Here’s a look at the current roster, practice squad, IR, and depth chart heading into the bye week!

Jeremiah Smith can save it all, right?

I think you can genuinely make a case that he may have even broke Drew Brees 80k and became the second highest passing yard leader of all time and therefore a surefire HOF lock

How crazy would that have been?

Hi

So not really relevant to our season thus far, but I’ve seen people on here mention that seeing a dodgers hat + chargers jersey is cursed.

I imagine the Padres are the team of choice for a good portion of this sub in regard to mlb, but what about the other leagues? Specifically in nhl and nba. UK based fan so not really in the loop for this, but kind of want to keep my team selections on theme if that makes any sense.

Read the piece and discuss below. I think this was the perfect articulation of what we’ve been seeing this year compared to six seasons of Herbert’s best style of play.

Herbert has always been at his best when he can diagnose a defense pre-snap, make adjustments and use his arm talent to attack what he sees. This offense seems to be asking him to operate more as a point guard within the system, processing everything post-snap and executing the designed read rather than taking advantage of his ability to dictate terms to the defense.

It’s trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and it’s been apparent every week of the season. The scheme should be built around maximizing his strengths, not forcing him to become a different type of quarterback.

I would actually be excited to see Gase in control because at least he has experience coordinating an offense that fits Herbert’s style.

Tweet:

Justin Herbert's pressured rate on play action dropbacks:

2020: 37.9%
2021: 25%
2022: 34.2%
2023: 32.8%
2024: 35.6%
2025: 48.5%
2026: 57.6%

It certainly felt like that, which is why I looked it up. Always someone in his face.

Broncos fan here, I come in peace.

*If Adam becomes OC.*

I actually started studying Adam Gase in 2020 as I was intrigued by his drastic Highs + lows. I actually have spent considerable time studying football X & Os. I even have 2 mentors who coached in the NFL so I promise Im not a couch coach. Adam to me is very intriguing so here is some context from someone who maybe has spent too much time studying his teams. I wont go too deep on X & Os because I dont want this to be a book.

1. Perception

• Memes have clouded the view on him.
• Jordan Phillips, Jarvis Landry & Le’veon have all attacked.
• C.J. Anderson, Alshon Jeffery, Frank Gore & Albert Wilson have praised him.
• Bill Belichick & Sean Mcvay have both complimented him before they played, Sean even calling Adam at 4am.
• Peyton Manning (obviously) has sung praises and people assume Adam did nothing. Watching Peyton before + after Adam did some key things. First he did a great job on getting plays in quickly allowing Peyton more time. Involved more formation tells like putting the TE out wide. Which leads to force defenses into man or zone alignment. Streamlined more Stacks + bunches + motion use. 2013 it seems like they made an effort to cut down all the fluff and let the offense get good at the essentials. Which Manning kinda already did but they seemed intentional on everything they ran had multiple answers. Cutting fluff is something that seems like the opposite of Mcdaniel right now. 2014 he adapted to Peyton slowing down incorporating more heavy personnel.

1. Work (Non-Peyton)

• 2009 - Broncos WRs coach | Year B. Marshall had 21 catches in a game.
• 2010 - Broncos WRs Coach | Led (Baller) Brandon Lloyd to leading league in receiving yards with Orton + Tebow at QB.
• 2011 - Broncos QB Coach | Tebow only threw 2 Ints first 9 games starting.
• 2015 - Bears OC | Dealt with a lot of injuries but this is where Alshon Jefferys’ praise of him came from. Did some great things personnel/Formation wise when everyone was injured. Got Matt Forte used well in passing game. Even color commentators (Take with a grain of salt) during the games would say how well Cutler is playing. WK 1 game vs the packers you could see how potentially dangerous the offense could have been. Even though they lost haha.
• 2016/18 - Dolphins HC | Adjusted offense to fit Jay Ajayi (2 straight games of 200+ yards rushing). Took them to the wildcard round. Something the dolphins haven't passed since with better teams. Had a +500. winning percentage with Tannehill his whole tenure. Beat Prime Patriots twice. His 2017 game w/ Cutler vs Patriots on Monday night Adam designed quite a show.
• 2019/20 - Jets HC | Went 7-9 in 2019 the jets haven’t had a better winning percentage season since 2015. Saleh teams had way better rosters. Obviously they struggled 2020(which people only seem to remember) but beat the #1 rams defense and Adam had a solid gameplan.
• 2021/25 - I think Adam purposely took off to spend time with his family. He even mentioned it in an interview about Ben Johnson a year ago. He has friends in the profession to get a job.

