April 20, 2023 • 49 mins
Matt "Money" Smith and Chris Hayre share their takeaways from head coach Brandon Staley's press conference earlier this week (01:58) and discuss a variety of scenarios that may arise when the Chargers make their first-round selection next Thursday (33:05).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A late fifteen to ten touched up suck.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
All.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Right, here we go, guys.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
We are one week away from the twenty twenty three
NFL Draft. Welcome into a brand new episode of Charge Weekly,
as always, joined by Matt Muney, Smith and Money. I
neglected to talk about this last week, and I was
kicking myself.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I got the video late.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Did you see our producer Greg Kim catching football from
the Chickame?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I did.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I thought he did pretty damn well. I thought he
did very well. And you know, we talk about wide receiver.
I think great Kim at least is worth a spot
in the summertime. And Greg, I saw you also catching
punts and with the absence of DeAndre Carter. I don't
know if you want to get on the mic and
just talk about that experience. Greg, if you're still there,
(00:54):
what was that like? Catching to Justin Herbert football? It's
that recording your audio? Okay, well that's a shame.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Look at that. That's back to back. You blew it, Chris.
You blew it last week by not bringing it up,
and you blew it this week by trying to bring
Greg in when you can't come on.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Way to go, some host it's worse now because I
set up up. I asked him a question. He can't
even talk anyway. It was awesome, and uh, I really
appreciated your your effort.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Greg. I saw you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Wearing the helmet and everything was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
But that was fun. When they said all right, let's
go up to justin Herbert mode. It's like, you think
you're doing pretty well, yeah, on the on the machine,
and then all of a sudden they're like, okay, now
let's show you what it's like when it's justin Herbert.
When you start getting peppered. They d oh, that's exactly
what happened. Greg. Yeah, oh yeah, there we go. Yeah,
check it out. It's on uh, it's on Chargers dot com.
(01:40):
It is great. But I thought Greg did a bang
up job. Yeah, it's not easy.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Catching the punts too.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Like you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I think you did one of those things where you
call it one and then you had the ball in
your hand, called another one and again, dude, there's a
there's an opening at that position. So Greg shout out
to you.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, mony the off season program Phase one is here.
We got to hear from Brandon Staley and he was
very specific. Ninety three days since our last game YEA
against Jacksonville Jaguars. You know, I want to kind of
talk about a few things that he spoke about. But yeah,
I think we have to start with Jalen Hurts in
that monster contract that he got two hundred and fifty
(02:19):
five million I think one hundred and seventy nine guaranteed.
We were waiting to see which quarterback was going to
be the first dominode to fall. Obviously there's Burrow, there's Lebar,
and there's Justin still to go. But the guy who
gets to the super Bowl and probably would have been
the Super Bowl MVP, all right, definitely would have been
the Super Bowl MVP had the Eagles one, he's the
(02:40):
first domino to fall.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Well, look, I can't say it enough. I've said it already.
I try, And it takes two it's two parties. It's
not a unilateral negotiation. Right, So get this thing done.
The sooner you get it done, the less money it's
gonna cost you. Because I can tell you right now
Herbert's campaign taking a cent less than what Jay hurt Scott,
even though he's a runner up MVP, took his team
(03:04):
to the super Bowl. I can promise you that that
camp is saying. I get it. His accomplishments are higher
and there are more than Justin has. However, go on
out and pull thirty two gms in this league, and
you tell me if any of them want to take
Jalen Hurts over Justin Herbert, you know. And I'm not
(03:25):
taking anything away from Jalen. He is an incredible quarterback and.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I would earned every cent.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And look, I have no problem coming clean on this
because I've said it. You know, I've already been made
a fool. Annually. I get made a fool for my
take on Patrick Mahomes and he was drafted by the
Chiefs because we had never seen anyone come out of
Texas Tech and the way he played football in college.
And I said it with Justin Herbert, you know, we
just did not see this Justin Herbert at Oregon. So
(03:53):
it was a much tougher and a little bit more
of a critical evaluation. And going into that draft when
you would got selected at five, I was like, you know,
we were on the air at the time during the
radio show, I said, I got no problem taking Isaiah
Simmons here and scooping up Jalen Hurts in the second.
And I think that was a very I don't want
(04:15):
to say common, because if it was so common, a
team would have taken him in the first. But it
was a very popular position that people they knew that
Jalen had he had to grow as a quarterback, as
a thrower, But anybody that had ever been around that
guy was like, man, you will not find a better leader,
(04:37):
a more competitive individual, someone who absolutely is relentless in
the way he attacks his craft and that plays. You know,
that works. And I think it's one of the things
about Justin Herbert that the Chargers absolutely love is how
committed this dude is and how hard he works and
how much he cares, and so you know, I think
(04:58):
when you when you factor all those things in about
what the contract is going to look like, Joe Burrow's
camp is not going to take a cent less than that.
And I think the sooner you get it, if you
can get ahead of Burrow, I'd want to get ahead
of Burrow. Let his agent say all right, well we
want more than Herbert now kind of thing. So they've
said it's going to be private. I that's that's usually
(05:21):
a good it's a good sign when you're not hearing
anything in the media about how negotiations are going, that
tends to be a good sign. It means that both
parties are trying to figure this thing out and get
it squared away.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, and at this point, if if Burrow gets a
few million more than Herbert, I mean, who cares, right,
I mean, if you're if you're in this range right now,
you are setting new standards. Jalen Hurts is the highest
paid player in football right now. Whoever signs next is
going to be the highest paid player of football.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So it's just I think the one like, the one
thing Chris that's going to be interesting to me is
does it look more like because look, Jalen's going to
get another bite at this, you know, at twenty nine,
Like that's the most That's the incredible thing about that
contract is the way they built it. It's a five
year deal, so he's gonna be twenty nine years old
when he gets the next shot at it. And it's like, man,
(06:11):
you're gonna get another jot. So it's I bring it
up because I'm anxious. I'm interested to see, not anxious,
I'm interested to see. Is this going to look like
a Patrick Mahomes deal. Hey man, we want to give
you a ten year deal worth five hundred million dollars
or is it going to be a let's give you
five two sixty five, two eighty whatever it is. And
(06:35):
you know, I'm interested to see what his camp wants
would they rather have, because that's what people forget. It's
not it's not the player, it's the agent that wants
to puff their chest out and show these college procests
and show you know, Caleb and Drake May and these Hey,
look what I got, Come sign with me when you
(06:58):
get into the draft. So that's what you have to remember,
is it's not necessarily what Justin wants. It's what the
Justin Herbert team wants, and the team is the agent
that wants to hang their hat on something special. Do
they want a bigger number than Patrick Mahomes got overall?
Or do they want a very similar to what we're
seeing Josh Allen Jalen Hurts that deal with just a
(07:20):
little bit of more money.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And hey, we've seen it different, right, We've seen Kirk
Cousins bet on himself year after year after year with
one year deals and make a ton of money and
then signing a boatload of money with the Minnesota Vikings
and doing that again. Right, we saw Dak Prescott bet
on himself, and obviously those situations are different. Justin's gonna
get either a five year deal or a ten year deal, right,
(07:43):
That's what it is. But we hope, right, yeah, we hope.
But I go back to that twenty twenty draft money
and I very clearly remember, all right two in Herbert
or in that conversation, we know that the Chargers need
a quarterback, but we were talking about Jeff Acuda just
got traded to the Falcons. We were talking about Isaiah Simmons.
(08:03):
I remember watching Isaiah Simmons work out here in Costa Mesa.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
He's a freak.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
This guy would be. Could you imagine him and Thorwin
on the field together, right, be unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
That's exactly what I was thinking. I was like, man,
I'd take him at six and grab herts in the
second round. Be totally fine with that. And then look,
Isaiah's really struggled, got a lot better, you know, two
years ago, had kind of a little bit of a
breakout year. Play a little bit better last year. But
you just never know. It's so hard to project. You
said about you know Akuda, He's like, this is one
of the best corner prospects we've seen since Jalen Ramsey,
(08:33):
and yeah, I was gone, you know for a late
round pick because and now you know, that's not ability.
That's hell. The guys played like twenty games, I think
in three years, so that's part of it. And sometimes
you just it's tough to see that guy around the building.
You got guys out there laying it on the line
game in and clank game out, getting their heads kicked in,
and you see a dude that's playing five six games
(08:54):
a year. It can be kind of uncomfortable for both sides,
for the individual that feels like he's led his team
down and for the other guys that are getting the
crap kicked out of him and seeing this guy just
kind of hanging out riding the stationary bike. So that's
a big part of it. Not saying that Jeffacouta is
a bust yet, I think it's just one of those
where that's that that tends to happen when you have
(09:16):
a player that is perennially injured, it is very uncomfortable
for both sides to have him constantly around the facility,
especially when he's making that much money. Is that high
of a draft pick.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, And it's also I think lessons too when you
pick in the top five, top six, if you have
an inkling that there's a guy there that can change
your franchise, you take that guy over the corner or
over the linebacker right in the Chargers and.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Tom twhy there's going to be for you know, it's
why they're going to be those quarterbacks taking Chris right, yeah,
you know what.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
You know. What's weird though, like I've heard this from
I think with Schefter, and I think maybe Rappaport talked
about this too, is that the Texans may not take
a quarterback at two, and then that leaves the Cardinals
who don't need a quarterback because of the Kyler Murray
situation and the money they have invested in him, and
they may not take a quarterback, and who knows if
anybody leave frogs the Colts at four, who do need
(10:06):
a quarterback. So that's where two and three get interesting.
I know, like listen, we've talked about so many different guys.
Because the Charger pick at twenty one and we're probably
gonna be way off, like they're gonna probably select somebody
that we've seldom talked about.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Probably it's our luck, right, hope not.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I hope not, because last year, you know, we were
big on the wide receivers and in some other position.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Two years ago we talked about Slater. Two years ago,
we said, man, if somehowing out some way, Rashawn Slater
slips and sure enough that happened. Yeah, that felt the
interesting and I want to give I think it's our colleague.
I think it's DJ. That was the first one I
heard bring this up. And it's pretty easy to connect
the dots if in fact Brock Purty's the guy and
(10:49):
they feel like he's gonna end up being their quarterback
moving forward. Yeah, you traded a ton to get Trey Lance,
but whatever, you found your quarterback. If you feel like
brock Party is that quarterback and took you to the
championship game and won a bunch of games, you know,
one out after becoming the starter at the end of
the year, who cares? Who cares what draft capital you
gave away and you move on. You found your quarterback,
(11:09):
doesn't matter where you found him. Connecting Trey Lance to
Houston is interesting if you can, you've got that number
three pick or that number two pick, maybe you trade
with the Colts if they're real smitten with c. J.
Stroud and you say, hey, once you just give us
your two, you do have to give us a lot.
