I talked about,

7:37

they're throwing as much as they possibly

7:39

can at opposing offenses, so there is

7:41

a bit of a learning curve with it, and we've seen some

7:43

guys sort of come on slow early in camp,

7:46

Chosu being one of them. But Kaiser White

7:48

has picked this up quickly and he is flying

7:50

around. You know. Brandon

7:52

Staion Ronaldo Hill, the defensive coordinator, obviously

7:55

have both talked about how Kaiser has a unique

7:57

blend of safety and linebacker

7:59

skill. He obviously was a safety in college

8:02

at West Virginia and moved to linebacker in

8:04

the pros. But he moves like a safety

8:06

but hits like a linebacker, right And though

8:09

that's a lot of defenses in the league are

8:11

looking for that type of player, and I think that's the vision

8:13

they had for Kaiser White when they drafted him.

8:15

But he's being utilized in a defense

8:17

where he's not thinking as much. It's

8:19

just go play downhill, get after

8:21

the ball, and make plays. That's

8:24

what these linebackers are being asked to do. And that fits

8:26

Kaiser white skill set perfectly. And

8:28

we've seen that jump out to the point where he is

8:30

now starting. He is starting next

8:32

to Kenneth Murray. I think that's pretty clear cut at

8:34

this point from what we've seen in practice jumping Drew Trankul.

8:37

They say they have three starters, but it's Kaiser White

8:39

on the field, and he's put himself in that

8:41

position by the plays that he has made

8:43

in training camp and in the preseason games

8:46

where he's played sparingly. He's

8:48

bigger this year. Rono

8:50

Hill I think, referred to him as a bully

8:53

and right it shows

8:55

on the field. It's they want

8:57

to play with an edge and with energy.

9:00

I've seen that clearly from Kaizer

9:02

throughout camping and in these games. Gil

9:05

a non rookie that you've been really impressed with.

9:09

You know, I'll go with Uh, I

9:11

keep talking about him, but I'll go Donald Parkham for now. I

9:13

was gonna hate me for this. Uh good

9:15

one. I like that good one? Yeah,

9:18

yeah, Gil, Where did you get where in

9:20

your genius did you get that one from? I

9:22

don't know. I won't give you guys credit. You and fernand

9:25

you and Poper love to get credit, so I won't give it

9:27

to you guys. You know what, I blamed myself.

9:29

I could have go with Fernando before Gil, but

9:33

that's where I was gonna. That's actually where I was going.

9:36

Yeah, I've been messing up the whole time with my dog

9:38

bargeing in my WiFi, So I'm gonna get it right

9:41

this time. Donald Parkham Junior has

9:43

been most improved. I feel like on the charges

9:45

of Roster a year ago, he struggled

9:47

with blocking route running. He

9:50

was a big body out there, red zone threat,

9:52

but he was in a complete tight end. Now I'm

9:54

seeing that in training camp. He stood out

9:56

to me right away. He was, you know, really improved.

9:58

The first couple of weeks had a maybe

10:01

like a small injury and he kind of,

10:03

you know, maybe maybe uh slowly decreased

10:06

at the production, but he is definitely

10:08

a top ttographer Justin Herbert. Herbert

10:10

is looking to Jared Cook and Donald Parham pretty

10:12

often and it's hard to miss, uh,

10:14

the six foot eight tight end Donald

10:17

Parham. And I'm just really impressed with

10:19

the route running. He's getting open in the middle of the

10:21

field, He's extending plays. Uh,

10:23

He's he's pretty fast for his size as well.

10:25

So I think for me it's gonna be a top weapon for

10:27

Justin Herbert. Am I am I hearing fantasy

10:29

sleeper here goil Oh, definitely

10:32

uh take him and I don't know, maybe it's full roun

10:35

take a flyer on Donald Parham Jr. Guys

10:37

When Hunter Henry went to the Patriots.

10:39

Everyone was like, Okay, well now the tight end

10:41

room. What are we gonna do there? You

10:44

see what Jared Cook was able to do. You know,

10:46

especially at the beginning of training camp,

10:48

Peter King thinks that he's the X factor on

10:50

this offense. So Cook

10:53

and Parham and you

10:55

know, Parm's just another name that we

10:57

we didn't really know less year. We knew of him

11:00

him and we knew that he was from the XFL.

11:02

Justin really introduced us to these guys

11:05

throughout the course of last year. And now guys

11:07

like t Billy Jalen, Guyton, Donald Parham,

11:10

they're not really surprises anymore.

11:12

And in taking that next step in their development

11:14

in twenty twenty one is gonna be really

11:17

interesting. All Right, Fernando, I gave you a little bit

11:19

more time to think of a third guy. Well,

11:21

if you cover the La Renegades last year, you would

11:23

have known who Donald Parham was because

11:27

he had a seventy yard touchdown catch

11:30

and run against the La Renegades.

11:33

I remember That's where I thought, Oh that guy would Wildcats

11:37

Wildcats

11:37

and oh

11:39

Dallas Renegades. He played for the Dallas Renegades.

11:42

My bad. He played for the Dallas Renegades.

11:47

Oh my god, I'm a terrible human being. I

11:49

know I'm terrible. No,

11:53

no, no, don't edited that out that that's all good.

11:55

That's Gills, Gil's dog, the wife, it's

11:58

all. It's all staying in. I don't have to. Oh

12:01

my god, this is terrible. So I'm

12:03

gonna go Kyler Frackle Facrol. I

12:06

think he's caught on now. It's

12:08

in my head. Yeah.

12:11

I know. He was a guy that came

12:13

in and a lot of people thought, Oh, it's gonna be Chenna Nuosus

12:15

spot. He's really challenged Chenna

12:18

for the spot, and he's really made a name

12:20

for himself. I thought on last

12:23

Sunday he just got constant

12:25

pressure, constant pressure. I know Cortez

12:28

Broughten basically got that sack for him,

12:30

but hey, he deserved one at least, so he

12:33

was able to get that one. I think he's he

12:35

got consistent pressure against the Rams as

12:37

well. So I think he's gonna be the guy that's opposite

12:40

Joey and and and. I think it's gonna

12:42

be a healthy rotation. They're not gonna make them play

12:44

the full game. But I think when the

12:46

starting lineup comes out, it is gonna be

12:49

Joey on one side and Kyler on the other. Kyler's

12:51

been here before where with the Green Bay Packers

12:54

ten and a half sacks when he had a great

12:56

pass rusher next to him. So if he's opposite

12:58

Joey, it might be it might

13:00

be good for him. It might be open

13:03

for him to get more and more sacks because everybody's

13:05

gonna be so worried about Joey sometimes you forget

13:07

about that other guy. So I definitely

13:10

think that he's one of those guys that's really improved.