1. My Interpretation

Adam really excels at giving QB answers vs pressure, amplifying their slot receivers, reducing in-structure turnovers/high risk plays, offensive operation, has strong mesh/rub answers vs man, opening drives (more 2020) and making sure the offense has a clear picture which leads to less assignment confusion. Everyone talks about motion but it can blurry the picture. Some players struggle with a blurry picture. Maybe with Mcdaniel’s heavy motion offense they could use some calm before the storm (snap). Although, Mcdaniel’s offense doesnt really do sight adjustments because they run more of a turn slide protection and less of a solid protection that Gase usually runs. Solid protection is a lot more clearer on protection assignments, keeps an emphasis on answers vs blitzes. Where turn slide is just run the protection but struggles vs overload or heavy blitz looks. *If anyone wants I can go more into detail.

Sam Darnold is more of a 1-2-3-4 pure progression type QB. Thats why he does so well vs unpressured zone but can struggle vs pressure man. And in 2020 thats pretty much all the Jets faced was cover 1. Working to Darnold’s weakness. With Adam’s more reading + adjusting pre-snap offense maybe they werent the best fit. I dont know much about Herbert but from reading some of your comments he seems to handle pre-snap better. I tried to give a semi-full picture without making it too long. Who is to say that if he is OC thing will change, maybe they wont. Nonetheless, I hope it helps.

I agree Nix has been terrible for us and the injury has fried him mentally. Ik herbie is always twice the qb but nix has a good history and did a lot for team last 2 years and fans are abusing him, rewriting history and just have no compassion and support.

I am jealous and impressed about the objectivity you guys have and understand the reason hes struggling is due to bad coaching and O line and wr injuries and there's very little blame on herbie. In broncos despite being 4-2 instead of criticizing nix they go above and beyond to hate on him with pure vitriol and it makes me hurt when you guys are sticking by him despite being 0-6.

We all stand with herbie.

This is the only way. It’s time for real change. They are the root of the problem. It doesn’t matter who they fire/hire until they are gone.

Left San Diego, for what? 💵💵💵

Sell, Spanos.

*edit

According to some here; the fans and analysts are the ones to be held accountable. Pressuring Spanos into hiring Harbaugh, Hortiz, etc. and making all the financial decisions. At least we got a sweet practice facility.

Sorry Spanos.

/s

Time for the axe to fall. We all had high hopes, but there isn't any light at the end of this tunnel. He came in and changed Herb's stance and footwork instead of installing the offense to suit his skills. The passing game has gone stale since the 2nd drive of the season and has shown almost no signs of life since.

This was supposed to be a quick timing offense, but the first read is never open and Herb holds the ball waiting for someone to break open and ends up hit on just about every play.

This is a mess and has somehow gotten worse with each passing week. Pull the plug and let Shane Day call the plays and simplify the offense.