We'll trade back two spots, give us your two and
a five and they can slide back to four and
(11:32):
grab another one of the Tyree Wilson or one of
those guys, and then they can trade twelve or thirteen
whatever that is to the forty nine ers for Trey
Lance and Demiko knows them really well, coached them up
by all means say they say, bust is tail working,
great kid, incredibly skilled. Yes, Slowick is there too. The
OC Yeah, So to me, that makes sense if you're
(11:56):
if you're the Texans and you're like, hey, look, you
know we can we got a lot of holes we're
not We wanted Bryce Young, That's who we wanted, and
if he's not there, we're just as comfortable picking up
a couple extra picks, taking a dominant defensive player in
this draft, and for Damiko, who's a defensive coach, and
I don't even know if you'd have to give up
(12:16):
twelve might be able to give up a couple twos
or something for him. I don't know, but it's it's
it's an interesting it's an interesting theory or a bit
of speculation.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Will Anderson. Will Anderson slam dunket too, right, I mean
I feel like that that's like, Okay, turn the cart
in and then if you have a plant quarterback, you know,
an another destination. You talk about Ran Carthon in Tennessee,
who came from San Francisco, who's involved in that process
for scent of drafting Trey Lance. Maybe they're an option
too with with Ryan Tannehill's time seemingly up at some
(12:50):
point in the near future, and knowing that Tennessee needs
to kind of rebuild on offense with Derrick Henry aging.
So yeah, see what happens at the top of the draft,
I think is going to be very interesting and may
eventually kind of dictate what the Chargers do at twenty one,
because maybe one of those quarterbacks is still there on
the board as we creep into the twenties.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
We can only hope, We can only hope, right, Like.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Will Levis Hendon Hooker, like you hear more and more
about maybe those guys, maybe.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
If Anthony Richardson you're starting to hear, could you know
that perhaps people we were speculating a little or people
were sort of pushing Anthony Richardson up a little high
compared to the risk involved with someone that has that
few starts, that few pass attempts, that few snaps, and
just how much pause that gives general managers and scouts
(13:44):
when you have that small of a sample. And it
goes back to Mitch Trubisky and Trey Lance did not
have a lot of games under his belt, and it
just makes guys nervous. That was the Bill Parcells thing.
He wanted four year starters. He wanted guys that had
played at I think his number was forty. I want
to say it was, or maybe I think yeah, for
(14:07):
some reason, I feel like it was forty. He wanted
forty college starts from his guys before he was comfortable
drafted him or thirty or whatever. Yeah, and you're talking
about thirteen. Yeah, you're talking about thirteen. Mark Sanchez was
that way. He's just going to bring that up.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, Pete Carroll press conference where he wasn't thrilled that
Mark was doing that well.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Selfish a Pete, it was not. Your job as a
coach in college is not to win football games, believe
it or not. You're supposed to get your guys ready
to go to the NFL. That's your ultimate responsibility is
to take care of these young men. And so for
Pete to do that to Mark and what was a
celebratory day because he put his name in the search
(14:51):
and they came back and said, you're going to be
a top ten pick. And you go when you can
start being paid to play football, especially that much money,
you go play football for MO. It's different now with nil,
but back then you want an end from University of Washington,
you know, spearing you in the back with his helmet
for free. And that was all just Pete. No, And
he wasn't quite ready for the transition because he just
(15:14):
assumed Mark was going to be back for another year.
But to the point beyond that and aside here in
southern California where we're doing in the pod, yeah, I
probably wasn't ready, you know, but you know, they had
that circumstance. That's the thing about the NFL, and it's
unlike any other sport where circumstances, not like baseball it's
not like hockey. It's not like basketball, where if you
(15:37):
are in exceptional talent, your talent's gonna break through. You're
going to shine in the batter's box or on the
pitching mound. You're gonna shine on the ice. You're going
to shine as a basketball player. Football is different. It's
scheme dependent, it's teammates, it's coaches, it's front office's willingness
(15:58):
to spend money to build around you. What does that
offensive line look like in front of you? Are they
willing to invest in the offensive line. Are they going
to resign guys after they develop or is it a
cheap franchise that just lets guys go and they don't
care and they replay Like that's the difference. There's so
much of this is dependent on where you land. I mean,
just think about Justin and now I'm talking way too much, no.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
But I know we should talk like when he was
at Oregon, right and we didn't well we didn't.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Mario Christobal was a ridiculous system they had him running
yea would have been the first pick in the draft.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
The offense here too, and that that's a nice segue
into Kellen Moore and what Kellen Moore will bring to
this offense, and maybe it's the perfect marriage between Justin
and Kellen and the way he likes to play, and
you know, really the guys. You know, we've seen Mike
and Keenan maximize their talent really in any scheme. But
I'm really looking forward to seeing what this offensive line
(16:54):
looks like, to see what the running game looks like
under Kellen Moore. And you know, we've talked about the
rinning back. I promise myself I have talked about the
running back today. All Right, if b John Robinson is
there twenty one, I think the Charger should take them.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I don't think he's gonna be there.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Right when I see Daniel Jeremiah's top fifty and I
see b John Robinson at number three, it's like, Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
That's why would you? And that's everyone. That's everyone. Everybody's
big board has Bijon in the top five. But it
goes back to and we've already discussed it. I don't
have to, you know, reconstruct it. But I am kind
of proud that we talked about it a long time ago,
and now people are starting to have that same position
where they're sharing money it's it's money. You don't why
(17:34):
would you pay a running back seven eight million dollars
a year because you took them in the top ten.
When you sign a free agent and it's twelve million dollars,
you want to pay the defensive end to that, you
want to pay enough tackle that, you want to play
the pay the quarterback that the money gap isn't large
enough for it to be of value. And that's a
big part of what you do in the draft is
(17:55):
take premium positions in the first round so you can
lock that salary in for the next five years. I
have to worry about these gargantuan salaries. The point I
was gonna make with Herbert and Kellen Moore is and
this is not because he's not here anymore and was fired.
But his best year was with Shane his rookie season.
(18:17):
When you think about the way he played, the explosive plays,
the amount of quarterback designed runs that were effective, that
that was his best season. I know his second year
was great. Statistically, he was off the charts and it
was a great year and they barely missed the playoffs
(18:40):
because they lost a game in Week eighteen. But just
for my my naked eye. The Shane Steike and coordinated
offense was better for him, and it was immediate, and
it was just explosive, that's the thing. It was explosive.
And you know a big part of that could have
(19:00):
been just the way that Joe wanted to use Austin
Eckler a little bit differently and how much more of
a prominent role he gained with Lombardi taking over. So
I think there's again it goes back to circumstance. It's
the plays that Joe Lombardi wanted to call. It was effective,
it was a top five offense. It worked. But just
(19:21):
I think if you were to ask Charger fans and
football people when offense looked better for Justin, it was Shane's.
You know, it was Shane's and that's why he's a
head coach now. And that's why Jalen Hurts just got
a two hundred and fifty nine million dollar deal and
was runner up in the MVP race. A big part
of that was Shane and so to bring And I
(19:43):
say that because, look, it may be construed as a
shot at Brandon for bringing in Joe Lombardy in the
first place instead of just keeping Shane and saying, hey,
what you had going was great, let's just roll. It's
not what I'm getting at. When you're ahead, coach, you
want to surround yourself with people you're comfortable with, and
that's fine. I have no problem with that. What I'm
(20:06):
gonna do is credit him for cutting him loose for it,
because essentially what you're doing is you're pointing the finger
at yourself. Hey, I messed this up. I've got to
get a new coordinator. I brought a guy in that
did not work. I need to fix it, and I'll
credit him for that. It's essentially quitting. You know, nobody
ever gets credit for quitting things, but you quit when
you realize this is going nowhere. Why am I still
doing this? I need to quit. You know, if you're
(20:28):
in a dead end job and you don't see any
upward mobility, just quit, start something new. And that's what
is happening this year on offense is they realized, Okay,
it was great two years ago. Regress last year. We
have issues with the four minute drill. We're losing games
late because we can't control the clock as much as
we want to.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Let's move on, and frankly, I say you say all that,
Joe's not a bad coach. Joe's been around for a
long time and he had a great year. I mean
they were top five offense the year before. The running
game and speed a wide receiver obviously kind of hindered
his ability to call certain plays. But you're right, it
wasn't working. But Joe found a job in Denver with Sean.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Payton immediately, and that's what you know.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
He's comfortable with Sean Shawn's calling the plays and that's
a marriage that works. I do credit Brandon for bringing
in Kellen Moore and saying, hey, we got to be
better offensively, because they do have to be better offensively. Hey,
I want to I want to run this thing by
you too. So Bill Barnwell did these trades, these hypothetical trades,
And I bring it up because we've talked about the
(21:32):
wide receiver position a lot and staying put versus trading
up and what have you. So I'm just gonna read
this and get your thoughts. LA general manager Tom Telesco
almost always stays put in the opening round of the draft,
but that's not an option here. The Chargers, at the
beginning of a group of teams that expect to look
for wide receivers, but any of those can move ahead
of LA to make a trade with the Bucks or Seahawks.
(21:54):
In this case, the Chargers would be moving ahead of
the Packers at No. Number fifteen, so they would move
up to number one fourteen. The Packers drafting a wide
receiver in the first round still seems to be a
theory as opposed to something that may actually happen, but
this would be a way for the Charges to land
Jackson Smith and Jigba as the long term replacement for
Keenan Allen. A more speedy option could be in play,
(22:16):
although the Charges could probably stay put and grabs a
Flowers or Jalen Hyatt. So we haven't talked much about
Smith and Jigba, and I do think he is kind
of the consensus number one. I think we have to
put everything in its proper context. The cap hit for
Keenan and Mike is gigantic in twenty twenty four, so
(22:38):
that leads me to believe one of them isn't going
to be on the roster in a year, maybe both,
but probably one. If this is the Keenan Allen let's
say replacement after this past year this next year, is
that something that you would be comfortable with or do
you want to kind of go all in, stand put,
(22:58):
stay pat and get a a wide receiver with speed
to compliment those two guys as opposed to look to
the future.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
It's interesting. I don't I don't envision it happening, just
because I as good as Smith and Jigba is, and
he's good. You know, when he was on the field
with a Lave and Garrett Wilson, he was the best
receiver two years ago. That's how good he is. However,
I think there's some concern about the injuries, about missing
(23:27):
almost an entire season with a handstring that was that's
that's a bit of a red flag for me. The
Ohio State offense, it just it produces gargantuan numbers for
wide receivers and look at Lave and Garret Wilson were
both exceptional last year. So I don't think it's fair
to stick that. But I think it's important to remember
(23:48):
this offense puts up monster numbers for wide receivers, but
he is special, no doubt about it. I think for me,
that's seven spots to go from twenty one to fourteen
that's gonna cost you. It's gonna probably cost you, it
(24:11):
might cost you your two because that's i'd I don't
have the Jimmy Johnson chart in front of me. I
don't know what the points are, but if I were
to guess, it's a minimum of A three and maybe
a two. And they just can't afford to do that.
