Not every signing is going to be a home run. The LA Chargers knew that when they spent the second-most cap space in the NFL on a laundry list of players this past offseason. When so many new faces are coming to the team, there is bound to be a few disappointments.
Mekhi Becton has had the brightest spotlight as he was the biggest signing of the offseason. Becton's performance has certainly been disappointing, but it seems like the Chargers were preparing for this to happen. Either way, the Bolts don't have many options on the offensive line, so they are stuck hoping Becton turns it around.
That's not the case at tight end, yet the Chargers continue to involve Tyler Conklin despite him being the worst tight end on the roster this season. He is no longer playing prominent snaps thanks to the emergence of Oronde Gadsden II, but he is getting snaps over others who deserve them.
It's time for Jim Harbaugh to face the music and admit that Conklin hasn't worked out at all how the team was hoping.
Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers need to give up on Tyler Conklin
It's odd to see the Chargers continually trotting Conklin out there this season when everything he has touched has gone wrong. It's even stranger when Will Dissly has been a healthy scratch every week since Gadsden's emergence.
Dissly shouldn't be the TE1 that is catching passes from Justin Herbert, but he is a far better blocking tight end than Conklin. With Conklin offering no real passing upside, you would think the Chargers would utilize the blocking tight end given the offensive line struggles. But alas, that has not been the case.
Conklin has had several blooper-worthy moments as a Charger, two of which had an impact on the final outcome. In Week 4, he picked Ladd McConkey instead of the opposing defensive back, resulting in a Justin Herbert interception as McConkey never finished his route.
Without that interception, the Chargers likely would have beaten the New York Giants.
The following week, Herbert targeted Conklin on a fourth and short and turned the ball over on downs. The ball literally went through Conklin's outstretched hands and right off his helmet. The Chargers lost that game by 17, but that was one of the few mistakes that, if swung the other way, could've changed the outcome.
Those gaffes alone should have been enough to give Conklin a one-way ticket to the inactives list. His poor blocking since then only cements the fact he shouldn't be playing meaningful snaps while Dissly is healthy, but alas, he is.
The frustrating part is that the Chargers know Conklin can't block. He has only five pass-blocking snaps and has a 49.2 run-blocking grade on Pro Football Focus in 68 snaps. Dissly had a great showing in Week 1 with an 84.8 grade and fell off a bit after this injury. But even when the regression, his 59.9 grade is better than Conklin's.
We don't even need PFF grades, either. All Chargers fans have to do is watch Conklin play football and it's clear he shouldn't get playing time over a healthy Dissly.
It's time for Jim Harbaugh to accept that this signing didn't work out and go with Dissly. Perhaps the offseason excitement of signing Conklin is bleeding too far into the Chargers' decision-making in November.