Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports – LA Chargers
LA Chargers minicamp officially began on Tuesday, June 15 after the team had several non-voluntary OTAs. While we still have a long way to go until the start of the regular season, the start of minicamp can be very telling, especially with a new regime in place.
The Chargers in 2021 are going to be unlike any of the recent Chargers teams that we have seen. He has not coached a single game yet but it is safe to say that Charger fans feel good about Brandon Staley. Just listen to this man speak.
coach ~is~ the energy pic.twitter.com/4IooWKlJCB
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) June 16, 2021
Between what has been reported from minicamp thus far and what the coaches and players have said in press conferences, there are several things to take away from the first two days of minicamp
LA Chargers minicamp takeaways:
1. Justin Herbert is going to excel in Joe Lombardi’s offense
The LA Chargers may have something special for the offense on the horizon. Football analyst Warren Sharp compared the new offense to a marriage of Sean Payton’s pass game and Kyle Shanahan’s run game. For those that do not know, that is just about the best compliment you can get.,
Coach Staley has been nothing but complimentary of Herbert as well, praising the young quarterback for his ability to pick up the offense, his football intelligence and how good he was last season despite not being in as good of a situation. Staley believes in his QB1 and we certainly do as well.
If that was not enough then the final cherry on top is Drew Brees. Brees attended the Chargers minicamp on Wednesday and said great things about Herbert in Lombardi’s offense that every Charger fan wants to hear. Brees said (h/t Yahoo! Sports):
“There’s no doubt his physical tools are as good as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Brees said. “By all accounts, he’s a great worker, he’s got great leadership qualities, he’s got a lot of intangibles.”
“I think [Lombardi] brings a ton of knowledge and experience, not only coaching quarterbacks but also within the system that we ran. I think he’ll be able to tailor make that for Justin’s skills and the tools he has around him.”
Quite the endorsement.
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports – LA Chargers
2. The LA Chargers defensive front is all about maximizing Joey Bosa
The LA Chargers have one of the best pass rushers in the entire league in Joey Bosa that has not even hit his ceiling yet. Still relatively young, Bosa has plenty more left in the tank and the scary part for other offenses is that he has not even reached his full potential as an edge rusher.
That is what Brandon Staley is here for and that is what the goal of the defense is going to be. We all know of the success that Staley has had in his previous defenses, especially with getting star pass rushers their due diligence. The goal for the Bolts is to maximize Bosa’s ability.
Bosa explained the complexity of the defense that the Chargers are adopting with Staley calling the shots and explained something that Staley had already alluded to in prior press conferences: the goal is to get players in one-on-one matchups.
Joey Bosa on the #Chargers new defensive scheme: “there’s a lot more going on than anything else I’ve been a part of before.”
— Guilty As Charged Podcast (@GACPodcast17) June 16, 2021
Said there’s an emphasis on getting players in one on one situations.
Music to our ears.
Spoiler alert: things are not going to be great if Joey Bosa gets many one-on-one matchups. Go rewatch his tape against the Buffalo Bills if you do not believe me.
Staley understands that the key to unlocking the best Chargers defense in 2021 is getting Bosa going. He claimed that the Chargers defense is a completely different movie when you add Bosa to the edge of that defense.
For opposing quarterbacks, it becomes a horror movie when Bosa is on the outside in a one-on-one matchup.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports – LA Chargers
3. The LA Chargers players really seem to prefer the coaching change
While the players are never going to out a former coach and openly say that so and so was not a good coach, it does not take much reading between the lines to see that this coaching change is a big upgrade for the Bolts.
First of all, the players that have spoken to the media are nothing but complimentary to Brandon Staley and the staff that he has put together. While a lot of that could just be basic media answers, the team seems genuinely excited for the direction it is heading in.
The players on the defensive side of the ball also seem to be enjoying this change as well. Drue Tranquill was very transparent when sharing the differences between this new defense and the former defense and the fact that this new defense allows him to actually play linebacker.
In the old defense, Tranquill was once asked to cover Tyreek Hill down the middle of the field. That is not a recipe for success.
Chris Harris has played with Brandon Staley in the past and is came from a similar scheme in Denver. He explained how this defense is night and day for the players who have not experienced it before and seemingly suggested that it was a good thing, not a bad thing.
From Staley’s defense to Lombardi’s offense scheme to Derius Swinton’s leadership on special teams, fans have been hearing everything they want to hear about the coaching staff out of LA Chargers minicamp thus far.