They need those picks they need. I would much rather
trade back. You know, our conversation with Renner about you know,
a depth and what you might be able to get
(24:33):
when you move back with Brett last week when we
were talking about what's available if you move back, and
to me the gap between what Smith and Jigbu and
what Zay Flowers who could be there at twenty one
or Jordan Addison at twenty when Jordan Adison's Keenan Allen
as well. He's not as big, he's not as strong
and as thick. But in terms of route running, in
(24:55):
terms of separation, you know, Keenan's greatest attribute. One he's
one of the smartest receivers in the league. But two
is he operates at one speed. When people talk about
route running, I think fans don't quite understand. Yes, every
people can run routes. Yeah, or I said it is
crisp are your breaks is claim. What is Keenan's secret
(25:17):
sauce is everything's the exact same speed, so you have
no idea. He doesn't he doesn't slow down, he doesn't
explode out of his bricks. It's just it's it's uncanny.
It's unlike anybody else in the league, where he is
just operating at one speed. Calvin Ridley is like this too,
where everything except he's a little bit of a better
(25:38):
athlete than Keenan and everything is just you don't know
where he's going because it's all the same speed. So
that's what Smith and jigb is capable of doing, and
that's what makes him very special. But he's not explosive
like you know, like a Ze Flowers is explosive, and
and Jordan Addison is like Keenan and like Smith and
(26:01):
Jig but in that way. And he just found himself
in a Lincoln Riley offense that doesn't feature anyone. Lincoln
is he will spread it all out and it does
not matter you will you know you're going to get
your targets if you're open. I have no interest in
getting a bulittan a cough winner because I'm going to
feature you because you're a really good receiver. No, it's
(26:22):
just gonna go where it goes. So when you go
back two years and watch Jordan Addison though, that's what
I would say to people that are down on him.
And let's not forget who's his coach was too, by
the way, at Pitt, and who recruited him to Pitt,
Chris Baty. So there's a connection there. So I cannot
imagine Tom being in that room having baby sitting there
and go, Addison's probably gonna fall in our laps and
(26:44):
we're gonna have to give up with two to go
up and get Smith and Jig. But what do you think?
I'm sure baby be like, dude, just sit here for
Addison's he is good. You are fine. So love Bill.
He does great work at ESPN. But could not agree
with him more.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Well, you know what, and Bill's defense, I think this
is just a thought provoking exercise. I think he did
this with all the teams right, potential trades and trade out,
So he's he's doing that to you know, smart interest.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, and which one makes I got you, which one
of these makes sense?
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Exactly. There's some intrigue there, but I think if you
do stand pap Zay Flowers or Jordan Addison would be
a perfect number two in this offense, regardless what happens
at twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Fe Let's not forget about Josh Palmer. You know, he fits
that Keenan. He fits that Keenan role more than he
does an outside. You know, he can excel there and
he's gotten better every year. So I'm just more comfortable
with let's get an explosive guy on the outside, and
if you have to move on from Keenan next year,
I hope you don't. I hope there's a way you
can figure that out. And he stays healthy for seventeen
games and you make a Super Bowl run and it's like, yeah, yeah,
(27:50):
we're comfortable given him a few more years. Let's do it.
You know, that's ideal for me, And I feel good
about zech.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Like ever since you said it a couple of weeks ago,
that the Za Flowers hype for me has been increasing,
and it just it seems to make a lot of sense, right,
It just seems to make a lot of the tape.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Man, It's crazy, how explosive that guy is.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Yeah, And you know the tight end position, whether it's
kinkad or Mayor looking at DJ's top fifty, it's you
look at the guys who are kind of in that
that territory, and Addison's there, Zay Flowers is there? Those
are the two. I think Michael Mayer's number twenty one
on his big board. Kin Kate is nine, right, So
like the value you would get with a Dalton Kincate
(28:30):
if he happened to be there at twenty one would
be spectacular.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Right. It's funny though, Chris like, and this is what
we were getting at with with Brett last week, is
it's also important to think about positions. And this is
what makes the drafts the draft so hard, is you
also have to look at the position groups from a
depth standpoint. Who's going to be there when we picked
(28:55):
u out? Okay, what's here? We're sitting and I'm staring
at Za Flowers, Jordan Addison, both Mayor and Ken cad
are there. You know, I'm trying to think of what
McDonald is there? At edge, You've got Canci there, what
cornerback maybe more is there? At cornerback? Banks is there?
(29:15):
Like now you have to look at right, what's available
in the second round. The way that guys like DJ
are describing this tight end group is that it's the
deepest tight end group they have ever seen. That If
Kinkaid and Mayer aren't in this draft, Darnell Washington and
either musk Raad Right or Laporta, those guys are going
(29:37):
to go on the first round. But it's just because
it's so so Now, I think you have to ask yourself. Okay,
if we take Zay because he's here at twenty one,
what are the chances of us getting musk Grave or
Laporta at with our second round pick? Probably pretty good?
If we take kN Caid here, what are the chances
of us getting a wide receiver that fits what we
(30:02):
would maybe get from Zay? Maybe you don't get that
full package, But do we get enough out of the
wide receiver we take in this second Okay, are we
gonna find a defensive end like McDonald or like or
are we gonna find a corner like Branch if we wait?
Probably not. So let's let's take the end here and
let's get the receiver. See what I mean? Like, So
(30:23):
that's the sort of stuff that starts to come into play,
you have what's called two boards. You have a horizontal,
you have a horizontal, you have a vertical. Your vertical
what most teams have one fifty it's just one thre
Like you said, whatever, DJ has this players at nine,
this player's at fifteen. This play, and if you're a
best team available, you're like, all right, we're picking a
twenty one. There's our guy that's got the number eight
next to them. We'll take them. So the horizontal is
(30:43):
now you've got all these grades and it's run by positions.
So now you're looking at these horizontal categories of Okay,
here's my Zay Flowers. He's a I didn't even want
to get into the way these scouts do the scoring system.
When I hear DJ and Lance talk about I'm like, hell,
you guys talking about six ninety four. No, I've got
him as a six eight eight. I've got him at
(31:04):
a six seven seven, and he's a six seven nine.
So I would totally tell you what. I don't know
how the scouts do it, but that's the way. So
just imagine you've got three wide receivers that on a
one to ten scale, you've got them at nine, and
now I've got six of them that are eight, and
I've got five of them that are seven. So you're like, dude,
I can get this seven in the third round, but
(31:25):
I got to spend a first on a nine, and
the gap I have between them is pretty damn close.
That's what I'm getting at. So to me, a lot
of that is going to come into play because of
how deep these positions of need are for the Chargers
running back. If you want to talk about Beesewan, we
talked about that with Brett, with Roshan potentially being like
(31:46):
someone like that or Tank or one of those guys
into the charbonnet. You know, that's what you now have
to start balancing out, who's here, what's that position group
that look like? When we get to hear and here,
I want.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
To run another scenario by let's take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
We'll do it on the other side, all right, guys.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
As the official hospitality provider of the NFL, on Location
offers unrivaled access to experience all premier NFL events like
never before. On Location brings you up close for all
the action, providing fans with unforgettable moments from Draft Day
to Super Bowl Sunday and everything in between. On Location
thrilled to announce its new partnership with the Pro Football
(32:25):
Hall of Fame this August kickof football season in Canon,
Ohio and be their live to witness the class of
twenty twenty three Enshrinement. The NFL is headed back to
London and Germany for the twenty twenty three NFL International Games.
On Location official packages will feature game tickets, deluxe hotel accommodations,
private tours, pregame hospitality and end planning, and much more.
(32:47):
Be sure to secure your priority access today visit NFL
onlocation dot com or search NFL on Location today. Your
football experience of a lifetime awaits only with on location money.
To that point, let's just say at twenty one, Zave
Flowers is there and they really want say they select Zay.
(33:08):
But that's when I think it gets really interesting because
there may be a couple of those tight ends available,
or a corner or an edge that they have really
highly graded. I think at that point that's when maybe
you think about trading up right, get your guy in
the first round, and then say, hey, this is this
(33:28):
is a heck of an opportunity to get this guy
that we have a huge grade on that still is
on the board. Let's trade our second and a third
next year to move up to you know, whatever it
is to secure a guy that may be available, because
at twenty one, right now, you have no idea what's
going to happen. I know that Tom probably has a
(33:48):
pretty good idea of where you know, and I remember
Tom talking about when they drafted Slater, they had a
pretty good idea that nobody was gonna select him and
they didn't have to move up. I remember saying, shoot,
move up, move up to get Slater. Tom knew what
he was doing. So Tom will probably have a pretty
good read on the board. You get the guy you
wanted twenty one. There could be a guy that you say, hey,
(34:12):
let's move back into the first round. I remember they
did it with Kenneth Murray a few years ago. Maybe
there's a guy that did they have eyes on on
defense or a tight end or another wide receiver. But
securing your guy at twenty one with that without having
to trade up, I think is probably the move.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
So it's interesting as you bring that up. Now, now
I'll present you with the counter to that. Okay, so
for me, it goes had we had I think we
did this about a month ago. We talked about the
construction of the roster and how you look at rosters
around the league, and when you look at teams that
have healthy roster construction, you're going to see a lot
of rookie contracts. You don't want to see a lot
(34:49):
of veteran contracts. And right now the Chargers are one
of the heaviest veteran laden rosters. They need more guys
on rookie deals. So now you get rid of that third.
For the most part, twos and three should be starters.
If you're doing a good job, your twos and your
threes are starters on your team. Maybe as soon as
their first year, they can get in there and they
(35:11):
can contribute. So now I've pulled up renters top tens
over at PFF right, So instead of taking Zay who's falling,
Who's Zay Flowers, who's fallen to you in the first
round at twenty one? You love him, he's great, fits
exactly what you want. You trade back. Now you've somebody
(35:31):
else wants to come up and get them. They want to,
and now your receiver options tanked. Dell could be available
for you in the second round. We talked about at
Perry with Brett just great speed out of wake Forest.
You know, he could be available for you in the
third round. So now that's what your wide receivers look
(35:51):
like instead of is a flower Jalen Hyatt it's one
trick pony. You know, it's really kind of a one
game spotlight against Alabama and what he and Hooker did
to the Crimson Tide in that game. But he's probably
gonna be available in the second when you pick. I
would guess. So they're not zay Farers. But now you
go to your tight ends. Okay, so we missed out
on Dalton Kincaid and Michael Mayer, but Sam Laporta could
(36:11):
be there in the second. Luke Muskraves could be Luke
Luke Muskrave. Darnell Washington might be available in the second.
Even Tucker Craft, that's like one of DJ's favorite guys.