13:12

He's a free agent signing that not a lot of people

13:14

talked about, but now everybody knows

13:16

about him. And I think he's gonna play

13:18

a big role in the Chargers defense

13:20

this year. A sack, two

13:23

tackles, three quarterback hits in thirty

13:25

two snaps. And I think Joey Bosa was on

13:27

the sidelines talking about him

13:29

during the broadcast, is that he's beating his man every

13:31

single time. So I think Joey's excited

13:34

about this rotation on the other side of him, and

13:36

I think it has to be a rotation, right, I mean, I

13:38

think Chenna and fact Roll, if

13:40

you can get those guys and keep

13:42

them fresh. Opposite Joey, that's

13:45

what you want to accomplish, Popper,

13:48

I said, non rookie, because now we're gonna talk rookies,

13:50

and I go back to the first game against

13:52

the Rams. There's so many contributions up

13:55

and down the rookie class. Even

13:57

last week, Josh Palmer

13:59

gets touchdown inside, they seem gets an interception.

14:02

Who's been the most impressive rookie

14:04

to you this training camp. I'm

14:07

gonna go with Josh Palmer. He

14:10

has been excellent. I mean he's been

14:12

a training camp star by

14:15

the very definition of the phrase. I

14:17

don't think that anyone, including

14:20

people in the building, expected him to come on this quickly,

14:23

but he has proven to be a

14:26

very capable NFL receiver in

14:28

a short period of time. His

14:31

big body, strong hands, speed,

14:33

strength, He can play inside, he can play

14:35

outside. He's reliable, like

14:38

he reminds me a lot of Keenan

14:40

Allen in those money down situations

14:43

third and three, third and four, third and five,

14:45

third and six, where he just can get open and

14:47

then he's reliable at the catch point.

14:50

He can make contested catches. He has some speed

14:52

to win down the field. He can really do

14:54

everything you ask out of a receiver. And I think

14:56

the most noteworthy thing to come out of camp was Keenan

14:58

Allen saying that Josh Palmer is

15:00

ahead of where he was as a rookie in

15:02

terms of his route running, in terms of his football

15:05

IQ, and the other thing that's jumped out about

15:07

Josh Palmer is just his desire to get

15:09

better. I mean, he is the last guy on the field

15:11

every day and he's out there with Justin

15:13

Herbert every day working on routes,

15:16

working on timing, working on that connection

15:18

that is so important. Now in terms

15:20

of his production this season, we'll have to

15:22

see. There are just so many players that

15:24

deserve targets on this offense, whether it's

15:27

Austin neck Cler Keenan Now and Mike Williams, Jerry Cookdonald

15:29

Parham. We can go down the list. So it is

15:31

he gonna put up the big numbers? I don't know,

15:33

and I'm talking to the fantasy people out there for this one,

15:36

but I do know that the Chargers have a player.

15:38

It gives them flexibility after the season

15:40

in terms of how they decided to handle Mike

15:42

Williams, who's going to be a free agent. But

15:45

I think there's a lot of reasons to be very, very

15:47

excited about Josh Palmer's future in the NFL.

15:50

At first drive against the Rams and the four

15:52

catches on that twenty one play drive and

15:55

it was six leading the team. Fernando,

15:57

I'm going to you, buddy. You know, I'm

16:00

not gonna go with the everybody expects me to

16:02

go with one or two. I'm gonna go Nick. I mispelled

16:04

his name over the weekend on Twitter,

16:07

and I apologize for that. But Nick Nieman,

16:09

I think he's a guy that's really stood out. I

16:12

think I didn't expect him to play

16:14

this well. I mean when they put him in there, he really

16:16

I feel like he lets his instincts take over, and

16:19

I feel like that's a solid player for the Charge and not

16:21

for right now because obviously they have Kaizier, they

16:24

have Kenneth Murray, and they have other

16:26

playmen and they have Drew special

16:29

teams. Is exactly where they're gonna need him.

16:31

So definitely, that's where I think he's gonna end

16:34

up needing the shine, and I think

16:36

he will. I mean, he just he said it the other

16:38

day on Sunday. He said, that's where my brother

16:40

really found his niche with the Kansas

16:42

City Chiefs, and that's where I think he expects

16:45

himself to find uh success

16:47

and making this team is gonna be through special

16:49

teams. So I think he's a guy that

16:52

that really plays with his instincts. I think

16:54

he's gonna I if

16:56

I I'm no stradamus, I see at least

16:58

two special teamster and overs for him

17:01

where he recovers a fumble

17:04

or something in key situations. So I'm

17:06

gonna predict that for him. But I think this specially,

17:08

if this special team is gonna get play better this

17:11

year, they're gonna need guys like Nick Niman

17:13

to really step up and and uh

17:16

and play well for them.

17:18

Compas. There

17:20

you go. I love it. Oka. Hey listen, nickname

17:22

is son of a coach in Iowa,

17:24

and his brother obviously plays with the Chiefs.

17:27

I hope I'm really rooting for Nick so we can get

17:29

to week three and see the brother battle.

17:31

Anyw's he's an outrageously gifted

17:33

athlete. Yeah, you watch him play like he

17:35

is a freak in terms of

17:38

his tackling ability, a sideline a sideline speed,

17:40

like he is a prototypical special and then you can tell

17:42

he really lets his incincts take over and

17:44

he knows exactly where everything's going, so

17:46

that's exactly where he is. And if he doesn't get the tackle,

17:48

I mean, at least he's in the way in a sense and somebody

17:51

else can come up and wrap up. So he's he's a he's

17:53

a special talent. The number thirty one throws

17:55

me off a little bit when when I see him his

17:58

positions live back. Yeah, Gil,

18:01

I think you got you got seven rookies to choose

18:03

from from this class. Yeah, it's looking

18:05

like la okay,

18:08

somebody has to talk about Reshawns later. The people

18:11

want Rashaunce later and get out of

18:13

my head for down though, because it is Roshaunce later.

18:15

How do you not go with the obvious first round choice.

18:17

I kind of already mentioned them, but my WiFi broke up.

18:19

So let's go back to Rashaunce later and

18:22

him left tackle rookie And we were there,

18:24

Poper for now. When we saw him go one on one against

18:27

Joey Bosa for the first time, we like

18:29

we lost our minds pretty much. We got carried

18:31

away for a training camp one on one battle. It was that

18:33

exciting Rashaance and enjoy Bosa

18:35

and Saya got the best to him, and Joey

18:37

Bosa has admitted as well that this

18:40

guy was raising my competition

18:42

though, because the rookie was beating Joey Bosa, and

18:44

Bosa was like, okay, that's enough, let me get

18:46

some wins on the rookie and those who have been going

18:48

back and forth in training camp, and it's been fun

18:50

to see. And I know for a lot of charges fans,

18:53

they've they've been kind of you know, you know, screaming

18:55

for a good left tackle, a

18:57

good offensive line if and it seemed like the

19:00

finally have it. Like with Rashawn Later in

19:02

the whole Union. I'm not Fernando. I don't

19:04

have a Christal ball here, but I'm gonna take

19:06

a wild guess and say, Rashawn Stay is gonna be

19:08

really good as a rookie. Uh So

19:10

make sure that you know you take that to the bank, because

19:12

I know some stuff about football as well, like

19:14

Poper and Fernando, So I think

19:17

Rashawn s Later I will have a

19:19

great rookie year. There was a little kind

19:21

of a little bit of a scare with the with the lower back

19:23

issue there, but he came back to practice and

19:25

he's looking like he hasn't missed a beat just

19:27

yet. By the way, Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert's

19:30

lying. He said the first thing that he thought when Rashawn

19:32

s Later and Joey Bosa went up at each other, He's

19:34

like, dang it. If I would have recorded that,

19:36

it would have been it would have blown up on TikTok. So

19:39

that's exactly what he said first, and then

19:41

he talked about how great the matchup was. Listen,

19:43

hemm centric,

19:48

Chris, can I add one more in? Yeah, go for it?

