LA Chargers: Three reasons Trai Turner must be released
3. The LA Chargers’ new regime
A message has to be sent by both the front office and the coaching staff when it comes to not tolerating mediocrity on the offensive line. That part isn’t only about Trai Turner. It’s about stop gap linemen like Dan Feeney, Forrest Lamp, and Sam Tevi as well.
We’ve seen what has happened to quarterbacks who’ve gone unprotected by their offensive lines. The tragedy of Andrew Luck’s career was that Indianapolis waited too long to give him a good offensive line before he was mentally and physically beaten. David Carr had the snot beaten out of him as a number one overall pick due to the expansion Texans’ O-Line.
Russell Wilson is growing tired of Seattle because they’ve done a rather poor job of protecting him there. Imagine every Patrick Mahomes play in the Super Bowl, but if it was every game.
Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco have to do everything possible to not wind up in that situation. Telesco has seen how good Justin Herbert is with a bad offensive line up close. Imagine how good he and Austin Ekeler would be if they could actually block up front? As a lot have said, this team’s eventual ceiling could be the Super Bowl in a few years.
Turner is the most obvious release with his contract and decline. That one has probably already been decided. But the same decisiveness that will be applied to Turner must also be applied to a desire to start better linemen at center, left guard, and left tackle.
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Over the next three years, the new regime has to hone in on finding the best O-Line possible. That starts with ridding themselves of one of the worst 2020 linemen in the NFL.