He's probably gonna be available in the third. And like
I said, when you have this deep of a class,
these guys get pushed down. And now you're talking about
an edge defender two we two a polo two out
of you know, out of sc is probably gonna be
(36:33):
So now you got two two's and your three, and
maybe even trade back your three and you get another
you know, you get somebody else's three that's further back
in the third, and you pick up a five now,
and now you can stack some picks and start to
build some depth. What I'm getting at is in those
in those two position groups, as we discussed last week
(36:54):
with Brett Brett Coleman is I think it was Brett
that we talked about it with. But there isn't really
that elite guy that Garrett Wilson, that Jamar Chase. But
it's a deep group. You feel really good. So on
that horizontal board that the chargers have, maybe the grade
between z Flowers and and At Perry or the grade
(37:15):
between Za and Tank Dell or Jalen isn't that far.
And they're like, you know what, we can probably just
get out of here and feel like we're gonna get
a guy that's comparable talent. So Justin Herbert throwing him
the ball maybe the difference right, one hundred percent. Right.
We've said that Justin makes okay receivers good, he makes
good receivers great, he makes great receivers all pros. So
(37:37):
from a from a fan perspective.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
When you look at the draft, it's very easy to
just look at the short term and look at, Okay,
how's this guy going to contribute this year? Right, But
you know, it's a great point the front office is
thinking long term, man long term. Obviously they want they
want contributors out of this rookie class, but it's not
just about twenty twenty three. Especially when you look at
the cap numbers with a lot of these and you
(38:00):
look at Edge getting older, you look at really there's
not a long term tight end on this roster, so
they could go in a variety of directions, keeping in
line with the wide receiver theme. Jalen Geitton is back,
and we've talked about adding speed, and I think the
one thing about Jalen money is you know, you never
(38:22):
want to see an injury like that. At least it
happened in September, and you know, the hope is that
you know, once training camp comes in July, that Jalen
is hopefully close to his his former self. He's still
a young guy. All that said, they still need speed,
but it was nice to see them bring in Jalen
(38:43):
because I remember there's a lot of games down the
stretch in twenty twenty one, I believe I remember Cincinnati
the Giants game where Jalen came up huge, and again
it goes to the point of, you know, Justin was
finding t Billy and all these guys' rookie year and
Guiden and Jailing is a nice addition to this wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Yeah, I don't think there's any reason not to sign him,
you know, for what the money is, and you developed him.
There's certainly chemistry between he and Herbert. I think it's
what four catches of fifty plus or more of fifty
plus yards Giants. The pitch and catch on the Giants
game is the greatest touchdown throw I've ever seen. So
there's something there, So why not, you know, And that's
(39:24):
just vout. That's value. That's the second wave of free
agency and value, and there's still value out there. I'm
still when it comes to the edge, and I'm sure
they've had conversations, but I know how much he loves him,
and I'm still holding out. Maybe Leonard Floyd and out
there Brandon Staley are still having conversations of come on,
(39:47):
can we get you on like an incentive laden deal
and then put you back in the market next year
and one of those things. So that's the way you
can develop your depth at your edge position. Then you
don't have to focus on that as much guidance coming back.
Like you said, the ACL injury happened in September, you'd
hope he's ready to go by the start of the season,
and at least that gives you some element of speed.
You hope he has a full recovery and it comes back.
(40:09):
It seems like these days that an ACL is like
a spim. It sounds stupid, but you know it's like
a sprained ankle compete ten years ago. Yeah, so I
think there's there's a security blanket there. We've got a
guy with speed, We've got a guy that we know
can make explosive plays. We just got to make sure
he's healthy. And maybe now we don't need to freak
(40:31):
out as much about overdrafting for that particular skill set.
But you brought it up, and I think it was
a great point. I do want to just acknowledge it. Chris,
that and that is a big thing. You'll hear Tom
Telesco say a lot. We're not drafting these guys for
twenty twenty three. We're drafting them to be Chargers for
(40:52):
their career. So maybe he can get on the field
this year, maybe we think he needs a year of development,
but after that he's got potential to be a pro
bowler and those that's the way you've got to approach this.
You draft for twenty twenty three and you end up
stumbling over yourself and you make way too many mistakes
because you're overdrafting guys for one particular season, and then
(41:15):
you're hoping that their skills translate to the NFL, which
is a gigantic jump from what they were experiencing in college.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
I think a good way to look at last year's
rookie class for guys who didn't get on the field
or who had flashes but got hurt like Tito Abonia,
Isaiah Spiller, JT. Woods. Those are three guys that I
think can help this team this year that didn't help
the team last year. Tito Ebonia did until he got hurt.
But those are three guys that, again, they were drafted
(41:44):
to be Chargers, not to be Chargers in twenty twenty two.
So it's as exciting as the twenty three draft is
going to be. Think about the guys that they selected
last year who didn't contribute because there were other guys
in front of them or needed some time to fully devel.
This is a big off season for guys like JT.
Woods and Isaiah Spiller and Tito Bonya.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Woods is the big one. They drafted him with eyes
on him being a starter, and it's just a hard
position high safety. You've got to be able to read
the whole field. You've got to know everything. You've got
to take angles, you've got to diagnose, you've got to
decide am I moving forward? Am I moving backwards. It's
a lot to take in. We know he's got the
(42:25):
tracking skills, he's got the ball skills, needs to be
a better tackler. That was an issue when he was
at Baylor. And you know how slight he is, so
you hope in the off season and opportunity to put
on a bunch of weight because look a lot of
times when you're going into the combine and you're someone
like that, you want to run that lightning fast forty
so you're not putting on that weight and it takes
a second for you to catch up. So I'm hoping
he bulks up a little bit to help with his tackling.
(42:47):
But that's the big to me. Woods is a big
one just because no More nas Aloe was great, but
he doesn't have that same explosiveness that someone like J. T.
Woods has at that high safety position. And on top
of that, if you can play those two guys not
just a lowie and Derwin is your safeties, but you
(43:08):
can play you know, both a LOWI and JT up top, well,
now you can cut Derwin loose and make them whatever
you want. You talk about him being that dollar or
that money linebacker, the you know, the star as a
corner an edge rusher, and just send him firing off
an end repeatedly in games because he's able to do
(43:29):
all that. And when you have those two safeties up there,
you're able to do that and just play Kendricks as
your one linebacker, Derwin out there, those two guys up high,
your two corners, and now you can really get after it.
A couple quick notes before we get out of here.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
From Brandon Sealey's presser, it seems like same comments as
far as Austin Eckler's concerned. No new updates on that front.
The punt returner kick returner I comment I thought was interesting.
It seems like maybe that guy's not on the roster yet,
and right they need to identify that in the spring
and the and J. C. Jackson really no new updates
(44:03):
on him, he's just rehaving so I think his availability
remains a little bit of a mystery as we head
into the offseason and eventually into training camp. Anything else
that Staley said that stood out to you, money.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
I think so just talked about, you know, one of
the things you already addressed, the Kellen Moore thing. I
think his comments about Kellen and how they went and
got him, I think it echoes what we've talked about here.
One of the great things about Brandon Staley as a
head coaches, he lets the offensive coordinator do what the
offensive coordinator wants to do. He does not meddle, you know,
the go forward on fourth down, the downs and stuff
like that. Yeah, that's a head coach's responsibility. But it
(44:37):
certainly sounded like Kellen's really good at this. We're looking
forward to him doing what he wants to do here,
and that's always encouraging when you see that. So, you know,
he talked about Eric Kendricks sort of echoed what he
had already mentioned I think in the presser about why
they same with Tom, about why they went and got
him and replaced Drew with him. So you know, you
(44:59):
kind of have those comments about how you get the
sense that, yeah, he's gonna be probably gonna, i think,
take the green dot. If he's able to get everything
squared away through training camp and is comfortable with the defense,
it sounds like they want him to be that guy
on defense just because that allows Drwin to cut loose
a little bit. I think for people asking well, why
isn't Derwin that guy, I think it's because Derwin can
(45:20):
do so many different things, and there's so many different
ways you can deploy him, and he may see something
just the way he operates what I think, Yeah, it
makes more sense to have that on someone else. So
that's sort of one of the things I took away
as well. I'm trying to think if there was anything else.
There were some short answers in there. Felt like there
was like, yeah, I don't want to talk about Herbert,
not gonna talk about his contract now, I gonna talk
(45:42):
about Austin. There was a lot of that in there
as well.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Final thing hopefully see a lot of you guys. Next Thursday,
Money you're you and Adrian are hosting this thing. It's
gonna be Listen, the charges don't select till twenty one.
That means it's more long already, from one to twenty, right,
it's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
A long night. Yeah, Petros and I are gonna do
the radio show there from three to five, and then
we'll start the party. Adrian and I'll start the party
at five when the draft gets underway and the Panthers
are on the clock, and it sounds like there's gonna
be quite a few people out there that are going
to be made available to us, so have an opportunity,
hopefully to hear from Drwin, to hear from Justin, to
(46:21):
hear from a handful of other players, and certainly Charger
legends gonna be out there. They do that every year
as well, So we have a lot of fun. And look,
the West Side tends to get neglected because it can
be a bit of a pain to navigate. However, when
you're stuck there, I shouldn't say stuck, but when you
know you're going to camp out there from five until
about you know, eight nine o'clock, maybe what the Heck,
(46:44):
come on over and hang out. Seems like it's gonna
be a nice backdrop the atrium there at the Culver
City Culver City, No, Century City, Westfield, Sentry City. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Yeah, the Charges have done a great job with the draftman.
Like I was in Vegas last year, it got to
interview Zion, but you you were hosting that draft party
at so Far, which was incredible.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
It looked incredible.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
I remember being at the pier with you in Santa Monica.
That scene was crazy.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
I remember it was you.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
They picked Tillery, so it was like twenty nine overall
twenty eight, Yeah, twenty eight, So I mean we were
waiting all night, but it didn't matter. Like guys were
coming on stage and and getting the crowd hyped up.
It was a lot of fun. So I expect no
different on.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Thursday, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
No.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
And look, there's still a ton of teams. You've got
the Raiders that are picking at seven, I think, so
that's gonna be of interest. You've got a lot of
AFC teams up there, the Texans, the Colts, all those
teams that we're going to be paying attention to. They're
going to be drafting quarterbacks perhaps so there's still a
lot of excitement over what's going on as opposed to
just waiting for number twelve for sure, because it's all
(47:46):
gonna affect with the Chargers to hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
You know, all right, can't wait for it, buddy, Always
appreciate your brother. We will see you guys next week,
hopefully a century city for money of Chris. This has
been charges weekly.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
All right, guys.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
As the official hospitality provider of the NFL, on Location
offers unrivaled access to experience all premier NFL events like
never before. On Location brings you up close for all
the action, providing fans with unforgettable moments from Draft Day
to Super Bowl Sunday and everything in between. On Location
thrilled to announce its new partnership with the Pro Football
(48:20):
Hall of Fame this August, kickoff football season in ken
Ohio and be their live to witness the class of
twenty twenty three enshrinement. The NFL is headed back to
London and Germany for the twenty twenty three NFL International Games.
On Location official packages will feature game tickets, deluxe hotel accommodations,
private tours, pregame hospitality, and end planning and much more.
