Los Angeles Chargers: Top four storylines from training camp thus far
By Travis Wakeman
The Los Angeles Chargers are heading toward the end of their first week in training camp and in that short period of time, several newsworthy items have taken place for the team.
The Chargers will be joined by the other Los Angeles team, the Rams, on Saturday as the two teams will practice together. The team will also play its first preseason game next Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
Unfortunately, the Chargers are already dealing with some tough injuries. In addition, one of the team’s long-time veterans was released. Those are just some of the headlines from the first week of Chargers camp.
First-round pick Mike Williams hobbled
Though there has been conflicting reports on exactly what Mike Williams’ status is for this coming season, the Chargers’ first-round pick is almost certainly going to miss some time because of issues with his back.
For the Chargers fans out there complaining that the team may have made a bad pick with this guy, your voices are heard and your opinion may not be wrong.
It was questionable for the team to draft a wide receiver in the first place at the No. 7 spot, but the move looks really bad right now. Sure, Williams could bounce back and become the player the team thought it was drafting. But how many people actually have faith in that happening, given the history of injuries with this team?
At least for the 2017 season, Williams could be a huge disappointment.
Forrest Lamp to miss season with torn ACL
You can’t even make this stuff up.
It was terrible news for the team on Wednesday and fans likely knew the second they saw the cart enter the practice field. Forrest Lamp, the team’s second-round pick in the draft, will miss the entire season after tearing his ACL.
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This was a crushing blow for a team that had one of the worst offensive lines in football last season but was able to really come up with a huge steal by finding Lamp with the No. 38 overall pick. He easily had first-round talent.
The team will now give an extended look at fellow rookie Dan Feeney to see if he is ready to be one of the starting guards. Kenny Wiggins, Chris Hairston, Donavan Clark and Sam Tevi could all be options at the spot as well.
Darrell Stuckey released
A fourth-round pick in the 22010 NFL draft out of Kansas, Darrell Stuckey has spent his entire seven-year career with the Chargers. That tenure came to an end on Friday, as the Chargers released him following a failed physical.
Stuckey was the special teams captain and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2014. The team will now spend the rest of camp looking for the guy who will lead the special teams unit, hopefully for the next seven years.
Hunter Henry looks great
If you haven’t seen it first hand in camp, tight end Hunter Henry has stood out.
Ricky Henne of the team’s official website has noted almost every day that Henry has made big plays and great catches since camp opened, and that has to be encouraging.
Henry has all the tools to become one of the top tight ends in all of football, and that should start to show this season.
As Henne notes here, tight end Jeff Cumberland is also having a good camp.