A_Eme_O_Ere
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Best mock I've seen. Of course, any mock that has Eric Fischer going to the Bolts would be my favorite mock.
Shocking how his career was never the same after Fisher, Williams and Mawae decided to take him out.
Chance Warmack is way to good a player to wind up all the way down to the Cowboys. If he's available at 11 the Chargers will leap at the chance to get him.
It appears Dean Spanos (with a little help from Ron Wolf) has finally dragged the entire Charger organization into the 20th century.
Ha! You should call this article The Spin Zone!
Incredible that we all have to listen to all the hyperbole for the last 4 years about Rex "Happy Feet" Ryan and how he and his happy cast of Jets are just "different". I still remember last year when NFP breathlessly reported that they were trying to find out what Rex tattooed on his leg. Why isn't Rex being held accountable for all of this? Isn't he supposed to be a defensive genius who can do wonders with anyone in the lineup? Shouldn't he shoulder the blame for his locker room's implosion? THAT would make for some interesting reading instead of this mess of an article.
BTW-Comparing Mark Sanchez to President Barrack Obama has to go down as THE most idiotic illustration by similitude in the history of NFP.
Great news! He deserves every penny.
Jerry Jones should use some of his clout to tell his employee Goddel to make a deal with the refs.
Shouldn't the headline be Raiders Let 2011 3rd Round Draft Pick Go
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
The Jets should have to play themselves 16 times this year. After all, they're the only team in the NFL, thanks to all their recent success. - Nick Canepa
@r w True fans are always positive about their teams chances. The truth of the matter is their are always new teams in the playoffs every year. The Raiders, Chiefs and Chargers have a better shot than most to be one of those teams.
@r w Well, I totally ignored that the Raiders have by far the best defensive line in the division but I was trying to make a case for the Chargers winning the division so that point was better left unsaid.
The Chargers are nobodies favorite to win the AFC West and that's okay with me. For them to be favorites people need to dig deeper into last season and the offseason acquisitions.
Although they didn't get off to their normally bad start injuries to former All Pros Dielman (career ending) and McNeil (possibly career ending) contributed to their 6-game midseason slide. However, even before those injuries neither was playing up to their former All Pro standards. Thankfully, Todd Haley decided to cut Gaither because of a stupid penalty. Back issues seemingly behind him, Gaither took over the LT spot for McNeil and Tyronne Greene, a 2009 4th round selection, slid over to Dielman's spot at LG. They both did an incredible job that directly led to the Boltz 4-1 finish. Rivers finally had protection and a QB rating of 118.4 over those games to prove it.
Yes, the Chargers lost Vincent Jackson but I think that's a good thing. Teams could play their secondary deeper, especially at the beginning of the year when Gates' foot problem was at it's worst. Floyd was forced to go over the middle, because VJ simply wouldn't, but you could see that he wasn't comfortable doing that. When Gate's foot got better so did the Charger's offense. While last year Antonio was basically practicing 1 day a week or not at all, he practiced every day during the Charger's OTA's. Even if his foot problems reappear, Gates will not be alone going over the middle anymore. Enter Eddie Royal. He will finally have a QB that can get him the ball the way Jay Cutler did in Denver before Josh McDaniels sent Jay packing. Vincent Brown, the 3rd round pick in 2011, also showed some flashes of being a great route runner. While Robert Meachem is certainly not 6'5" like Vincent was, he automatically becomes the fastest receiver that River's has ever had. I can't wait for Rivers to have Mathews in the backfield, Gates and Royal to prowl the middle of the field and Meachem and Floyd to stretch the field. Norv is probably salivating at the possibilities. Add to that the very dependable McMichael and project Ladarius Greene spelling Gate's and the Chargers will have the deepest receiver/TE class that the Boltz have had in a long time.
Although I'll miss Tolbert and how he ran through opponent's secondaries I will not miss him trying to run over LB's and suffering 2 concussions because of his rushing style. Ryan Mathews had a spectacular season last year. Over a 1,000 rushing and 50 catches receiving and that was with Tolbert taking away way to many touches from him. Yes, he had fumbles but 4 of the 5 fumbles were after he broke his hand in the game against the Jets. Ryan will also have the 260-pound Le'Ron McClain opening holes for him out of the backfield. The reliable Jacob Hester will now be the backup and ST's guy. Ronnie Brown, Jackie Battle and the rest will battle for the backup running spot behind Mathews.