19:50

Okay, I feel like he deserves a shout out here.

19:52

Mark Webb, Yeah, seventh

19:54

round pick out of Georgia. The safety, I

19:57

mean Brandon's daley. Last year it

19:59

was defense. According the Rams, they go out, they find Jordan

20:01

Fuller in the sixth round. He becomes a very capable

20:03

starter at free safety for them. This year goes

20:06

out in the seventh round, takes Mark Webb out

20:08

at Georgia, and this guy's looking like a real piece

20:10

for this defense, a significant depth

20:12

piece. I mean, they got him playing both safety spots.

20:15

They got him playing some star in the slot,

20:17

they got him playing some money. He's looking like a jack

20:19

of all trades in the secondary. He's picking balls

20:21

off and he's looking comfortable in the

20:23

defense. He's big, he moves better

20:25

than I thought he did based on his testing times

20:28

at the Combine. So shout out to Mark Webb

20:30

because I feel like, you know, the seventh round pick, you're

20:32

typically fighting for a roster spot, but he has earned

20:35

his way onto this roster and he's going to be

20:37

a key depth piece for the secondary this season. This

20:39

good call, and I'll just add Asante Samuel

20:41

Junior because you've seen him

20:43

in his confidence kind of rise

20:46

throughout training camp, getting his hands on the

20:48

football. He picked off garoppolo

20:50

and joint practices. I know he was

20:52

behind on that route a little bit, but heavy

20:54

interception against Jimmy in the game,

20:57

and this is why the Chargers selected

20:59

him in the second round. He's a ball hawking corner.

21:02

Get the ball and get it to Justin Herbert

21:04

and company. And hopefully he can do

21:06

that um and you know, the coaches

21:08

have talked about him playing both inside and outside,

21:11

so we'll see how his progression

21:13

goes. But we know about the bloodlines

21:15

and to have a guy like Derwin James

21:17

in the secondary with him and Chris Harris Junior

21:20

to kind of teach him the ropes of playing

21:22

in the NFL's rookie year. I'm

21:24

excited to see how they use the ste

21:26

this year. So they final

21:28

thing. I got a minute each most

21:31

intriguing storyliner position

21:33

battle entering this Saturday,

21:36

about forty five seconds each. We'll

21:38

go around the horn. Uh, let's

21:41

start with gil first

21:43

pick. Finally, kicker. I'm

21:45

gonna take the best competition battle

21:47

is kicker. Yeah, I think his

21:49

name is Tristan. This guy I know, did I

21:51

get it right? Finally? And

21:54

Michael Badley going at it for the kicker position

21:56

there, and Tristan had a giant

21:58

lead in this battle to start. Maybe I should

22:00

an exaggerate, but it was a pretty big lead for for

22:02

Tristan. And I think Michael Badgie pulled

22:05

in last week by making more

22:07

more field goals and practices in Tristan

22:09

having that fifty yard field goal in the preseason as

22:12

the forty nine ers showing the lext drink

22:14

that we've been looking for in Michael Badger.

22:16

So I think, uh, they're pretty close

22:18

now. I think it's still Tristan in the lead, but

22:21

this final game in Seattle. To give you some

22:23

storyline. People are tired of preseason games.

22:25

They want to move on to a regular season. Get

22:27

excited about Tristan and Michael Badgie going out

22:29

in Seattle. That's what I'm gonna be watching

22:32

for the priests in finale on Saturday Night for

22:35

Compadamas, who wins the kicker Battle

22:37

Compadma. There you go, Tristan.

22:40

I think he has a leg Drink has been doing well in kickcoffs

22:42

as well. I take Tristan

22:45

uh to win that job for

22:47

sure. All right, Bernado, you're up.

22:50

Yeah, Well Paper called that one a

22:52

couple of weeks ago, so I think it's been over. Um,

22:56

I'm gonna go Chase

22:59

Daniel versus Easton Stick. Yeah,

23:02

it's I mean,

23:04

obviously, if you gather

23:06

any of the comments that Joe Lombardi said

23:08

on Wednesday, you

23:11

kind of maybe know what way they're

23:13

leaning. But I still think it's been

23:15

interesting to watch Easton Easton. I

23:17

don't know for what reason. During practice he's throwing

23:20

interceptions, he makes mistakes. Then

23:22

it comes to the games and he's taking care of the football.

23:25

He's completing any eighty one percent of his

23:27

passes, And I know it's just preseason, but

23:29

still it's interesting the way he's taking care

23:31

of the football. Um. But Chase,

23:33

Daniel and Easton, I'm gonna be interested to see how

23:35

they go this weekend. I think it's gonna be Chase

23:38

goes first and then Easton goes second. But

23:40

but definitely, uh who doesn't like a

23:42

good quarterback controversy and quarterback

23:45

battle, So I'm gonna have to go with both of them.

23:48

It's a good at least we're

23:50

not asking if it's gonna be Tyrod, if it's

23:52

gonna be Justin. It's a good thing to have

23:54

a quarterback controversy when it's the numbers

23:58

three guys. That's a number one guy, which which

24:00

to me is the best position ever, the

24:02

backup quarterback. You hold a clipboard,

24:04

you get paid millions of dollars. Popper,

24:07

I got one more minute, go for it all,

24:09

right, wide receiver. The

24:12

back end of this step chart is

24:15

to me, the most heated battle

24:17

heading into this final preseason

24:19

game. You know you've got kJ

24:22

Hill, You've got Tyrn Johnson, You've

24:24

got Jason Moore. These are the guys

24:27

that are really competing there. You

24:29

can add Michael Bandy in there. Too as a potential punt

24:31

returner. kJ Hill's not nicked up right

24:33

now. Jason Moore's nicked up right now. So you

24:35

really got three maybe four guys battling for

24:38

those you know, final two spots there,

24:40

you know, after the big three. And I think Jayalen

24:42

Guiden has sort of cemented himself

24:45

in that group, and I can see really

24:47

any two of them locking down that final

24:49

spot. Um, you know it's there's the rotation

24:52

has been u sort of you

24:54

know, mixing up over the last

24:56

couple of weeks. You know, Tyrn Johnson was the fifth

24:58

receiver on the field in that preseason

25:01

game, played well into the fourth quarter, which you

25:03

know read into that whatever you want to. Obviously

25:05

was a super productive player last year. But

25:08

who who wins those final two spots. I'll

25:10

be watching closely to see who performs in this game.