(48:42):
Be sure to secure your priority access today. Visit NFL
onlocation dot com or search NFL on location today. Your
football experience of a lifetime awaits only with on Location
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Six
A late fifteen to ten touched up suck.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
All.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Right, here we go, guys.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
We are one week away from the twenty twenty three
NFL Draft. Welcome into a brand new episode of Charge Weekly,
as always, joined by Matt Muney, Smith and Money. I
neglected to talk about this last week, and I was
kicking myself.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I got the video late.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Did you see our producer Greg Kim catching football from
the Chickame?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I did.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I thought he did pretty damn well. I thought he
did very well. And you know, we talk about wide receiver.
I think great Kim at least is worth a spot
in the summertime. And Greg, I saw you also catching
punts and with the absence of DeAndre Carter. I don't
know if you want to get on the mic and
just talk about that experience. Greg, if you're still there,
(00:54):
what was that like? Catching to Justin Herbert football? It's
that recording your audio? Okay, well that's a shame.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Look at that. That's back to back. You blew it, Chris.
You blew it last week by not bringing it up,
and you blew it this week by trying to bring
Greg in when you can't come on.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Way to go, some host it's worse now because I
set up up. I asked him a question. He can't
even talk anyway. It was awesome, and uh, I really
appreciated your your effort.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Greg. I saw you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Wearing the helmet and everything was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
But that was fun. When they said all right, let's
go up to justin Herbert mode. It's like, you think
you're doing pretty well, yeah, on the on the machine,
and then all of a sudden they're like, okay, now
let's show you what it's like when it's justin Herbert.
When you start getting peppered. They d oh, that's exactly
what happened. Greg. Yeah, oh yeah, there we go. Yeah,
check it out. It's on uh, it's on Chargers dot com.
(01:40):
It is great. But I thought Greg did a bang
up job. Yeah, it's not easy.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Catching the punts too.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Like you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I think you did one of those things where you
call it one and then you had the ball in
your hand, called another one and again, dude, there's a
there's an opening at that position. So Greg shout out
to you.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, mony the off season program Phase one is here.
We got to hear from Brandon Staley and he was
very specific. Ninety three days since our last game YEA
against Jacksonville Jaguars. You know, I want to kind of
talk about a few things that he spoke about. But yeah,
I think we have to start with Jalen Hurts in
that monster contract that he got two hundred and fifty
(02:19):
five million I think one hundred and seventy nine guaranteed.
We were waiting to see which quarterback was going to
be the first dominode to fall. Obviously there's Burrow, there's Lebar,
and there's Justin still to go. But the guy who
gets to the super Bowl and probably would have been
the Super Bowl MVP, all right, definitely would have been
the Super Bowl MVP had the Eagles one, he's the
(02:40):
first domino to fall.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Well, look, I can't say it enough. I've said it already.
I try, And it takes two it's two parties. It's
not a unilateral negotiation. Right, So get this thing done.
The sooner you get it done, the less money it's
gonna cost you. Because I can tell you right now
Herbert's campaign taking a cent less than what Jay hurt Scott,
even though he's a runner up MVP, took his team
(03:04):
to the super Bowl. I can promise you that that
camp is saying. I get it. His accomplishments are higher
and there are more than Justin has. However, go on
out and pull thirty two gms in this league, and
you tell me if any of them want to take
Jalen Hurts over Justin Herbert, you know. And I'm not
(03:25):
taking anything away from Jalen. He is an incredible quarterback and.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I would earned every cent.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And look, I have no problem coming clean on this
because I've said it. You know, I've already been made
a fool. Annually. I get made a fool for my
take on Patrick Mahomes and he was drafted by the
Chiefs because we had never seen anyone come out of
Texas Tech and the way he played football in college.
And I said it with Justin Herbert, you know, we
just did not see this Justin Herbert at Oregon. So
(03:53):
it was a much tougher and a little bit more
of a critical evaluation. And going into that draft when
you would got selected at five, I was like, you know,
we were on the air at the time during the
radio show, I said, I got no problem taking Isaiah
Simmons here and scooping up Jalen Hurts in the second.
And I think that was a very I don't want
(04:15):
to say common, because if it was so common, a
team would have taken him in the first. But it
was a very popular position that people they knew that
Jalen had he had to grow as a quarterback, as
a thrower, But anybody that had ever been around that
guy was like, man, you will not find a better leader,
(04:37):
a more competitive individual, someone who absolutely is relentless in
the way he attacks his craft and that plays. You know,
that works. And I think it's one of the things
about Justin Herbert that the Chargers absolutely love is how
committed this dude is and how hard he works and
how much he cares, and so you know, I think
(04:58):
when you when you factor all those things in about
what the contract is going to look like, Joe Burrow's
camp is not going to take a cent less than that.
And I think the sooner you get it, if you
can get ahead of Burrow, I'd want to get ahead
of Burrow. Let his agent say all right, well we
want more than Herbert now kind of thing. So they've
said it's going to be private. I that's that's usually
(05:21):
a good it's a good sign when you're not hearing
anything in the media about how negotiations are going, that
tends to be a good sign. It means that both
parties are trying to figure this thing out and get
it squared away.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, and at this point, if if Burrow gets a
few million more than Herbert, I mean, who cares, right,
I mean, if you're if you're in this range right now,
you are setting new standards. Jalen Hurts is the highest
paid player in football right now. Whoever signs next is
going to be the highest paid player of football.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So it's just I think the one like, the one
thing Chris that's going to be interesting to me is
does it look more like because look, Jalen's going to
get another bite at this, you know, at twenty nine,
Like that's the most That's the incredible thing about that
contract is the way they built it. It's a five
year deal, so he's gonna be twenty nine years old
when he gets the next shot at it. And it's like, man,
(06:11):
you're gonna get another jot. So it's I bring it
up because I'm anxious. I'm interested to see, not anxious,
I'm interested to see. Is this going to look like
a Patrick Mahomes deal. Hey man, we want to give
you a ten year deal worth five hundred million dollars
or is it going to be a let's give you
five two sixty five, two eighty whatever it is. And
(06:35):
you know, I'm interested to see what his camp wants
would they rather have, because that's what people forget. It's
not it's not the player, it's the agent that wants
to puff their chest out and show these college procests
and show you know, Caleb and Drake May and these Hey,
look what I got, Come sign with me when you
(06:58):
get into the draft. So that's what you have to remember,
is it's not necessarily what Justin wants. It's what the
Justin Herbert team wants, and the team is the agent
that wants to hang their hat on something special. Do
they want a bigger number than Patrick Mahomes got overall?
Or do they want a very similar to what we're
seeing Josh Allen Jalen Hurts that deal with just a
(07:20):
little bit of more money.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And hey, we've seen it different, right, We've seen Kirk
Cousins bet on himself year after year after year with
one year deals and make a ton of money and
then signing a boatload of money with the Minnesota Vikings
and doing that again. Right, we saw Dak Prescott bet
on himself, and obviously those situations are different. Justin's gonna
get either a five year deal or a ten year deal, right,
(07:43):
That's what it is. But we hope, right, yeah, we hope.
But I go back to that twenty twenty draft money
and I very clearly remember, all right two in Herbert
or in that conversation, we know that the Chargers need
a quarterback, but we were talking about Jeff Acuda just
got traded to the Falcons. We were talking about Isaiah Simmons.
(08:03):
I remember watching Isaiah Simmons work out here in Costa Mesa.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
He's a freak.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
This guy would be. Could you imagine him and Thorwin
on the field together, right, be unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
That's exactly what I was thinking. I was like, man,
I'd take him at six and grab herts in the
second round. Be totally fine with that. And then look,
Isaiah's really struggled, got a lot better, you know, two
years ago, had kind of a little bit of a
breakout year. Play a little bit better last year. But
you just never know. It's so hard to project. You
said about you know Akuda, He's like, this is one
of the best corner prospects we've seen since Jalen Ramsey,
(08:33):
and yeah, I was gone, you know for a late
round pick because and now you know, that's not ability.
That's hell. The guys played like twenty games, I think
in three years, so that's part of it. And sometimes
you just it's tough to see that guy around the building.
You got guys out there laying it on the line
game in and clank game out, getting their heads kicked in,
and you see a dude that's playing five six games
(08:54):
a year. It can be kind of uncomfortable for both sides,
for the individual that feels like he's led his team
down and for the other guys that are getting the
crap kicked out of him and seeing this guy just
kind of hanging out riding the stationary bike. So that's
a big part of it. Not saying that Jeffacouta is
a bust yet, I think it's just one of those
where that's that that tends to happen when you have
(09:16):
a player that is perennially injured, it is very uncomfortable
for both sides to have him constantly around the facility,
especially when he's making that much money. Is that high
of a draft pick.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, And it's also I think lessons too when you
pick in the top five, top six, if you have
an inkling that there's a guy there that can change
your franchise, you take that guy over the corner or
over the linebacker right in the Chargers and.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Tom twhy there's going to be for you know, it's
why they're going to be those quarterbacks taking Chris right, yeah,
you know what.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
You know. What's weird though, like I've heard this from
I think with Schefter, and I think maybe Rappaport talked
about this too, is that the Texans may not take
a quarterback at two, and then that leaves the Cardinals
who don't need a quarterback because of the Kyler Murray
situation and the money they have invested in him, and
they may not take a quarterback, and who knows if
anybody leave frogs the Colts at four, who do need
(10:06):
a quarterback. So that's where two and three get interesting.
I know, like listen, we've talked about so many different guys.
Because the Charger pick at twenty one and we're probably
gonna be way off, like they're gonna probably select somebody
that we've seldom talked about.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Probably it's our luck, right, hope not.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I hope not, because last year, you know, we were
big on the wide receivers and in some other position.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Two years ago we talked about Slater. Two years ago,
we said, man, if somehowing out some way, Rashawn Slater
slips and sure enough that happened. Yeah, that felt the
interesting and I want to give I think it's our colleague.
I think it's DJ. That was the first one I
heard bring this up. And it's pretty easy to connect
the dots if in fact Brock Purty's the guy and
(10:49):
they feel like he's gonna end up being their quarterback
moving forward. Yeah, you traded a ton to get Trey Lance,
but whatever, you found your quarterback. If you feel like
brock Party is that quarterback and took you to the
championship game and won a bunch of games, you know,
one out after becoming the starter at the end of
the year, who cares? Who cares what draft capital you
gave away and you move on. You found your quarterback,
(11:09):
doesn't matter where you found him. Connecting Trey Lance to
Houston is interesting if you can, you've got that number
three pick or that number two pick, maybe you trade
with the Colts if they're real smitten with c. J.
Stroud and you say, hey, once you just give us
your two, you do have to give us a lot.