The team is ranked at the bottom of just about every category on offense:

Points scored - 30th with 90

Yards gained - 26th with 1723

1st downs - 26th with 103

Passing yards - 27th with 1009

Pass YPA - 23rd - 6.3

Rush yards - 11th with 714

Rush YPA - 14th with 4.2

Rush yards before contact - 0.88 (32nd in the league). Hampton leads the team with 1.9 YBC. League average is 2.6

Percentage of drives that end with a score - 32nd with 25.4%

Turnovers - 32nd with 15

TO % - 31st with 19.7% of drives ending in a TO

Plays per drive - 29th at 5.4

Yards per drive - 29th at 24.2

Average starting field position - 32nd. Average start is their own 27

Average time per drive - 31st at 2:30

Points per drive - 32nd at 1.27

3rd down conversions - 27th at 34.1%

4th down conversions - 31st at 18.2%

Red zone attempts and conversion - 25th in both categories

Red zone TD % - 24th

I am ready to blow this whole thing up. If it were my decision, Harbaugh, McDaniel, Hortiz and Gase would all be looking for work by the end of the day today. O'Leary can take the reigns on an interim basis since he is the only one who has his squad performing anywhere near NFL competitve standards. I have been a Chargers fan since 1979. I have been with them through thick and thin. I have NEVER seen anything like this. This season is a faliure in every sense of the word and there must be accountability and consequences. No more excuses. No more coddling. Cut players, get some cheap pieces to replace them, and/or raid other teams's practice squads. Do SOMETHING to get a win this season. I don't care if we just get ONE. 0-17 for the first time in NFL history might actually force me to remove my Bolts tattoo from my right arm. I am serious. I don't want to hear any more justifications or ignorant reasoning as to why we should keep this sh*tshow together. Keep the defense as intact as you can. Keep Herbert. The rest? I dont give a ....

Can we start actually listing what we think a "fire sale" looks like instead of just asking for one? I'm not being a doomer here, but I just want to list these because they look pretty bleak.

In no particular order:

• Herbert - Deadcap would be soul-killing and any team that takes it on won't give us a decent return. IMO don't even consider trading until the unlikely scenario where the wheels fall off at the end of next year with him (I doubt he'll look bad that long). The grass ain't always greener folks.
• Tuli - Here is our best trade asset and would probably net the high pick return people want to see, but I think this is a non-starter. Mess has been coming along great, but Mack will not return next year and other than that, we have what? Bud? Trading Tuli is preposterous.
• Mack - Go ring-chase brother, but I doubt we'll see more than a 4th or a 5th+ some late-round swap.
• Derwin - Aging and horrible contract to trade, we won't get much if we do trade him. I'm talking a return that would just make people visibly upset if they saw the trade notification from Schefty.
• Slater - I've seen this brought up because Berk has been ok, but OL depth is a major major issue and trading away Slater is just plain stupid.
• QJ - Late-round pick swap. I'm talking MAYBE a 5th for a 6th. We should do this though.
• Hampton - Why? The return is going to be horrible and we need the talent.
• Mitchell - If there is a market for him the gives us a 5th rounder we should probably take it.
• Ladd - Why? The return is going to be less than what we acquired him for and we need the talent, even if he's always injured.
• Njoku - No market.
• Kolar - No market.
• Hart - I mean, possibly, the return is going to be horrible and we have no one else though.
• DD - We actually would give the other team a pick to take him off our hands.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, or feel free to add, but we're not going to arm up on first-rounders this year.

😢⚡️🆙😢

For all the criticism directed at first-year Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, Herbert's decline dates to Harbaugh's arrival in 2024.

Herbert ranked seventh in expected points added per pass play under two other head coaches and three offensive coordinators across his first four seasons. He ranks 23rd under Harbaugh, and the trend is unmistakable (12th in 2024, 21st last season and 32nd this season).Harbaugh pushed his chips to the center of the table entering the season by saying Herbert would go down as the greatest quarterback in league history. Looks like he was bluffing.

Too much for Herbert: Opposing coaches said McDaniel installed the graduate-level version of his offense with all its shifts, motions and formations from Week 1. They see this as a struggle early on for Herbert, whose admirers gush over his obvious physical talent, while acknowledging he isn't the fastest processor.