25:12

Obviously Special Teams is going to be a big factor. Who

25:14

can provide some flex as a kick returner,

25:16

punt returner, even a gunner um

25:19

potentially, So that's a battle that I'll be watching

25:21

heading into this preseason game. This

25:23

is what's cool about this podcast. I got

25:25

the next crew on deck

25:27

here. It's almost like the family feud

25:29

because it's like the same questions and I'm

25:32

just gonna see you werena compare answers

25:34

right, who who money

25:36

and ready? And you won't get Nick Nieman,

25:38

you won't get Mark Webb, you won't get

25:40

that from from them. You're gonna get the first

25:43

three. Uh, you're gonna get a Sante

25:45

Rashaun and uh and

25:48

uh Josh Palmer. So we gave you, we gave you,

25:50

we gave you some of the back end guys. Who knows, maybe

25:52

we'll get a Trey McKitty or maybe we'll get a Larry round

25:54

Tree. You never know. One

25:57

of the one of the reasons I always love to do this

25:59

too, especially at be any of the season,

26:01

is you guys all do awesome work

26:03

at your respective publications. But also

26:06

we got hops with pop. Is that coming? Is that

26:08

going to continue throughout the year? Um

26:11

to be determined. I think we're I'm gonna put out a poll sometimes

26:13

soon, but I think we're gonna do it um

26:15

after games, like on Sunday nights.

26:18

But yeah, we'll see something

26:20

we're doing. So and then obviously compass on the beat

26:22

every Tuesday, Big Time guests. Uh

26:25

rap sheet was this past week YEP

26:28

rap sheet. It was I bugged

26:30

him at training camp and he

26:33

agreed to it, so it was a lot of fun to have him

26:35

on. Awesome. Well, I'm gonna

26:37

I'm gonna try to get up on the sign up

26:39

list for Compass on the Beat anytime you

26:41

guys would like to have me. Oh yeah,

26:44

definitely, Chris. They big

26:46

timey for six months pay. Unbelievable.

26:50

All right, boys, awesome, see

26:52

ye, thank you. Thanks all

26:55

right. Part two of our Mega round Table

26:58

thanks to Popper Gil and for and oh.

27:01

Let's bring into Voice of the Chargers Smatt Muddy

27:03

Smith, Jeff Miller, La Times, Joe

27:05

Ready, Associated Press. Gentleman,

27:08

how are we doing? Awesome?

27:11

Outstanding? Great, have money

27:13

on here? I love it. Yeah, finally

27:15

somebody on here with the real voice. Yeah. Well,

27:17

but not the intelligence that you writers have, That's

27:20

for sure. I'm the idiot, an I'm just screaming

27:22

a head, that's all I am. Yeah, but we have

27:24

the we have the quality. With the golden

27:26

platinum records in the background, exactly

27:29

between between the medals and

27:32

the platinum records, we

27:34

gotta cover. This is an accomplished

27:36

group. This is a very accomplished group. Hey,

27:40

guys, first thing, you

27:42

all have been a camp for a Charger fan

27:45

who didn't see a snap of training camp.

27:47

Just you're one overarching

27:49

takeaway from the last

27:51

month. Money will start with you. Well,

27:54

I would I would say speed and

27:57

energy is probably what I

27:59

would go with, particular liarly at the linebacker position.

28:01

And maybe it's just you know, bias, just

28:03

because it's been such a bugaboo

28:06

for this team the last few years, injury

28:08

at that position, lack of depth, you

28:10

know, watching Tyree Hill, Bernhy's

28:12

pillard on, you know, those three by one

28:15

formations and the over routes. To

28:18

see that particular group headlined

28:22

by by Kenneth Murray, you know, and seeing him out

28:24

there running around in that that second preseason game

28:26

and Kaiser White and Trank Will I'm

28:28

really in Nieman, you know, the sixth round pick tip Like

28:31

to me, that's just what I've noticed in those two preseason

28:33

games and practices is there's a lot of speed

28:35

and there's a lot of energy out there. Yeah,

28:39

if we just talk about Kaiser White, Ernodo

28:41

Hill called him a bully. Yeah,

28:44

he's put on weight and he plays

28:46

with that edge and energy. I think that Brandon's

28:48

Daley wants to play with and just seeing Kenneth Murray

28:50

out there a practice yesterday, Drew Trank,

28:53

will Um and Nick Nieman, Man, I

28:55

mean he may not necessarily

28:57

see the field on defense, but from a special team's

28:59

perspective, Um, he's a

29:01

son of a coach, He's got a nose the ball,

29:03

and knows how to tackle. Are

29:06

all three things that that check the

29:08

box. Jeff, what about you, man, I'm

29:11

gonna stick on the defense too. And just did Derwin

29:14

James back? I think it we all

29:16

saw with different teammates here. You

29:18

talk to these guys about him and it's

29:20

like he's three players. I mean they

29:23

that's how much he means this defense and how much

29:25

they missed him last year. And we all knew

29:27

that really the last two years. We all knew

29:29

that. But now that you see him back out there

29:31

and you see the difference he makes, he's calling signals

29:33

and Staley loves him. You know

29:35

he wouldn't. He wouldn't have him in that position

29:37

to be calling the defense if he didn't. And they

29:40

all love him and they follow him, and he's a leader, there's

29:42

no question about that. And so I think

29:45

you look at that defense as Jens to be really good

29:47

and he's a big part of it. Just having him

29:49

back, it just it just feels

29:51

different out there on defense. Joe,

29:55

I think this is like my sixteenth

29:58

or seventeenth NFL try in camp,

30:01

and I never saw as

30:03

many live special teams

30:05

periods then

30:07

I did during during

30:10

this camp. Usually that

30:12

stuff is done during walkthrough periods

30:15

when we aren't allowed

30:17

in, which is usually

30:19

like I think an hour to ninety

30:21

minutes depending on depending

30:24

on the structure

30:26

of the day and everything. But

30:29

the live special teams drills

30:31

starting from day one, usually

30:34

you don't see that from teams until maybe

30:36

the first weekend or a week and a half

30:38

in if In terms

30:40

of field goals and all that, I think

30:43

it just impresses from

30:45

Brandon Staley that this is going

30:47

to be very much.

30:49

I think as he says a team of teams

30:52

and in stressing that this is

30:54

a three phase game, and

30:57

how much he was saying from the get

30:59

go on practices that he was stressing

31:01

it very much on game situations,

31:04

and we saw that from the first practice.

31:07

Money. I want to ask you about that because obviously

31:09

you called these games. You know how

31:12

many of those losses

31:14

were due to special teams mishaps.