The Chargers had the worst 3rd down defense last year. But what does that mean? The Bolts had an average pass defense but they had an even worse run defense. 3rd down for other teams against the Boltz usually meant 3rd and short. Jarrett Johnson was acquired in FA to alleviate this problem. When that FA signing was announced not much was said. But then every single analyst who used to be a defensive player loved the signing. Their was an almost universal consensus that JJ was one of the unsung heroes of the Raven defense. While Takeo was brought in last year for his leadership Donald Butler was the true revelation. After missing his rookie season to a heel injury he proved his worth during the season. Teams actually started running toward Takeo's side of the field towards the end of the season. If Jonas Mouton can contribute anything at all after missing all of 2011 it will be a plus.
The reason that Cason and Jammer looked so bad last year was that teams had forever to throw. Those two, along with Marcus Gilchrist, the 2011 2nd round pick who had 2 interceptions despite VERY limited play time, should be able to get back to form if the defense can generate some pass rush.
Teams simply stopped throwing in the directionof Pro Bowler Eric "Warren Sapp Can't Pick Him Out of a Lineup" Weddle. Steve "a step to slow" Gregory was let go and Atari Digby was acquired to play alongside Weddle. However, if reports are correct out of the OTA's Digby will have a battle on his hands to beat out 2012 3rd round pick LSU's Brandon Taylor. This group should be improved just for the fact that I rate Digby better than Gregory. If we can get a pass rush our secondary should be stellar.
So, to me, our defense will come down to what kind of pass rush we can muster this year. Only one pass rusher impressed me before the draft and his name was Melvin Ingram. Of course, nobody thought that he would be available when the Charger's pick at 18 came up. Thanks to the Seahawks and Jets he was. IMHO, this kid has what it takes to fill out the OLB spot that hasn't been filled properly since Shawne Merriman's knee was destroyed by the Greg Williams' led Titans defense, oh so long ago.
As far as the DL line is concerned things appear to be on the upside. While Antonio Garay was signed after testing the waters of FA, his signing wasn't a priority to the Boltz. This was because of the improvement of 5th round steal Cam Thomas. I believe Cold Hard Football Facts called him the Chargers "Diamond in the Rough." Reports out of Charger OTA's that Kendall Reyes was all that and a bag of chips appear to be true since the Boltz just let go of Luis Castillo 2 days ago. Corey Luiget, 2011 1st round, will have a year under his belt that he sorely needed to learn the position after he was thrown into the fire early because of Castillo'a broken leg. Add to that Aubrayu Franklin back in the 3-4 he excels in, the dependable backup who was a starter last year Jacques Cesaire, and Vaughn Martin, the Canadian project who seems to be hitting his stride.
And what about their competition?
While everyone seems to be high on the Raiders offense (even though they have a porcelain doll at RB and lost his very dependable backup) their 28th ranked defense lost their best LB in WImbley and their best CB in Routt.
KC has the opposite problem. While their defense is stellar they still have Matt Cassel at QB. What kind of QB can't throw for over 200 yards against a winning team last year? That's right, Matt Cassel. Yes, I love KC's acquisitions, I love their personnel and their GM has definitely been doing all the right things to make KC into a contender. But as long as they have Cassel I do not think they will get over the hump like they did in 2010.
Denver? Over rated. Yes, Miller and Dumervil are great. And? Everyone loves to knock the Charger defense but seem to forget that they actually rated higher than the media darling Bronco defense. Let's not forget that their defense lost their best DL player in Broderick Bunkley and replaced him with.... Even their 2nd round pick Derick Wolfe was a head scratcher. NFP had him rated as the 17th best DE on the board. Now, if Peyton Manning can replicate the success he had in Indy more power to him. I just don't think that a player that is 36 and has had 4 neck operations since he last played on 2010 will have the incredible season that everyone thinks he will. Add the schedule that they will face in the first part of the season and the Broncos just might be 1-3 when the Chargers play them in SD.
So to answer your question, yes, I'm more than certain that the Boltz made the right moves to return to dominance in the AFC West.
Ditto
No matter how poorly the faders do every year, they are always some idiots favorite in June. Same old song and dance.
It'll be great to actually have an announcer that likes the Boltz calling the game.