We'll trade back two spots, give us your two and
a five and they can slide back to four and
(11:32):
grab another one of the Tyree Wilson or one of
those guys, and then they can trade twelve or thirteen
whatever that is to the forty nine ers for Trey
Lance and Demiko knows them really well, coached them up
by all means say they say, bust is tail working,
great kid, incredibly skilled. Yes, Slowick is there too. The
OC Yeah, So to me, that makes sense if you're
(11:56):
if you're the Texans and you're like, hey, look, you
know we can we got a lot of holes we're
not We wanted Bryce Young, That's who we wanted, and
if he's not there, we're just as comfortable picking up
a couple extra picks, taking a dominant defensive player in
this draft, and for Damiko, who's a defensive coach, and
I don't even know if you'd have to give up
(12:16):
twelve might be able to give up a couple twos
or something for him. I don't know, but it's it's
it's an interesting it's an interesting theory or a bit
of speculation.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Will Anderson. Will Anderson slam dunket too, right, I mean
I feel like that that's like, Okay, turn the cart
in and then if you have a plant quarterback, you know,
an another destination. You talk about Ran Carthon in Tennessee,
who came from San Francisco, who's involved in that process
for scent of drafting Trey Lance. Maybe they're an option
too with with Ryan Tannehill's time seemingly up at some
(12:50):
point in the near future, and knowing that Tennessee needs
to kind of rebuild on offense with Derrick Henry aging.
So yeah, see what happens at the top of the draft,
I think is going to be very interesting and may
eventually kind of dictate what the Chargers do at twenty one,
because maybe one of those quarterbacks is still there on
the board as we creep into the twenties.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
We can only hope, We can only hope, right, Like.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Will Levis Hendon Hooker, like you hear more and more
about maybe those guys, maybe.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
If Anthony Richardson you're starting to hear, could you know
that perhaps people we were speculating a little or people
were sort of pushing Anthony Richardson up a little high
compared to the risk involved with someone that has that
few starts, that few pass attempts, that few snaps, and
just how much pause that gives general managers and scouts
(13:44):
when you have that small of a sample. And it
goes back to Mitch Trubisky and Trey Lance did not
have a lot of games under his belt, and it
just makes guys nervous. That was the Bill Parcells thing.
He wanted four year starters. He wanted guys that had
played at I think his number was forty. I want
to say it was, or maybe I think yeah, for
(14:07):
some reason, I feel like it was forty. He wanted
forty college starts from his guys before he was comfortable
drafted him or thirty or whatever. Yeah, and you're talking
about thirteen. Yeah, you're talking about thirteen. Mark Sanchez was
that way. He's just going to bring that up.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, Pete Carroll press conference where he wasn't thrilled that
Mark was doing that well.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Selfish a Pete, it was not. Your job as a
coach in college is not to win football games, believe
it or not. You're supposed to get your guys ready
to go to the NFL. That's your ultimate responsibility is
to take care of these young men. And so for
Pete to do that to Mark and what was a
celebratory day because he put his name in the search
(14:51):
and they came back and said, you're going to be
a top ten pick. And you go when you can
start being paid to play football, especially that much money,
you go play football for MO. It's different now with nil,
but back then you want an end from University of Washington,
you know, spearing you in the back with his helmet
for free. And that was all just Pete. No, And
he wasn't quite ready for the transition because he just
(15:14):
assumed Mark was going to be back for another year.
But to the point beyond that and aside here in
southern California where we're doing in the pod, yeah, I
probably wasn't ready, you know, but you know, they had
that circumstance. That's the thing about the NFL, and it's
unlike any other sport where circumstances, not like baseball it's
not like hockey. It's not like basketball, where if you
(15:37):
are in exceptional talent, your talent's gonna break through. You're
going to shine in the batter's box or on the
pitching mound. You're gonna shine on the ice. You're going
to shine as a basketball player. Football is different. It's
scheme dependent, it's teammates, it's coaches, it's front office's willingness
(15:58):
to spend money to build around you. What does that
offensive line look like in front of you? Are they
willing to invest in the offensive line. Are they going
to resign guys after they develop or is it a
cheap franchise that just lets guys go and they don't
care and they replay Like that's the difference. There's so
much of this is dependent on where you land. I mean,
just think about Justin and now I'm talking way too much, no.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
But I know we should talk like when he was
at Oregon, right and we didn't well we didn't.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Mario Christobal was a ridiculous system they had him running
yea would have been the first pick in the draft.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
The offense here too, and that that's a nice segue
into Kellen Moore and what Kellen Moore will bring to
this offense, and maybe it's the perfect marriage between Justin
and Kellen and the way he likes to play, and
you know, really the guys. You know, we've seen Mike
and Keenan maximize their talent really in any scheme. But
I'm really looking forward to seeing what this offensive line
(16:54):
looks like, to see what the running game looks like
under Kellen Moore. And you know, we've talked about the
rinning back. I promise myself I have talked about the
running back today. All Right, if b John Robinson is
there twenty one, I think the Charger should take them.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I don't think he's gonna be there.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Right when I see Daniel Jeremiah's top fifty and I
see b John Robinson at number three, it's like, Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
That's why would you? And that's everyone. That's everyone. Everybody's
big board has Bijon in the top five. But it
goes back to and we've already discussed it. I don't
have to, you know, reconstruct it. But I am kind
of proud that we talked about it a long time ago,
and now people are starting to have that same position
where they're sharing money it's it's money. You don't why
(17:34):
would you pay a running back seven eight million dollars
a year because you took them in the top ten.
When you sign a free agent and it's twelve million dollars,
you want to pay the defensive end to that, you
want to pay enough tackle that, you want to play
the pay the quarterback that the money gap isn't large
enough for it to be of value. And that's a
big part of what you do in the draft is
(17:55):
take premium positions in the first round so you can
lock that salary in for the next five years. I
have to worry about these gargantuan salaries. The point I
was gonna make with Herbert and Kellen Moore is and
this is not because he's not here anymore and was fired.
But his best year was with Shane his rookie season.
(18:17):
When you think about the way he played, the explosive plays,
the amount of quarterback designed runs that were effective, that
that was his best season. I know his second year
was great. Statistically, he was off the charts and it
was a great year and they barely missed the playoffs
(18:40):
because they lost a game in Week eighteen. But just
for my my naked eye. The Shane Steike and coordinated
offense was better for him, and it was immediate, and
it was just explosive, that's the thing. It was explosive.
And you know a big part of that could have
(19:00):
been just the way that Joe wanted to use Austin
Eckler a little bit differently and how much more of
a prominent role he gained with Lombardi taking over. So
I think there's again it goes back to circumstance. It's
the plays that Joe Lombardi wanted to call. It was effective,
it was a top five offense. It worked. But just
(19:21):
I think if you were to ask Charger fans and
football people when offense looked better for Justin, it was Shane's.
You know, it was Shane's and that's why he's a
head coach now. And that's why Jalen Hurts just got
a two hundred and fifty nine million dollar deal and
was runner up in the MVP race. A big part
of that was Shane and so to bring And I
(19:43):
say that because, look, it may be construed as a
shot at Brandon for bringing in Joe Lombardy in the
first place instead of just keeping Shane and saying, hey,
what you had going was great, let's just roll. It's
not what I'm getting at. When you're ahead, coach, you
want to surround yourself with people you're comfortable with, and
that's fine. I have no problem with that. What I'm
(20:06):
gonna do is credit him for cutting him loose for it,
because essentially what you're doing is you're pointing the finger
at yourself. Hey, I messed this up. I've got to
get a new coordinator. I brought a guy in that
did not work. I need to fix it, and I'll
credit him for that. It's essentially quitting. You know, nobody
ever gets credit for quitting things, but you quit when
you realize this is going nowhere. Why am I still
doing this? I need to quit. You know, if you're
(20:28):
in a dead end job and you don't see any
upward mobility, just quit, start something new. And that's what
is happening this year on offense is they realized, Okay,
it was great two years ago. Regress last year. We
have issues with the four minute drill. We're losing games
late because we can't control the clock as much as
we want to.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Let's move on, and frankly, I say you say all that,
Joe's not a bad coach. Joe's been around for a
long time and he had a great year. I mean
they were top five offense the year before. The running
game and speed a wide receiver obviously kind of hindered
his ability to call certain plays. But you're right, it
wasn't working. But Joe found a job in Denver with Sean.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Payton immediately, and that's what you know.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
He's comfortable with Sean Shawn's calling the plays and that's
a marriage that works. I do credit Brandon for bringing
in Kellen Moore and saying, hey, we got to be
better offensively, because they do have to be better offensively. Hey,
I want to I want to run this thing by
you too. So Bill Barnwell did these trades, these hypothetical trades,
And I bring it up because we've talked about the
(21:32):
wide receiver position a lot and staying put versus trading
up and what have you. So I'm just gonna read
this and get your thoughts. LA general manager Tom Telesco
almost always stays put in the opening round of the draft,
but that's not an option here. The Chargers, at the
beginning of a group of teams that expect to look
for wide receivers, but any of those can move ahead
of LA to make a trade with the Bucks or Seahawks.
(21:54):
In this case, the Chargers would be moving ahead of
the Packers at No. Number fifteen, so they would move
up to number one fourteen. The Packers drafting a wide
receiver in the first round still seems to be a
theory as opposed to something that may actually happen, but
this would be a way for the Charges to land
Jackson Smith and Jigba as the long term replacement for
Keenan Allen. A more speedy option could be in play,
(22:16):
although the Charges could probably stay put and grabs a
Flowers or Jalen Hyatt. So we haven't talked much about
Smith and Jigba, and I do think he is kind
of the consensus number one. I think we have to
put everything in its proper context. The cap hit for
Keenan and Mike is gigantic in twenty twenty four, so
(22:38):
that leads me to believe one of them isn't going
to be on the roster in a year, maybe both,
but probably one. If this is the Keenan Allen let's
say replacement after this past year this next year, is
that something that you would be comfortable with or do
you want to kind of go all in, stand put,
(22:58):
stay pat and get a a wide receiver with speed
to compliment those two guys as opposed to look to
the future.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
It's interesting. I don't I don't envision it happening, just
because I as good as Smith and Jigba is, and
he's good. You know, when he was on the field
with a Lave and Garrett Wilson, he was the best
receiver two years ago. That's how good he is. However,
I think there's some concern about the injuries, about missing
(23:27):
almost an entire season with a handstring that was that's
that's a bit of a red flag for me. The
Ohio State offense, it just it produces gargantuan numbers for
wide receivers and look at Lave and Garret Wilson were
both exceptional last year. So I don't think it's fair
to stick that. But I think it's important to remember
(23:48):
this offense puts up monster numbers for wide receivers, but
he is special, no doubt about it. I think for me,
that's seven spots to go from twenty one to fourteen
that's gonna cost you. It's gonna probably cost you, it
(24:11):
might cost you your two because that's i'd I don't
have the Jimmy Johnson chart in front of me. I
don't know what the points are, but if I were
to guess, it's a minimum of A three and maybe
a two. And they just can't afford to do that.
