Dec 30, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers defensive end Corey Liuget (94) after the Chargers beat the Oakland Raiders 24-21 at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The All-Joe team – a team of hard-working, tough football players that don’t get the recognition that they should. To be eligible for the All-Joe team, players must have NEVER, EVER, EVER been placed on a Pro Bowl team. San Diego Chargers players like Philip Rivers, Ryan Mathews, Antonio Gates, Shaun Phillips and Nick Hardwick would not be eligible for this team.

A couple of seasons ago, Antwan Barnes was voted onto the All-Joe team. Barnes led the Chargers in sacks that season and was the only pass rushing threat on the roster. He didn’t have the same impact last season, but maybe we can get him more opportunities to chase after the quarterback this season.

We have also had Quentin Jammer voted onto an All-Joe team in the past. He was voted onto the team with Mike Tolbert that season.

This time around, another San Diego Chargers was voted onto the All-Joe team. Corey Liuget gets recognition for his work on the defensive front.

Corey Liuget (Chargers): He needed a year to adjust to San Diego’s 3-4, but the light has come on. Five of his seven sacks came in the last six weeks, and only Watt batted down more balls among linemen. – USA TODAY

Liuget has a bright future. He is young and keeps getting better every day. He keeps making impact plays on the defensive end. This could be the last time that Liuget is eligible for this team. Expecting Pro Bowls to come soon for this kid.

Dec 16, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers cornerback Antoine Cason (20) runs out of the smoke during pregame introduction before a game against the Carolina Panthers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The Chargers’ offseason  has just begun and we’ve already over-talked the team’s need to revamp it’s offensive line.  I won’t bore you by regurgitating the obvious.  Not in this article.

Many believe that if the offensive line is fixed, thus the Bolts are fixed as well.  Unfortuantely, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Despite a defense that features young, up and coming studs such as Donald Butler, Corey Liuget, Kendall Reyes, Cam Thomas, and Melvin Ingram, there are still some holes to be filled on what became an exciting defense toward the end of the 2012 season.

I didn’t even mention the emergence of both Shareece Wright and Marcus Gilchrist.  It appears that Gilchrist has cemented himself as the team’s starting nickel cornerback, while Wright has made a case to start at one of the soon to be vacant cornerback spots. 

That being said, the team still has issues in it’s front seven at inside linebacker- opposite Butler- and depth at outside linebacker.  Depending on what happens with Aubrayo Franklin and Antonio Garay, there could be a serious need to add depth along the defensive line also. 

It’s looking as though Takeo Spikes has played his last down in lightning bolts after another failed attempt at making the playoffs.  Part of me feels for Spikes.  The other part of me realizes that he is still earning royalties from his inventing of the wheel. 

Due to the obvious fact that Spikes has been a liability because of a lack of gas in the tank, Butler has been forced to over-extend himself in an effort to compensate for Spikes’ shortcomings.  TKO is just plain too old.  His heart, leadership, and intagibles have certainly helped earn his place on this team.  But other leaders are emerging and father time has finally caught up with, well, father time. 

The thought of losing Shaun Phillips in free agency bothers me quite a bit.  Despite the fact that he is no longer an elite pass rusher, if he ever was elite, he still manages to find his way to the quarterback and disrupt plays. 

Let’s assume we do lose SP95. We’ve all been witness to the failure that is the Larry English experiment.  Antwan Barnes has completed the final year of his contract.  That leaves us with only Jarret Johnson, Ingram, and recently acquired Gary Guyton at the outside linebacker position. 

That’s certainly not going to cut it.

And then there’s the secondary.  Despite the high tackle numbers by Atari “Greensleeves” Bigby, he has proven to be just another guy at the strong safety position.  He dropped in excess of 5 “gimme” INTs, one of which I saw firsthand in Cleveland.  Although he is not expected to have good hands while playing on defense, his drops were just one of the many issues created by the former Green Bay Packer.  He refuses to wrap up and bites on play action like a fat kid at a buffet. 

As we’ve all known for the past decade, the Chargers haven’t had an impact player at the position since Rodney Harrison.  I still believe that we have more pressing needs on the roster, but strong safety needs to be addressed in either free agency or the draft. 

