October 7, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) is sacked by San Diego Chargers defensive end Corey Liuget (94) during their game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook – USA TODAY Sports

Recently, there has been a lot of excitement from fans over Dwight “spin-move” Freeney signing with the San Diego Chargers. Freeney is a BIG upgrade to a unit that was set to roll into the 2013 season with Larry English at the starting OLB position. The Chargers fanbase is, most definitely, hoping that English can be the first round talent that he was drafted to be. However, it was clear to TT, and just about everybody out there, that English comes with a great deal of injury concerns, and has not been able to strut his stuff on the field for a number of reasons. English will be given the opportunity to show what he’s got this year, even with the arrival of Dwight Freeney. He is still young enough to be the future of this Chargers pass rushing crew, along with Melvin Ingram. He just needs to show that these last few years have been a string of bad luck. Hopefully, with new strength & conditioning, and a pro-bowl caliber veteran like Freeney to learn from, English can finally make that jump to starting NFL pass rusher. This will probably be his last chance to prove this.. especially with a slew of newly acquired young talent being drafted behind him this year. The competition will be fierce, to say the least.

In this article, I wanted to take a look at the other players along the line, that could have a more explosive year. Players that have shown promise, and/or come on strong recently. These will be the guys that get sacks when the outside is being tied up. Guys who will be coming through the middle, the right, the left, or whatever other direction. These players won’t rack up the sacks that the OLB’s will, but they can overpower guys straight up, or take advantage of the situation when Freeney gets double-teamed (which he most certainly will). Let’s begin.

Cam Thomas: I put Cam first, because a lot of people were expecting to see a starting caliber nose tackle taken in the first few rounds of the draft. The fact that Tom Telesco didn’t draft one, until the undrafted free agents rolled out, was a HUGE vote of confidence in Cam’s direction. It also means that Pagano must have some faith that Thomas can be the starter. He has LARGE competition to fend off, with Geathers & Jerideau, so he will have to prove that experience will prevail over size. Cam hasn’t started in many games, but when he has, he shows the ability to get after the quarterback, and introduce them to the turf! Playing behind Aubrayo Franklin in 2012, he didn’t get much opportunity to register even one sack. However, the year before he posted 4 sacks, and two in 2010. So, the potential is there. I am looking for big things from this front 3 this year, and Cam has some pretty tough hombres lining up next to him, who aren’t too shabby themselves. With his contract being up in 2014, he has an opportunity to secure his spot on this team for years to come. He just needs to play well.

Corey Liuget: After having a disappointing rookie season, Corey Liuget came on like gangbusters in 2012! He was getting some pretty nice sacks out there, against tough competition. He made his presence known on the field, and had a big impact, while posting seven sacks! Along with Drew Brees (picture posted above), Liuget has added Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, Ben Roethlisberger, and Brandon Weeden to his QB sack list. That’s the entire AFC North, which is one of the NFL’s best divisions, and known for keeping their QB’s upright! We may not have won 3 out of 4 of those games, but Liuget was definitely making an effort to tip the scales in our direction. He even had TWO QB take-downs in that sack-fest against the Jets! He is certainly showing that picking him up in the first round back in 2011, wasn’t another AJ mistake. I am looking forward to a big year from him.

Kendall Reyes: A second round draft pick in the 2012 draft, Kendal Reyes had 5.5 sacks in his debut. When he was on the field, he could often be seen in the backfield making big plays, stuffing runs, disrupting the QB, and generally making things tough for the opposing team. He had 2 sacks in our final game with Denver, and was beasting out even more than Liuget was against the Jets with a whopping 3.5 sacks! Not bad at all, for his rookie season. Despite the excitement surrounding first round pick Melvin Ingram, Reyes was the most effective player from his draft class. This year, he will be the uncontested starting DE (in my opinion), as Tom Telesco moves forward with his “youth movement”. Here’s to an even better sophomore campaign!