They need those picks they need. I would much rather
trade back. You know, our conversation with Renner about you know,
a depth and what you might be able to get
(24:33):
when you move back with Brett last week when we
were talking about what's available if you move back, and
to me the gap between what Smith and Jigbu and
what Zay Flowers who could be there at twenty one
or Jordan Addison at twenty when Jordan Adison's Keenan Allen
as well. He's not as big, he's not as strong
and as thick. But in terms of route running, in
(24:55):
terms of separation, you know, Keenan's greatest attribute. One he's
one of the smartest receivers in the league. But two
is he operates at one speed. When people talk about
route running, I think fans don't quite understand. Yes, every
people can run routes. Yeah, or I said it is
crisp are your breaks is claim. What is Keenan's secret
(25:17):
sauce is everything's the exact same speed, so you have
no idea. He doesn't he doesn't slow down, he doesn't
explode out of his bricks. It's just it's it's uncanny.
It's unlike anybody else in the league, where he is
just operating at one speed. Calvin Ridley is like this too,
where everything except he's a little bit of a better
(25:38):
athlete than Keenan and everything is just you don't know
where he's going because it's all the same speed. So
that's what Smith and jigb is capable of doing, and
that's what makes him very special. But he's not explosive
like you know, like a Ze Flowers is explosive, and
and Jordan Addison is like Keenan and like Smith and
(26:01):
Jig but in that way. And he just found himself
in a Lincoln Riley offense that doesn't feature anyone. Lincoln
is he will spread it all out and it does
not matter you will you know you're going to get
your targets if you're open. I have no interest in
getting a bulittan a cough winner because I'm going to
feature you because you're a really good receiver. No, it's
(26:22):
just gonna go where it goes. So when you go
back two years and watch Jordan Addison though, that's what
I would say to people that are down on him.
And let's not forget who's his coach was too, by
the way, at Pitt, and who recruited him to Pitt,
Chris Baty. So there's a connection there. So I cannot
imagine Tom being in that room having baby sitting there
and go, Addison's probably gonna fall in our laps and
(26:44):
we're gonna have to give up with two to go
up and get Smith and Jig. But what do you think?
I'm sure baby be like, dude, just sit here for
Addison's he is good. You are fine. So love Bill.
He does great work at ESPN. But could not agree
with him more.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Well, you know what, and Bill's defense, I think this
is just a thought provoking exercise. I think he did
this with all the teams right, potential trades and trade out,
So he's he's doing that to you know, smart interest.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, and which one makes I got you, which one
of these makes sense?
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Exactly. There's some intrigue there, but I think if you
do stand pap Zay Flowers or Jordan Addison would be
a perfect number two in this offense, regardless what happens
at twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Fe Let's not forget about Josh Palmer. You know, he fits
that Keenan. He fits that Keenan role more than he
does an outside. You know, he can excel there and
he's gotten better every year. So I'm just more comfortable
with let's get an explosive guy on the outside, and
if you have to move on from Keenan next year,
I hope you don't. I hope there's a way you
can figure that out. And he stays healthy for seventeen
games and you make a Super Bowl run and it's like, yeah, yeah,
(27:50):
we're comfortable given him a few more years. Let's do it.
You know, that's ideal for me, And I feel good
about zech.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Like ever since you said it a couple of weeks ago,
that the Za Flowers hype for me has been increasing,
and it just it seems to make a lot of sense, right,
It just seems to make a lot of the tape.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Man, It's crazy, how explosive that guy is.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Yeah, And you know the tight end position, whether it's
kinkad or Mayor looking at DJ's top fifty, it's you
look at the guys who are kind of in that
that territory, and Addison's there, Zay Flowers is there? Those
are the two. I think Michael Mayer's number twenty one
on his big board. Kin Kate is nine, right, So
like the value you would get with a Dalton Kincate
(28:30):
if he happened to be there at twenty one would
be spectacular.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Right. It's funny though, Chris like, and this is what
we were getting at with with Brett last week, is
it's also important to think about positions. And this is
what makes the drafts the draft so hard, is you
also have to look at the position groups from a
depth standpoint. Who's going to be there when we picked
(28:55):
u out? Okay, what's here? We're sitting and I'm staring
at Za Flowers, Jordan Addison, both Mayor and Ken cad
are there. You know, I'm trying to think of what
McDonald is there? At edge, You've got Canci there, what
cornerback maybe more is there? At cornerback? Banks is there?
(29:15):
Like now you have to look at right, what's available
in the second round. The way that guys like DJ
are describing this tight end group is that it's the
deepest tight end group they have ever seen. That If
Kinkaid and Mayer aren't in this draft, Darnell Washington and
either musk Raad Right or Laporta, those guys are going
(29:37):
to go on the first round. But it's just because
it's so so Now, I think you have to ask yourself. Okay,
if we take Zay because he's here at twenty one,
what are the chances of us getting musk Grave or
Laporta at with our second round pick? Probably pretty good?
If we take kN Caid here, what are the chances
of us getting a wide receiver that fits what we
(30:02):
would maybe get from Zay? Maybe you don't get that
full package, But do we get enough out of the
wide receiver we take in this second Okay, are we
gonna find a defensive end like McDonald or like or
are we gonna find a corner like Branch if we wait?
Probably not. So let's let's take the end here and
let's get the receiver. See what I mean? Like, So
(30:23):
that's the sort of stuff that starts to come into play,
you have what's called two boards. You have a horizontal,
you have a horizontal, you have a vertical. Your vertical
what most teams have one fifty it's just one thre
Like you said, whatever, DJ has this players at nine,
this player's at fifteen. This play, and if you're a
best team available, you're like, all right, we're picking a
twenty one. There's our guy that's got the number eight
next to them. We'll take them. So the horizontal is
(30:43):
now you've got all these grades and it's run by positions.
So now you're looking at these horizontal categories of Okay,
here's my Zay Flowers. He's a I didn't even want
to get into the way these scouts do the scoring system.
When I hear DJ and Lance talk about I'm like, hell,
you guys talking about six ninety four. No, I've got
him as a six eight eight. I've got him at
(31:04):
a six seven seven, and he's a six seven nine.
So I would totally tell you what. I don't know
how the scouts do it, but that's the way. So
just imagine you've got three wide receivers that on a
one to ten scale, you've got them at nine, and
now I've got six of them that are eight, and
I've got five of them that are seven. So you're like, dude,
I can get this seven in the third round, but
(31:25):
I got to spend a first on a nine, and
the gap I have between them is pretty damn close.
That's what I'm getting at. So to me, a lot
of that is going to come into play because of
how deep these positions of need are for the Chargers
running back. If you want to talk about Beesewan, we
talked about that with Brett, with Roshan potentially being like
(31:46):
someone like that or Tank or one of those guys
into the charbonnet. You know, that's what you now have
to start balancing out, who's here, what's that position group
that look like? When we get to hear and here,
I want.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
To run another scenario by let's take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
We'll do it on the other side, all right, guys.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
As the official hospitality provider of the NFL, on Location
offers unrivaled access to experience all premier NFL events like
never before. On Location brings you up close for all
the action, providing fans with unforgettable moments from Draft Day
to Super Bowl Sunday and everything in between. On Location
thrilled to announce its new partnership with the Pro Football
(32:25):
Hall of Fame this August kickof football season in Canon,
Ohio and be their live to witness the class of
twenty twenty three Enshrinement. The NFL is headed back to
London and Germany for the twenty twenty three NFL International Games.
On Location official packages will feature game tickets, deluxe hotel accommodations,
private tours, pregame hospitality and end planning, and much more.
(32:47):
Be sure to secure your priority access today visit NFL
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To that point, let's just say at twenty one, Zave
Flowers is there and they really want say they select Zay.
(33:08):
But that's when I think it gets really interesting because
there may be a couple of those tight ends available,
or a corner or an edge that they have really
highly graded. I think at that point that's when maybe
you think about trading up right, get your guy in
the first round, and then say, hey, this is this
(33:28):
is a heck of an opportunity to get this guy
that we have a huge grade on that still is
on the board. Let's trade our second and a third
next year to move up to you know, whatever it
is to secure a guy that may be available, because
at twenty one, right now, you have no idea what's
going to happen. I know that Tom probably has a
(33:48):
pretty good idea of where you know, and I remember
Tom talking about when they drafted Slater, they had a
pretty good idea that nobody was gonna select him and
they didn't have to move up. I remember saying, shoot,
move up, move up to get Slater. Tom knew what
he was doing. So Tom will probably have a pretty
good read on the board. You get the guy you
wanted twenty one. There could be a guy that you say, hey,
(34:12):
let's move back into the first round. I remember they
did it with Kenneth Murray a few years ago. Maybe
there's a guy that did they have eyes on on
defense or a tight end or another wide receiver. But
securing your guy at twenty one with that without having
to trade up, I think is probably the move.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
So it's interesting as you bring that up. Now, now
I'll present you with the counter to that. Okay, so
for me, it goes had we had I think we
did this about a month ago. We talked about the
construction of the roster and how you look at rosters
around the league, and when you look at teams that
have healthy roster construction, you're going to see a lot
of rookie contracts. You don't want to see a lot
(34:49):
of veteran contracts. And right now the Chargers are one
of the heaviest veteran laden rosters. They need more guys
on rookie deals. So now you get rid of that third.
For the most part, twos and three should be starters.
If you're doing a good job, your twos and your
threes are starters on your team. Maybe as soon as
their first year, they can get in there and they
(35:11):
can contribute. So now I've pulled up renters top tens
over at PFF right, So instead of taking Zay who's falling,
Who's Zay Flowers, who's fallen to you in the first
round at twenty one? You love him, he's great, fits
exactly what you want. You trade back. Now you've somebody
(35:31):
else wants to come up and get them. They want to,
and now your receiver options tanked. Dell could be available
for you in the second round. We talked about at
Perry with Brett just great speed out of wake Forest.
You know, he could be available for you in the
third round. So now that's what your wide receivers look
(35:51):
like instead of is a flower Jalen Hyatt it's one
trick pony. You know, it's really kind of a one
game spotlight against Alabama and what he and Hooker did
to the Crimson Tide in that game. But he's probably
gonna be available in the second when you pick. I
would guess. So they're not zay Farers. But now you
go to your tight ends. Okay, so we missed out
on Dalton Kincaid and Michael Mayer, but Sam Laporta could
(36:11):
be there in the second. Luke Muskraves could be Luke
Luke Muskrave. Darnell Washington might be available in the second.
Even Tucker Craft, that's like one of DJ's favorite guys.
He's probably gonna be available in the third. And like
I said, when you have this deep of a class,
these guys get pushed down. And now you're talking about
an edge defender two we two a polo two out
of you know, out of sc is probably gonna be
(36:33):
So now you got two two's and your three, and
maybe even trade back your three and you get another
you know, you get somebody else's three that's further back
in the third, and you pick up a five now,
and now you can stack some picks and start to
build some depth. What I'm getting at is in those
in those two position groups, as we discussed last week
(36:54):
with Brett Brett Coleman is I think it was Brett
that we talked about it with. But there isn't really
that elite guy that Garrett Wilson, that Jamar Chase. But
it's a deep group. You feel really good. So on
that horizontal board that the chargers have, maybe the grade
between z Flowers and and At Perry or the grade
(37:15):
between Za and Tank Dell or Jalen isn't that far.