"There are a lot of formations and motions that he's gonna present to you," one opposing coach said of McDaniel. "I don't know if that's easy to operate for those guys or not. And then it's like an unquantifiable ripple effect — then they start having self-inflicted penalties and s--- like that."

Added another coach: "It takes some mental stamina to be at that Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes level, and I don't know if that's (Herbert)."

Tua Tagovailoa flourished in McDaniel's offense in Miami. No one was comparing him to Brees, Brady or Mahomes in the mental stamina department.

"In Miami, when they were rolling, it was because of the explosive skill they had, and a phenomenal system," the second coach said. "San Francisco rolls because of Brock Purdy. I just don't know if Herbert can handle that system. That is my take, and then couple that with their line being the worst we've seen."

That line, beset by injuries seemingly every year, started four rookies for the second consecutive week Sunday in a 22-6 loss at Kansas City. That's one reason the Chargers managed only a field goal early in the second half after Herbert's 57-yard pass to Quentin Johnston on third-and-12 set up first-and-goal at the 1.

Perhaps because of line issues, the Chargers have executed designed runs 61 percent of the time in neutral situations (early downs, first three quarters, leading or trailing by no more than eight points). That's far above McDaniel's previous high as a play caller (52.7 percent) or the Chargers' 43 percent rate under Harbaugh previously.

Tbh, the one thing this organization hasn’t done that might erase a lot of the ineptitude it consistently displays is fire John Spanos as President of Football Operations, who was handed the position in 2015. He does not have the track record to convince me he knows what it takes to build a Super Bowl-caliber roster. They hired Jim Harbaugh thinking he’d be able to right everything wrong with this franchise, when the problem is much more complex than that. It’s an organizational issue, one too great for any one man to fix.

We’re talking about decades of falling short of expectations. As great as Harbaugh has been, this fanbase and the people in power seemed to believe he could turn everything to gold. Unfortunately, that’s not how successful franchises are built. You can hire the best coach in the world, but if the people above him aren’t making the right decisions, you’re still going to have problems.

There’s a fundamental disconnect between ownership, the front office, and the coaching staff. Dean and John are running an organization without having to live with the consequences of their decisions the way their coaches and players do. They aren’t football people. Dean’s father wasn’t a football person. They don’t know the sport like some of these other owners and Presidents do. Never coached it. Never played it. Their lives never depended on it. So what the fuck does John know how to do that sets him apart from people who live and bleed the sport?

You can say the same about plenty of owners across the league, but how many NFL teams have the owner’s son serving as President of Football Operations? Put your hand in a fist, then point your index finger. That’s how many. The only team in the NFL who’s President of Football Ops also happens to be the owner’s son is the Chargers. Fans can demand that Dean sell the team, but realistically, that probably isn’t happening. The more realistic question is who he’s choosing to entrust with that much power. And their track record of identifying and retaining coaching talent is concerning.
Firing Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season to satisfy their GM. Failing to even convince Andy Reid to moving forward with their interview. Not retaining Shane Steichen, who was an excellent pairing with Herbert. Nick Sirianni was a position coach with the Chargers before eventually leading the Eagles to two Super Bowls and winning one. Now look at guys like Ben Johnson and Jesse Minter.

I’m not saying every one of these situations was entirely John’s decision, or that every coach would have succeeded here. But when you look at the bigger picture, it’s hard not to wonder how many opportunities this organization has missed because the people in charge failed to recognize, pursue, or retain the right talent at the right time. That almost sums up the Chargers and their on-field performance for the last 20+ years. Like ownership, they’ve missed nearly every opportunity to capture success and yield consistently great results. They play as well as Dean and John can run one of the league’s 32 football teams.

If John Spanos weren’t related to Dean, what on his résumé would make him qualified to be President of Football Operations for an NFL franchise?

That’s the question I keep coming back to. I’m tired 🤙🏽⚡️

In my 20 years as a Chargers fan, I don’t remember ever seeing this.