31:18

When you see how much they've focused

31:21

on that phase of the game, drafting

31:24

guys to play special teams,

31:26

specifically the kicking competition,

31:30

it seems like it's kind of raised everybody's

31:32

level. It's been very heightened that phase

31:35

of the game. Well, I guess

31:37

you know the word I've used at this point, it's just hopeful,

31:39

you know, for the Chargers and the Chargers fans.

31:42

I don't know if they've resolved

31:44

all their issues, but like

31:46

you said, they've certainly changed it. I think it's a

31:48

big reason why we have a whole new coaching

31:51

staff here. You know, I've never

31:53

seen anything like that Patriots game and

31:56

all the years I've called football, So I think

31:58

that was sort of the exclamation point, the straw

32:00

that broke the Camels back. Whatever you know, idiom

32:03

you want to use it, I

32:05

think that was that was sort of the alarm

32:07

bell. And no doubt it's going to be full

32:09

scale changes. Well I shouldn't say that. We'll

32:11

see, you know, like Tai Long beat out

32:13

Lachlan Edwards, so they're bringing back the same punter.

32:17

You know, we'll see if Badeley comes back as well. And

32:19

then you're talking about making sure your protections

32:21

tight and making sure your coverage units are

32:23

are tight and better. You mentioned Nieman. We've

32:26

seen Kamon Hall perform. Well, you know

32:28

Brandon on Bannon on those special teams

32:30

units. So there's a lot of different faces,

32:33

a new coordinator who you know just being

32:35

around and listening to him, he's got a heck

32:37

of a lot of energy. It's certainly fun to be out there and

32:39

watch him coach. But you know, until we actually

32:41

see it in a game, I think there's

32:44

reason to still be a little bit skeptical

32:46

because it's been bad for a few years now. Guys.

32:50

I would go around the horn again, and Joe will start

32:52

with you a non

32:54

rookie, most impressive non

32:57

rookie that you've seen in camp

32:59

thus far. M you

33:07

can go justin, you can go you can

33:09

go obvious, or you can get I

33:13

would go out on a limit, say Easton stick,

33:16

because you know there

33:19

is a backup quarterback battle.

33:23

I think in the end, with as many

33:25

needs is his team has

33:29

at other positions, I think in

33:31

the end they're going to keep just two

33:33

quarterbacks. And what

33:37

Easton has directed both touchdown

33:39

drives, I think that throw that he made

33:42

in the San Diego game running

33:44

to the right sideline, passing

33:47

left, finding Josh Palmer.

33:51

Great play by both of them, but especially

33:53

Easton with three defenders bearing

33:55

down on him and having enough physically

33:59

to be able to be able

34:01

to loft that not really a bullet, but

34:03

being able to loft that pass.

34:07

And Money had a good view of it too for

34:09

two from the radio booth. I

34:12

think it just shows what he

34:14

can do and maybe the

34:16

different things that they're that they're

34:18

going to have him do during

34:21

games. I think we'll see more of the east

34:23

and Stick factor during games this

34:26

year where maybe him and Justin are on

34:28

the field at the same time. Do

34:30

they Tayston hill him at

34:32

times? Maybe not as much

34:34

as New Orleans did, but do

34:37

we have that factor during games to

34:39

keep teams honest? So I think

34:41

that you know, there was a lot of

34:43

pressure on Easton and Chase Daniel

34:46

coming into this camp in Easton is more

34:48

than delivered. Yeah,

34:50

it's it's hard. I think

34:52

Brandon Stale even said it like he gave

34:55

Chase Dannie a lot of credit for just hanging in

34:57

there in that second half of that San Francisco

34:59

game. You're right. Saturdays

35:02

you know, there's a lot of things already

35:04

kind of buttoned up. That quarterback battle

35:07

is to be determined. Jeff,

35:09

what about Yeah, you know what, Chris, I'll just jump in there. I

35:11

think that's a great observation. Joe.

35:13

I agree. I can't imagine

35:15

them carrying three quarterbacks. I just think

35:18

there's too much, too much need

35:20

at depth positions that we've seen get

35:23

thin, you know, through attrition over the course of

35:25

the year. And you know, when we were calling the game,

35:27

it was something we were focused on, and I think it's

35:30

Look, the leadership's nice. The veteran ear

35:32

to to to have is

35:34

nice. But if God forbids

35:36

something happened to Herbert, who's going to go out there and win a

35:38

quarter and win maybe a game or two. And

35:41

I don't think it's even close. Like to me, Easton

35:43

sticks gotta you know, looks to be that guy.

35:47

Easton has played well. I

35:49

think he was at seven to seven in the first

35:51

game, and you know, yeah, some of those plays

35:53

he made. You mentioned them, one to Palmer, the thirty

35:56

nine yarder to Gighten down the sideline. He's

35:59

always been kind of on to watch. I remember the Arizona

36:01

game, Money a couple of years ago. Oh, look, he's an

36:03

athlete. You know. DJ said it the year they drafted

36:05

him. He said, t Taysom Hill,

36:08

you know, and Coach Lynn was

36:10

like, hey, he ain't as thick as Taysom Hill.

36:12

I don't think we can throw him out there on special teams.

36:14

You know, that's a little but I think he could be. I

36:16

mean the way Easton's built. If ever, if you're ever

36:18

around him, he's a thick dude. I mean, he's an athlete.

36:21

I think that's a great point, Joe. I

36:23

could totally see, especially with Lombardi here,

36:25

that Taysom Hill factor. And again, what do they want

36:27

to do. They want to pressure defenses. What

36:30

better way to pressure him than to have two guys out there that

36:32

can throw the ball and have no idea what's going to happen

36:34

when the ball snapped. Or we've seen read

36:36

option a couple of times during practices,

36:40

training camp practices this year. You

36:42

throw Easton out there a couple of times

36:44

on a read option or you

36:47

know, it's crazy as it sounds,

36:50

Herbert and Easton both, you

36:52

know, both rolling right on a read option

36:54

and all the sunny you know, one pitches

36:56

to the other Jeff

36:58

Easton Stick is off the board. I

37:01

need a non rookie, impressive

37:04

player. I'm glad Joe went first

37:06

on this one because this is a tough one. I think,

37:09

you know, um, I'm going to go

37:11

back to Kaiser White. I think he not

37:14

that he he showed up as a rookie. He

37:16

started right at the beginning. It was right

37:18

at the beginning of that first year. Of course he got hurt

37:20

and missed a bunch of time. But I

37:23

he, to me, looks like a guy and he's

37:25

going to rotate in there with with

37:27

Drew Tranquill that linebacker spot opposite

37:29

Kenneth Murray, and he looks

37:32

if he can stay healthy. I think I

37:35

was talking to Tom Telesco recently and

37:38

he said the thing about Kaisers

37:40

he looks like a linebacker now where he know,

37:42

he came out of college, he played a lot of safety

37:44

and making that transition that uh,

37:47

Tom Telesco thought it took it. You know, it takes

37:49

a few years. He said, Now he plays

37:51

like a linebacker. He looks like a linebacker.

37:54

So I think that's encouraging for this defense.