And they're like, you know what, we can probably just
get out of here and feel like we're gonna get
a guy that's comparable talent. So Justin Herbert throwing him
the ball maybe the difference right, one hundred percent. Right.
We've said that Justin makes okay receivers good, he makes
good receivers great, he makes great receivers all pros. So
(37:37):
from a from a fan perspective.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
When you look at the draft, it's very easy to
just look at the short term and look at, Okay,
how's this guy going to contribute this year? Right, But
you know, it's a great point the front office is
thinking long term, man long term. Obviously they want they
want contributors out of this rookie class, but it's not
just about twenty twenty three. Especially when you look at
the cap numbers with a lot of these and you
(38:00):
look at Edge getting older, you look at really there's
not a long term tight end on this roster, so
they could go in a variety of directions, keeping in
line with the wide receiver theme. Jalen Geitton is back,
and we've talked about adding speed, and I think the
one thing about Jalen money is you know, you never
(38:22):
want to see an injury like that. At least it
happened in September, and you know, the hope is that
you know, once training camp comes in July, that Jalen
is hopefully close to his his former self. He's still
a young guy. All that said, they still need speed,
but it was nice to see them bring in Jalen
(38:43):
because I remember there's a lot of games down the
stretch in twenty twenty one, I believe I remember Cincinnati
the Giants game where Jalen came up huge, and again
it goes to the point of, you know, Justin was
finding t Billy and all these guys' rookie year and
Guiden and Jailing is a nice addition to this wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Yeah, I don't think there's any reason not to sign him,
you know, for what the money is, and you developed him.
There's certainly chemistry between he and Herbert. I think it's
what four catches of fifty plus or more of fifty
plus yards Giants. The pitch and catch on the Giants
game is the greatest touchdown throw I've ever seen. So
there's something there, So why not, you know, And that's
(39:24):
just vout. That's value. That's the second wave of free
agency and value, and there's still value out there. I'm
still when it comes to the edge, and I'm sure
they've had conversations, but I know how much he loves him,
and I'm still holding out. Maybe Leonard Floyd and out
there Brandon Staley are still having conversations of come on,
(39:47):
can we get you on like an incentive laden deal
and then put you back in the market next year
and one of those things. So that's the way you
can develop your depth at your edge position. Then you
don't have to focus on that as much guidance coming back.
Like you said, the ACL injury happened in September, you'd
hope he's ready to go by the start of the season,
and at least that gives you some element of speed.
You hope he has a full recovery and it comes back.
(40:09):
It seems like these days that an ACL is like
a spim. It sounds stupid, but you know it's like
a sprained ankle compete ten years ago. Yeah, so I
think there's there's a security blanket there. We've got a
guy with speed, We've got a guy that we know
can make explosive plays. We just got to make sure
he's healthy. And maybe now we don't need to freak
(40:31):
out as much about overdrafting for that particular skill set.
But you brought it up, and I think it was
a great point. I do want to just acknowledge it. Chris,
that and that is a big thing. You'll hear Tom
Telesco say a lot. We're not drafting these guys for
twenty twenty three. We're drafting them to be Chargers for
(40:52):
their career. So maybe he can get on the field
this year, maybe we think he needs a year of development,
but after that he's got potential to be a pro
bowler and those that's the way you've got to approach this.
You draft for twenty twenty three and you end up
stumbling over yourself and you make way too many mistakes
because you're overdrafting guys for one particular season, and then
(41:15):
you're hoping that their skills translate to the NFL, which
is a gigantic jump from what they were experiencing in college.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
I think a good way to look at last year's
rookie class for guys who didn't get on the field
or who had flashes but got hurt like Tito Abonia,
Isaiah Spiller, JT. Woods. Those are three guys that I
think can help this team this year that didn't help
the team last year. Tito Ebonia did until he got hurt.
But those are three guys that, again, they were drafted
(41:44):
to be Chargers, not to be Chargers in twenty twenty two.
So it's as exciting as the twenty three draft is
going to be. Think about the guys that they selected
last year who didn't contribute because there were other guys
in front of them or needed some time to fully devel.
This is a big off season for guys like JT.
Woods and Isaiah Spiller and Tito Bonya.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Woods is the big one. They drafted him with eyes
on him being a starter, and it's just a hard
position high safety. You've got to be able to read
the whole field. You've got to know everything. You've got
to take angles, you've got to diagnose, you've got to
decide am I moving forward? Am I moving backwards. It's
a lot to take in. We know he's got the
(42:25):
tracking skills, he's got the ball skills, needs to be
a better tackler. That was an issue when he was
at Baylor. And you know how slight he is, so
you hope in the off season and opportunity to put
on a bunch of weight because look a lot of
times when you're going into the combine and you're someone
like that, you want to run that lightning fast forty
so you're not putting on that weight and it takes
a second for you to catch up. So I'm hoping
he bulks up a little bit to help with his tackling.
(42:47):
But that's the big to me. Woods is a big
one just because no More nas Aloe was great, but
he doesn't have that same explosiveness that someone like J. T.
Woods has at that high safety position. And on top
of that, if you can play those two guys not
just a lowie and Derwin is your safeties, but you
(43:08):
can play you know, both a LOWI and JT up top, well,
now you can cut Derwin loose and make them whatever
you want. You talk about him being that dollar or
that money linebacker, the you know, the star as a
corner an edge rusher, and just send him firing off
an end repeatedly in games because he's able to do
(43:29):
all that. And when you have those two safeties up there,
you're able to do that and just play Kendricks as
your one linebacker, Derwin out there, those two guys up high,
your two corners, and now you can really get after it.
A couple quick notes before we get out of here.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
From Brandon Sealey's presser, it seems like same comments as
far as Austin Eckler's concerned. No new updates on that front.
The punt returner kick returner I comment I thought was interesting.
It seems like maybe that guy's not on the roster yet,
and right they need to identify that in the spring
and the and J. C. Jackson really no new updates
(44:03):
on him, he's just rehaving so I think his availability
remains a little bit of a mystery as we head
into the offseason and eventually into training camp. Anything else
that Staley said that stood out to you, money.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
I think so just talked about, you know, one of
the things you already addressed, the Kellen Moore thing. I
think his comments about Kellen and how they went and
got him, I think it echoes what we've talked about here.
One of the great things about Brandon Staley as a
head coaches, he lets the offensive coordinator do what the
offensive coordinator wants to do. He does not meddle, you know,
the go forward on fourth down, the downs and stuff
like that. Yeah, that's a head coach's responsibility. But it
(44:37):
certainly sounded like Kellen's really good at this. We're looking
forward to him doing what he wants to do here,
and that's always encouraging when you see that. So, you know,
he talked about Eric Kendricks sort of echoed what he
had already mentioned I think in the presser about why
they same with Tom, about why they went and got
him and replaced Drew with him. So you know, you
(44:59):
kind of have those comments about how you get the
sense that, yeah, he's gonna be probably gonna, i think,
take the green dot. If he's able to get everything
squared away through training camp and is comfortable with the defense,
it sounds like they want him to be that guy
on defense just because that allows Drwin to cut loose
a little bit. I think for people asking well, why
isn't Derwin that guy, I think it's because Derwin can
(45:20):
do so many different things, and there's so many different
ways you can deploy him, and he may see something
just the way he operates what I think, Yeah, it
makes more sense to have that on someone else. So
that's sort of one of the things I took away
as well. I'm trying to think if there was anything else.
There were some short answers in there. Felt like there
was like, yeah, I don't want to talk about Herbert,
not gonna talk about his contract now, I gonna talk
(45:42):
about Austin. There was a lot of that in there
as well.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Final thing hopefully see a lot of you guys. Next Thursday,
Money you're you and Adrian are hosting this thing. It's
gonna be Listen, the charges don't select till twenty one.
That means it's more long already, from one to twenty, right,
it's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
A long night. Yeah, Petros and I are gonna do
the radio show there from three to five, and then
we'll start the party. Adrian and I'll start the party
at five when the draft gets underway and the Panthers
are on the clock, and it sounds like there's gonna
be quite a few people out there that are going
to be made available to us, so have an opportunity,
hopefully to hear from Drwin, to hear from Justin, to
(46:21):
hear from a handful of other players, and certainly Charger
legends gonna be out there. They do that every year
as well, So we have a lot of fun. And look,
the West Side tends to get neglected because it can
be a bit of a pain to navigate. However, when
you're stuck there, I shouldn't say stuck, but when you
know you're going to camp out there from five until
about you know, eight nine o'clock, maybe what the Heck,
(46:44):
come on over and hang out. Seems like it's gonna
be a nice backdrop the atrium there at the Culver
City Culver City, No, Century City, Westfield, Sentry City. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Yeah, the Charges have done a great job with the draftman.
Like I was in Vegas last year, it got to
interview Zion, but you you were hosting that draft party
at so Far, which was incredible.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
It looked incredible.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
I remember being at the pier with you in Santa Monica.
That scene was crazy.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
I remember it was you.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
They picked Tillery, so it was like twenty nine overall
twenty eight, Yeah, twenty eight, So I mean we were
waiting all night, but it didn't matter. Like guys were
coming on stage and and getting the crowd hyped up.
It was a lot of fun. So I expect no
different on.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Thursday, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
No.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
And look, there's still a ton of teams. You've got
the Raiders that are picking at seven, I think, so
that's gonna be of interest. You've got a lot of
AFC teams up there, the Texans, the Colts, all those
teams that we're going to be paying attention to. They're
going to be drafting quarterbacks perhaps so there's still a
lot of excitement over what's going on as opposed to
just waiting for number twelve for sure, because it's all
(47:46):
gonna affect with the Chargers to hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
You know, all right, can't wait for it, buddy, Always
appreciate your brother. We will see you guys next week,
hopefully a century city for money of Chris. This has
been charges weekly.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
All right, guys.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
As the official hospitality provider of the NFL, on Location
offers unrivaled access to experience all premier NFL events like
never before. On Location brings you up close for all
the action, providing fans with unforgettable moments from Draft Day
to Super Bowl Sunday and everything in between. On Location
thrilled to announce its new partnership with the Pro Football
(48:20):
Hall of Fame this August, kickoff football season in ken
Ohio and be their live to witness the class of
twenty twenty three enshrinement. The NFL is headed back to
London and Germany for the twenty twenty three NFL International Games.
On Location official packages will feature game tickets, deluxe hotel accommodations,
private tours, pregame hospitality, and end planning and much more.
(48:42):
Be sure to secure your priority access today. Visit NFL
onlocation dot com or search NFL on location today. Your
football experience of a lifetime awaits only with on Location
Speaker 1 (49:00):
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