It saddens me to say that this is most likely Quentin Jammer’s last year as cornerback for the Bolts.  He has been one of my favorite players of recent years.  However, if the new regime sees what the majority of the fanbase does, perhaps Jammer can be re-signed to man the strong safety spot.

It’s been talked about for the past few years.  After seeing his interview with Hank Bauer on Chargers.com, I am of the belief that Quentin would do almost anything to remain a Charger.  That includes a position transition to strong safety. 

That brings us to the cornerback spots.  During my interview with Kevin Acee, I asked him if either Wright or Gilchrist were poised to make the jump to being starters in the secondary.  He said that he expects Wright to start at corner in the base defense.  He added that Gilchrist looks to be the option at nickel cornerback, as I mentioned earlier. 

With the shuffling of both the head coach and general manager, there were no inseason re-signings.  Antoine Cason is set to become a free agent in 2013.  I know that a good number of you will be devastated if he receives a new contract with the team.  I, on the other hand, truly find it to be necessary. 

Considering all the holes on this team, I think it would be a mistake to lose Cason, who isn’t nearly as bad as some of you might think.  He obviously has some flaws to his game, but I believe that he is set for a breakout campaign in 2013.

All of that being considered, if Cason and his agent are asking top dollar to re-sign, then you absolutely let the door hit him where the good lord split him. 

That does it for the defensive holes on the Chargers.  Stay tuned for my article of what the team needs to do to address the offensive side of the ball.  The offensive line is not the only thing that needs fixing.

Thanks a lot for reading.

BoltUp!!!

BoogaP 

With the 18th pick, in the 2011 NFL draft, the Chargers selected Corey Liuget from the University of Illinois.

Although he played predominantly in a 4-3 defense, A.J. decided that he was our guy with our first round pick last year.

Liuget was very disruptive in college for being a DT at Illinois.  Although he was going to have to make an adjustment to DE in a 3-4, I was pleased with the selection of Liuget.

Corey had worn number 93 in college, but he decided that number 94 was the way to go in the pros.

Of course we all know that Castillo wears 93.  My son Kayden has a Powder Blue Castillo jersey.  Yeah, he is liked a lot in this family.

Liuget said that he wears the number 94 to honor his late father.  His father tragically passed in 1994.  That, of course, is the same year that the Chargers went to the Superbowl for their one and only appearance.

There are many fans that believe that either him or Vaughn Martin will be replaced by Kendall Reyes sooner rather than later.  Although I am very excited to see what Reyes can do, I am happy with both Liuget and Martin as starters.

The same can be said about what fans feel about Castillo forging his way back into the starting lineup. 

I’ve been quoted multiple times as saying that, “competition breeds excellence.”

I stand firmly by that opinion.  I am also of the opinion that regardless of who the starters are at any of the spots on the defensive line, I just want the best man for the job.

Liuget is primed for a breakout year now that he will have the benefit of a full offseason.  All of our 2nd year players must be foaming at the mouth to improve in a controlled setting.

Of course the 2012 rookies need a full offseason as well.  I am very excited to see how all of our youth on both sides off the ball contributes to our SuperBowl Championship!

Although Liuget’s stats aren’t off the charts, him being a 3-4 DE doesn’t require monster numbers. 

Football novices everywhere have this notion that if a 3-4 DE isn’t putting up big sack numbers then they are not doing their job.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  Of course the more sacks the better, but that is not the primary role of a DE in a 3-4.

The job consists of eating up blockers, holding your ground in the run game, and freeing up the LBs to make plays.  While sacks are a plus, they are not the determining factor as to whether or not a DE is performing well.

Liuget started to show a lot of improvement throughout the 2011 season.  

The word is that Liuget looks to be in phenomenal shape.  Couple that with the fact that we have great depth on the d-line, I am expecting big things from the defense this season.

I just have one question…. are you ready for some football?  I feel comfortable speaking on behalf of the entire BoltFamily when answering that question with a resounding YES!

Thanks a lot for reading.

BoltUp!!!

BoogaP

P.S. By the way, I do realize how corny the title is that I used for this article.