37:56

Another another guy out there to

37:58

to you know, make plays, to be

38:01

kind of a thumper. I mean he you know, he's I'm

38:03

not gonna say he's a Denzel Perryman. I mean Perryman

38:05

is different, you know, a little

38:07

bit different when it comes to hitting guys. But I think Kaiser

38:09

is a guy who could go out there and can you

38:12

know some you know, you

38:14

know, can be sort of a presence out there that you

38:16

know, players going across the miller are going to

38:18

know he's there. And uh so he's

38:20

a guy. I think if he can stay healthy. We say

38:22

this about all these guys, so you know, it seems like, but if

38:25

he can stay healthy, there's no reason why he shouldn't

38:27

have a really good season in the in this

38:29

defense, especially, But you set

38:31

her off the rip man, I'm really excited about

38:34

these linebackers and what they

38:36

could do in this brand and Staley defense.

38:39

Um, outside of Kaiser and Easton,

38:41

you got a guy. Yeah. I'm glad

38:44

neither of them took him, because as soon as you asked

38:46

the question, it popped into my head immediately, Kyler

38:48

facral Um. You know, I think

38:51

a lot of us were looking at Chenn and the woe suit to be

38:53

that that edge opposite Bosa, but to me,

38:55

it looks like Facral's taking that starting job.

38:57

He's been awesome. Um,

38:59

I get the preseason as a lot of backups

39:01

he's been going up against, but man, that dude

39:04

puts pressure on an offense and

39:07

you know he's done it. You don't. Tom

39:09

Talesco said it to us the other

39:11

day. He said, look, you don't luck into ten and a half

39:13

sacks. You might luck into two

39:15

or four one season, you don't luck into

39:17

ten and a half. That dude knows how to get out

39:19

for the passer. And the idea that there

39:21

was a question mark opposite Bosa coming into the

39:24

season. I still think Chenna is going to have a

39:26

huge role and be a great player

39:28

opposite him. But to me, fac

39:30

Rols really raised his hands as someone

39:32

who could be a special player in this offense or

39:34

this defense. I should say, yeah, you

39:36

know, we're just talking with the other guys. It was such

39:39

a question mark coming into this year

39:41

with obviously Melvin eventually going

39:43

to Pittsburgh and not knowing exactly

39:46

what that was going to look like opposite of Joey Bosa.

39:48

But if you can have a nice, healthy rotation with

39:50

fac Rol and Nuosu on

39:53

the other side of Joey, and Joey

39:55

was talking about how Kyle was you

39:57

had the best seat in the house for it. Money,

40:00

he was getting pressure consistently

40:02

on Sunday, every snap, every

40:05

snap. You know, when you mentioned looking Rump, I

40:07

think that's your you know, your four man rotation there. We'll see

40:09

whether or not they make it five with egg

40:11

Ballet, whether or not he's you know, he's kind of that fifth

40:14

guy there, or or whom it might be. But

40:16

you know, to me, that's again, you know, it

40:19

was a question mark. I think Rump is flashed.

40:21

You know, I know you're asking non rookies,

40:23

but I think you feel a little bit better,

40:25

mostly because of fact roll about that particular

40:28

edge group. Well, Money, we'll start with you and

40:30

go back around the horn. Most impressive

40:32

rookie and there's a lot to choose from here,

40:35

up and down that class over the last

40:37

time, I mean preseason gamesman tim being

40:39

it's easy, It's it's not even close,

40:41

right, I Mean, the Slater has been unbelievable,

40:44

just unbelievable, So especially

40:46

considering what post he's gonna

40:49

fill. You know that was vacated, the

40:51

disaster that was the offensive line last

40:54

year, particularly trying to

40:56

protect Justin's blindside.

40:58

I mean watching Slater has been a revelation.

41:01

He's, you know, as a rookie. Now, look, nothing's live

41:03

yet, it could change, but that dude's he's just

41:06

Every now and then you'll see a guy that just pops.

41:08

I'm not saying it's it's Derwin James,

41:11

but to me, he's popped. Like you

41:13

watch him out there on those one on ones, you watch

41:15

him in the game, and that dude's good. He is

41:17

a good player. Yeah,

41:19

and it's wild as he hasn't played

41:22

in a real game in

41:25

two years. And it'll be Chase

41:28

Young two point zero in Montes

41:30

Sweat come Week one.

41:32

Jeff Miller favorite rookie

41:34

or most impressive rookie. Rather, I'm

41:37

gonna go with Josh Palmer. I think we

41:40

uh, he showed up the day he walked

41:42

out there the first time. He sure looked like he looked

41:44

like an NFL wide receiver, and

41:47

um, I think they

41:49

they're pleasantly surprised, there's

41:51

any question. Um, I think

41:53

uh. The other day

41:56

Staley said he's probably a little

41:58

bit better than we thought. Maybe he

42:00

was going to be so, at least at

42:02

this point of his career, and you know they've all

42:05

again, Keenan Allen raves about him. Everyone

42:07

you ask raves about him. But he he just has

42:09

that look, he has the body. I mean, he

42:12

I think he's gonna, you know, he'll he'll go

42:14

out there a week one and you know, he may

42:16

not be a you know, eight catch for one hundred

42:18

yard guy right off the bat, but I think

42:20

he's gonna fit right in and teams are gonna

42:22

have to respect him and defend him. And

42:25

uh, I just he just looks. Uh

42:28

the easiest way to say it is, he just looks like he belongs

42:30

out there. It's not a reach that he's out there. And

42:32

I think they're excited about what he can

42:34

bring and they and gives a

42:36

little more depth to that position and just

42:40

another option for Justin Herbert. That's never

42:42

a bad thing to have more choices for that guy to go

42:44

to you yesterday, Chase Daniel,

42:47

He's been a part of a lot of great New Orleans

42:49

offenses. He said this is the best wide

42:51

receiver group he's ever been a part

42:53

of. So that's that's high praise.

42:55

When we talk about Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.

42:58

Obviously but but the way Palmer has

43:00

kind of come in to this program

43:02

and really wowed a lot of people, a

43:04

lot to be said for that. Joe Ready, Yeah,

43:07

that was that was quite a comment by by Chase.

43:09

I was surprised by that. I mean that was we're

43:12

talking about, like, you know, Drew

43:14

Brees with multiple five thousand seas

43:16

to a lot of really good players, you know. Yeah,

43:20

Joe, what do you think, man, I'm

43:22

gonna tie here because money

43:26

went first round, Jeff

43:28

went third round. I'm

43:31

gonna go late round because you're gonna

43:33

see but you're gonna see both of these guys in

43:35

games. I'm gonna say Brandon

43:37

James and um

43:40

Nick Neeman, Um Neeman.