Jarret Johnson: Yes, I said Jarret Johnson. I find it odd that an outside linebacker would even be on this list… yet, here he is. Not that anyone expected Double J to be heading up the sack list.. but, 1.5 sacks is pretty bad.. even for a run-stuffer like Johnson. Agreed, he was mostly on the field during run plays, but it would be REALLY nice to see a little bit more production out of him in that area. This team is already thin at the OLB position, and are going to need all the help they can, to get the sack numbers up. For the money we are paying him, and the fact that he is a starter, I would like to see him somewhere around the 3 to 4 sack range this year…. in addition to the run support numbers he puts up. Tom Telesco & Mike McCoy are most certainly going to be keeping an eye on this stat. Sack stats can often be overrated… but 1.5 sacks? Seriously? You could accidentally get 1.5 sacks, just by being pushed on top of the QB! My grandma could put those numbers up! Even Eric Weddle had one sack, and he is nowhere near as close to the QB as JJ is. Hopefully, he can apply a lot more pressure than that in 2013. Otherwise… we need to move on. Sorry.

So, there are my thoughts on where who I would like to see make QB’s run for their lives, besides the obvious pass rushers. I didn’t cover the new guys, as we haven’t even seen a pad practice, or a preseason game yet. Maybe I will write that article a little later on. What do you think? Which of these players do you think will have good performances in 2013? Are there other players you expect to see get after the quarterback more? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

Keep Bolting Toward Excellence!

Pete

I could not be more excited to have this problem. So much talent at linebacker, but only 4 spots can be on the field. We were predicted to have a lot of problems with this position but not this one. With that being said, seeing what the team looked like in week 1 of the pre-season with Melvin Ingram starting it’s hard to say you would want anyone else in the slot. Ingram plays with confidence, passion, and heart. He also posses a motor that doesn’t stop! Melvin Is also starting to show the vets he wants to be here, and he will do what it takes to win. This preseason he did more then what he was expected to do. The pass rush especially stood out.

So Joe why not just rotate him in on passing downs? I am a firm believer, a VERY firm believer, that a player needs to build a rhythm to be effective. He needs to have a feel for the game to get the most out of him. Rotation’s are hard, some people can make an impact coming of the bench some need to be warm and going all game. Melvin appears to be one of the guys that needs to be in to have that feel, that sense of urgency that a player can only feel when he puts everything he has had and then some into a game.

Jarrett Johnson was banged up a little in the beginning of the season but had a chance to show some of what he brings to the table. The guy is a beast! He is a run stopper. Jarrett flies down the line of scrimmage and closes down on the running back extremely well, for his age. Dub has a never quit and a never say die attitude. While Johnson can’t take over a game like an Ingram can he can certainly make running backs look twice. I for one would go to battle for Jarrett any day of the week. He is my type of player, a player that will be in your face till the end of the game.

Joey, is he a good linebacker for a now a day type of football? Well a now a day type of football is a passing league. Now at his age, he is still an effective player. Johnson won’t be piling up sacks left and right, but he can get tackles and do his job come the running game. Plus his experience is extremely valuable. I do think he can be effective. In order for him to be effective though we would need a elusive pass rusher. Philips is great, but I am talking like a T-Sizzle or a Mario Williams.

I am still a fan of the signing but Ingram adds excitement, and a fresh young attitude. Maybe I need to paint the picture a little bit. Ingram, Butler, and Philips on the blitz with Reyes, Corey, and Garay! How can you not be excited about that? Quarterbacks as well as running backs would FEAR our defense. That could possibly be one of the best front 7′s in the whole league. You still can’t forget about Barnes, Johnson, and English (who had one hell of a camp). Barnes and Johnson might be considered starters on 50% of the rest of the NFL.

It’s time to see the future Charger fans. In my opinion Melvin Ingram has done what was needed to be done to get respect. It might be time to show him that respect. If he puts in a couple of solid games he will be a MUST START. It is quite possible we might be looking at a Von Miller type right here. That, I would not be disappointed about. Ingram has the play making ability to be a starter in this league and I hope we make him one sooner then later.

What do you think? Should Ingram or Johnson start?

-Joey Nicks

Bolt Pride!

Aug 2, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers linebacker Jarret Johnson (96) navigates through blocking dummies during training camp at Charger Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

San Diego Chargers fans loved watching the Melvin Ingram show last week, but this weekend he will be pushed back to his backup/situational role. It was a nice little sneak peek at the future of this defense.

Tomorrow, we will get our first look at another piece that we added to the puzzle. Jarret Johnson will get his first game action in a Chargers uniform. We will get to see how good he is at setting that edge and stuffing the run against Cowboy RB DeMarco Murray. Hopefully he puts Tony Romo into the grass a couple of times as well.

Johnson plays hard and knows how to get the job done. Hopefully the excitement that he builds up on Saturday, will match the excitement that Melvin built up.

Can’t wait to see this defense kill Romo!