Since the NFL expanded the Draft to make it a three-day pickapalooza, it’s been easy for folks to fixate on the first round. It happens all by itself in prime time on a Thursday night, broadcast live on two different TV networks (and that’s just in English), and every team’s fan base holds out hope the guy they get is the next LaDainian Tomlinson or Peyton Manning or Charles Woodson (or just NOT the next Ryan Leaf).
But the teams have to focus on all seven rounds, and all the potential undrafted free agents they can sign. The Chargers are in a position where they get to pick high in every round, and with all the holes on the roster they can’t afford to miss on too many of them.
“We’ve got to do the best work we can and make good use of this,” said Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco. “We don’t want to be in this position again so let’s make the best use of this in every round.”
One surefire way for the Bolts to avoid picking early again is to get the running game going. In 2015 San Diego had the league’s second-worst rushing offense and was dead last in yards per carry. Not the kind of production Telesco had in mind when he traded up two spots to take Melvin Gordon in last year’s first round. Fixing the run game is #1 on the list of things to do with the offense.
“We just weren’t good enough at it last year,” said Telesco. “It’s something we feel we need to address and it’s not just a one-time thing. It’s through free agency, it’s players through the Draft, after the Draft; all the way through.”
They can’t get on the fast track to improvement without addressing their hole at center. Since Nick Hardwick retired the Chargers have burned through enough centers to start a support group. Last year they thought converted guard Chris Watt would be the answer.
Watt was underwhelming even before his season was cut short by injuries. Trevor Robinson replaced him and, according to stats from advanced metrics websites, was statistically the worst offensive lineman in the entire NFL. So is Watt, now healthy, back to being their center?
“He’s our center,” said Telesco. “He’ll come in and compete with everybody else but we feel good about Chris. We feel the same way about him we did last year at this time.”
Which means: they still think he can grow in to being a center but understand he’s not there yet, and that is a problem.
“It’s a work in progress on the offensive line. I don’t think there are any final answers there so it’s certainly something that we’re still looking at.”
If you think that means the addition of Ole Miss left tackle Laremy Tunsil with the #3 overall pick, you would be making a lot of sense. But it’s not as simple as that. The Chargers like their tackles. Telesco says he feels comfortable leaving left tackle King Dunlap one-on-one and re-signed right tackle Joe Barksdale in the off-season. The problem with Dunlap is health, not performance. He simply hasn’t been able to stay on the field. They re-signed Chris Hairston, whose grit immediately endeared him to QB Philip Rivers, and still have developmental projects like Tyreek Burwell to work with.
The Chargers also have some major deficiencies on defense so it would make sense to address that side of the ball with the third overall selection. Plus, the biggest addition to the running game may have already been made, and it does not involve a player.
Ken Whisenhunt is back as the offensive coordinator, and do not underestimate his potential impact on the San Diego running game.
“He’ll certainly help,” said Telesco. “We know him well from the one year with us.”
In 2012 the Chargers were 27th in rushing yards per game. In 2013, that one year with Whisenhunt (and also the last year of the Hardwick era), the Bolts were 13th and Ryan Mathews had hands down the most successful season of his career. In 2014 Coach Whis left to take the head coaching spot in Tennessee and the Bolts dipped to 30th in rushing before nearly hitting rock bottom last season.
“We talked about how to get the run game better,” said Telesco. “One [part] of it is just get a fresh look at this. Basically strip it down and start over. We’re trying to attack it every way we can.”
Another thing Whisenhunt should be able to help with is the rash of injuries that have hurt the Chargers o-line. He runs a lot more power than former offensive coordinator Frank Reich did, giving his linemen the chance to fire off and dictate the contact more often. In 2013 the Bolts had four of their five starters play at least 11 games together.
It’s probably not much of a coincidence that was also the last year the Chargers went to the playoffs.