43:42

What he's done on defense with the tackling,

43:44

especially during the San Francisco game,

43:47

Brandon James has been able to you

43:49

know, go in at the guard spot and play

43:52

more than well, you

43:54

know, if if Brian,

43:56

if Ryan Blaga makes it all

43:59

sixteen games this year, I

44:01

don't. I was in Vegas last week. There's

44:03

no prop bet on how many games Brian

44:05

Bulaga will play, even though that

44:08

would be an interesting, um, that

44:11

would be an interesting prop

44:14

bet or something that we

44:16

can bandy about during the year, but

44:18

we're gonna see Brandon. We're gonna see Brendon

44:21

James at one point this year because

44:24

right now, especially with what

44:26

we saw last Sunday Storm,

44:30

between Storm and Norton and Trey Pipkins,

44:33

at least one of them is not going to

44:35

be here when final roster cuts are

44:37

made, and who knows

44:39

about both on um final

44:42

roster, once everything

44:44

around the league gets made and teams

44:47

can start picking up players and everything

44:49

where right now that we're right

44:52

now, you can see a scenario where

44:54

if if Bulaga got hurt,

44:56

Filer gets kicked out the right tackle

44:59

and Brendan Jay goes in and plays

45:01

one the guard spots because it because

45:04

he is more than shown that I think

45:06

he is capable of going up against NFL

45:09

defenses and Nieman, We're going

45:11

to see a lot of them on special teams. Like you

45:13

guys said earlier, I'm gonna tell you a funny

45:16

story. Joe. I was standing

45:18

with our one of our Spanish

45:20

broadcasters, Francisco, and

45:23

he says to me, sixty four

45:26

Jamie's he looks good. I

45:28

like him and I said yeah. I said, it's actually pronounced

45:30

himus and he said, wait, a minute.

45:33

I'm the Spanish guy, and the one time you're

45:36

supposed to pronounce it in

45:38

Spanish the way that it's spelled, I say Jamie's

45:41

and you have to tell me it's Himus. He

45:43

said, yes, I'm sorry,

45:46

but it is himis even though his first name

45:48

is Brendon and he's very white, there's no question

45:50

about that, but it is. It

45:52

is. In fact, Himus, so

45:55

go figure died from Nebraska. Looks

45:58

like he does. His first name is Brendon. When

46:00

I saw that he was selected

46:03

by the Chargers, it was the same exact

46:05

thing. You look at his last name and it's like frend and

46:07

Jamie's. Yeah, I thought it

46:09

was a typo. I figured it was just a mistake.

46:11

And frankly, Joe

46:14

Joe, we saw him next to

46:16

Slater in that first game they were malling

46:18

dudes, you know him at left

46:20

guard. And the fact that he has a positional

46:23

versatility. We haven't seen this starting

46:25

group yet, what will be the first

46:27

time we see it. The fact that they have

46:29

that positional versatility with Filer, with

46:31

Himus, it gives them

46:34

some options in case there are injuries

46:36

or you know, they need to kind of figure other

46:38

things out. A plan B you

46:40

know, will come later in the season. Yeah,

46:43

And I think we're all we're

46:46

all holding our breath wondering how this

46:48

offensive line group is going to do against

46:51

Washington and Chase Young and you

46:53

know, Young versus Slater. The

46:56

rematch, now on a much

46:58

larger stage, is going to be one

47:00

of the one

47:02

of the storylines to

47:04

watch. It's it's so exciting

47:07

that even my dog would to chew toys, trength

47:09

make toys, uh, with

47:12

how excited she is about that matchup.

47:15

Um, but um,

47:18

you know too, just with the offense and everything

47:20

in general, I don't think we've

47:22

seen the true blocking schemes and everything

47:25

that Frank Smith has brought in until

47:28

September twelfth, especially in the run game.

47:30

Is it going How much of a zone blocking scheme

47:33

is it going to be? And I

47:35

think the other thing to watch and Brandon

47:37

brought it up on

47:40

Tuesday and we saw it in the

47:42

San Francisco game, the new

47:44

penalty were cut blocks are eliminated?

47:47

How many how many of those fifteen yard penalties

47:49

are we going to see throughout the league? In Week

47:52

one or you know,

47:54

in the in the Chargers h

47:57

Washington football team. Um,

48:00

since since Kenneth Fury uh

48:03

unintentionally dropped a Redskins

48:05

line in there on Tuesday.

48:08

How many penalties of that are we going to see

48:10

during the season of Week one? And

48:13

I think Joe beyond him kicking out

48:15

And I think you're absolutely right if if I

48:17

think the depth of tackle is going to be Filer

48:19

and high miss kicking out to one

48:21

of those, and you're going to see someone come off the bench

48:23

to replace them at guard, be at Quest or Saint

48:26

Louis or whoever it may be. But um,

48:28

I think I think Higmus is in contention to

48:30

be the starting left guard. I could

48:32

totally see him beating out Abushi

48:35

um and and having you know, it'd be Filer

48:38

highmis. You know, I have two is crazy.

48:40

It may sound two rookies on the left side.

48:42

Um, but I think he's just been that impressive,

48:45

uh you know when when he's out there, and

48:47

it would not surprise me. It's

48:50

amazing. So many starts too

48:52

in the Big ten and that's already that's showing

48:54

up, that's showing up at camp for sure. I

48:57

want to talk about this Washington football

48:59

team game so much because of the defensive

49:01

line and the offensive line, but we got

49:03

one more Saturday, Seattle

49:06

Money, you're gonna be on the mic for a position

49:09

battle that fans should have

49:11

their eyes on. What position battle?

49:14

This late in camp? You can

49:16

have eyes on Saturday. Well, you know, to

49:18

me it's it's not really

49:20

a fair fight because he's not there. But

49:23

to me, I don't know how you I

49:25

think it's hard to carry Justin Jackson. I just think

49:27

it is. You know, I think if Bradwell shows

49:29

out on Saturday, I could totally

49:31

see it being round Tree, Kelly and Bradwell

49:34

behind Eckler because I think they're gonna

49:36

keep neighbors. He's you know, he's a good

49:38

blocker, He's a true fullback. So you

49:40

know, when you got five in that room, I

49:43

could I could see, you know, Bradwell

49:45

getting some carries and much like Eckler did

49:47

in twenty seventeen when he showed out on special teams

49:49

and showed out in that San Francisco game ended up

49:52

making the fifty three, I

49:54

could see that being something

49:56

that that comes to fruition. I

49:59

loved JJ two man. I really well,

50:02

of course you do. You're a Northwestern guy. Wow,

50:04

of course, of course, But you know what I

50:07

just I go back to the Pittsburgh the

50:10

moments I have in my mind that Sunday night Pittsburgh

50:12

game, how he won that game those

50:15

first two weeks of twenty nineteen when

50:17

when him and Eckler were like ripping off

50:19

six yards a pop against Like I'm

50:21

gonna I'm gonna interject here, Chris, and I'm gonna

50:23

say the most important ability

50:26

is ability, Yeah, exactly.

50:28

And sixteen games in three years

50:31

is that's tough, man, That is just or whatever

50:33

the number is, I know it's really low. That is. It's

50:36

just it's tough. Everybody likes him,

50:38

but man, that's tough. And he didn't. Man, you can't

50:40

make the club and the tub, especially with

50:42

the new coaching stuff. You can't miss

50:44

a game at Evanston too, That's I know. Yeah,

50:47

Yeah, it's crazy. It's been crazy for him. It's unfortunate.

50:49

But yeah, you you know, it

50:51

doesn't matter how good Jark, you can't be out there. You know, you

50:54

can't help the team. So it's just unfortunately hasn't

50:56

been able to stay out there. Jeff, What

50:58

about you, man, what do you think for say to day, what do you

51:00

keep an eyes on? I

51:03

hate to uh, I

51:05

don't want to be that guy, but I'm gonna go to the kickers.

51:09

It's such, it does it does mean

51:12

something, obviously, and we've seen in the

51:14

past in this league this could end up

51:16

being like an enormous decision they make.

51:18

Uh. I think I still

51:20

have a feeling this guy Ino is gonna win out just he

51:22

has a stronger leg you know they,

51:25

I know they they're valuing a lot of kickoffs

51:28

and he he puts the ball a little farther, a

51:30

little higher. I think that's ultimately gonna

51:32

be a big advantage

51:34

to him. Again, I think

51:38

we all like, uh,

51:40

Michael Badgeley, we all like him. He's a fun

51:42

guy to talk to. Hell, you know, it was

51:44

fun in twenty eighteen when he did so well and

51:46

came on and just stabilize that position and

51:49

and understandably was at that time was

51:51

a fan favorite. But uh,

51:54

it's gonna at some point hopefully

51:57

you know this is you know, there

51:59

isn't a point this season where

52:01

we're talking about kickers a whole bunch again after

52:03

this, uh, this last preseason game, once the rosters

52:05

are said ideally for the team, when

52:07

they'd pick one and that'd be it for the rest of the year. We'd

52:09

never even mentioned it. But it's

52:11

gonna be interesting to see what they do. And it'll

52:14

be interesting in this game if they both get chances,

52:16

how they do what? You know, badually made

52:18

a fifty yard or last week, so this guy,

52:20

you know, can get in there and you know, CounterPunch.

52:23

We'll see. But it's

52:25

kind of a you know, it's sort of a goofy position

52:27

in the sport, but it's it's enormous,

52:30

it's huge, and we see it every week in this league.

52:32

These guys are winning and losing games. So I

52:35

guess, well, I'll go with the kickers. Joe

52:38

closes out Buddy Bottom

52:40

of the wide receiver group. Do

52:43

they keep five or do they keep six?

52:46

Uh, conventional

52:48

wisdom would say six, but um,

52:52

you know that that bottom is that

52:54

Bottom is an interesting group. I

52:57

think kJ Hill is in a little bit of

52:59

a battle, you know, Jason

53:01

Moore, Tyron Johnson. How

53:04

much do they how much do they play?

53:07

Can they separate themselves? And

53:10

I think the second thing to look for to and

53:13

we need Robert Stack on this from Unsolved

53:15

Mysteries, do we

53:17

see Jerry Tillery actually play

53:19

on Saturday? You know, Staley

53:23

is brought up Michael Davis is

53:25

playing because he doesn't have that many

53:27

snaps in the NFL. Neither

53:30

does Jerry Tillory. And

53:33

Jerry had six penalties last year

53:35

that ended up leading to opposing

53:37

points. So do

53:40

you really want him out there week

53:42

one? You

53:44

know, in a situation and

53:46

stuff that you know, penalties

53:48

and penalties and everything and offensive

53:51

lines, and you know, Fitz

53:53

has gotten into more than a few heads

53:55

too, trash talking, and Jerry

53:59

doesn't seem to take trash talking well

54:01

either. So does

54:03

Jerry get in for a series or two? Bunny?

54:06

I wanted to ask you too as we get out of here, the

54:09

fact that it's three preseason games. We've

54:11

never had this before. It's

54:13

the balance of all right, do you want

54:16

that last Sunday game to be

54:18

the last time a lot of your rookies play before

54:20

Week one? Or some of these guys who are

54:23

you know, key backups? What

54:26

do you think the approach is gonna

54:28

be for some of these rookies

54:30

and maybe guys who may get meaningful snaps

54:33

on special teams and you know, maybe spot duty

54:35

on offensive defense come Week one? Yeah? I mean to

54:37

me, this is this is roster building, you

54:39

know, that's what this game is. And just kind of speaking

54:41

to what Joe had just mentioned, you know, I

54:44

think there's a potential where they take keep

54:46

six defensive linemen, you know, and

54:48

i'd love to see Tillery out there with

54:51

Broughton, you know, with Thejko

54:54

with Merrill, so I can more properly

54:56

evaluate if I want to carry an extra

54:58

one of those guys and maybe, like you were talking, and Joe

55:00

lose, you know, do I drop a wide receiver, not

55:02

bring back Hill or Read and end

55:04

up keeping both Fojoko and Broughton,

55:06

you know, because I just kind of like the talent

55:09

there and knowing how much I want to rotate those

55:11

guys and keep them fresh and just body after body.

55:14

Like, to me, that's what I'll be looking at. I

55:16

think it's a ton of cornerback play,

55:18

you know, is it because they're just so different,

55:21

you know, Campbell, Hall and

55:23

Bannon, They're just kind of different styles

55:25

of corners. So I'm interested to see how they

55:27

rotate those guys whom they play them opposite

55:29

of so and

55:32

you know, and I think those edge guys, you

55:34

know, I wouldn't be surprised if he's healthy to see

55:36

a lot of egg Balat. I just think it's those,

55:39

you know, those bubble roster players that

55:41

we're probably going to see a lot of, and I would like

55:43

to see them next to starters,

55:46

you know, knowing that, hey, here's some attention

55:48

paid to these guys. Let's see if you can do

55:50

well with the one on ones and the you know,

55:52

the the opportunities that are presented to you. We're

55:56

getting closer, gentlemen, to week one one

55:58

more on Saturday, though, before where it starts

56:00

to get real. Appreciate your time, Matt money

56:02

Smith. By the way, me and me and Money

56:05

got some things cooking for Chargers Weekly that

56:07

we're gonna be announced soon. I'm really excited about it,

56:09

very excited. Jeff Miller, La Times,

56:12

Joe Ready Associator Press. You

56:14

guys can be a big part of this throughout the

56:16

season. I really appreciate your time as always.

56:18

All right, guys, that's gonna do it for us. A big

56:21

thanks to our mega roundtable

56:23

Matt money Smith, Jeff Miller, Joe

56:25

Ready, Daniel Popper, Gilbramanzano,

56:28

and Fernando Ramirez. Be sure

56:30

to download and subscribe to the Chargers Podcast

56:33

Network, where if you listen to podcasts We're

56:35

also on YouTube. Full video

56:38

episodes every Thursday

56:40

on the Chargers official YouTube channel

56:42

and Chargers dot com. Enjoyed

56:44

the preseason finale on Saturday,

56:47

and until next time, I'm Chris Harry