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00:00music.
00:20Back here in game live game
00:23on sports grid. Now if you
00:25last week, you know that
00:27team by team across the
00:29NFL, we're going to talk to
00:31people with boots on the
00:33ground and each in every
00:35NFL city leading into the
00:37next month or so to get
00:39through every single team,
00:41but I am excited about it.
00:43We begin with the AFC West,
00:45the Chiefs, the Broncos,
00:47the Raiders. We've already
00:49done it. They're already in
00:51pocket if you will Brady Cannon,
00:53but now we're going to talk
00:55about the Los Angeles Chargers
00:57team. Obviously, that was
00:59you know, really
01:01terrific last year by many
01:03standards 11 and 7 including
01:05obviously the playoff loss. Now
01:07the playoff loss. That's another
01:09conversation. This is now to
01:11just demoralizing playoff
01:13losses for Justin Herbert and
01:15company in the span of the last
01:17three years. He ends up throwing
01:19the regular season four in this
01:21lone playoff game and a blowout
01:23loss to the Houston Texans. But
01:25it's a new year, new hope, new
01:27positivity in a team that is an
01:28over under of nine and a half
01:30wins. It is minus 110 to the
01:32over minus 110 to the under. It
01:34is a true pick'em situation
01:36plus 280 the Chargers to win
01:38the AFC West 13 to 1 to win
01:40the conference 26 to 1 to win
01:42the Super Bowl and they are
01:44minus money to make the post
01:46season again. Minus 134 on
01:48FanDuel. Joining us from
01:50Chargers training camp to help
01:52us break down all things L.A. and
01:55expectations for the 2025 season
01:57is Fernando Ramirez on Twitter
02:00at Real F Ramirez. He covers
02:03the Chargers for the Sporting
02:04Tribune. Fernando, thanks for
02:06joining us. Thank you guys so
02:08much for having me. It's about
02:1067 degrees out here, so it's
02:14not your typical training camp
02:16weather, but they did start a
02:17little bit early. But yeah, no,
02:19thank you guys so much for
02:20having me on. Absolutely. Go
02:23ahead, Brady. I love the
02:25Chargers. I went to school in
02:27San Diego and kind of
02:29disappointed to see him move
02:30to L.A., but I have always
02:32loved this team even back in the
02:34days of Dan Fouts. So I'm
02:35excited to talk to you,
02:36Fernando. Jim Harbaugh have
02:38always really enjoyed him as a
02:40head coach. I think he, you
02:41know, was a shot in the arm for
02:43this team last year and I
02:44expect more of the same to
02:45come. I found it very
02:47interesting when diving into
02:48the research here on the
02:50Chargers. They were one of the
02:51very best. In fact, they were
02:53the second best team in the
02:54NFL entering the fourth
02:56quarter and that's when things
02:58kind of went south in that
03:00final period. Justin Herbert
03:02wasn't nearly as good as far
03:04as completion percentage. I
03:06have to believe the team is
03:08aware of this type of thing. If
03:10I am, then they are. How
03:12does Jim Harbaugh correct
03:14that? Is it a stamina thing?
03:16Is it a play calling thing?
03:18Why did they, you know, look
03:20so good for 75% of the game
03:22and then be unable to close
03:24the door in the fourth
03:25quarter? Well, and the games
03:27that you're basically talking
03:28about are Cincinnati. Cincinnati
03:30is a big game where they were
03:31up and in the second half they
03:33just completely dropped off. They
03:34had numerous games like that. And
03:36I do think a little bit was
03:37fatigue, but it's also the
03:39quality that they had on the
03:40offensive line. I think they
03:41upgraded. Well, not just the
03:43offensive line. The offense in
03:44general, they upgraded it with
03:45three players. They selected
03:47Amari and Hampton who's a
03:48juggernaut running back who
03:50they're really excited about. They
03:51brought in Najee Harris who's
03:53a guy who's a thumper. Jim's
03:55talked about since he got here
03:57in the fourth quarter. I want to
03:59tire teams out. How do you tire
04:01them out by having a guy like
04:04Makai Becton on the offensive
04:05line by having running backs
04:06like Amari and Hampton and
04:08Najee Harris. So I feel like
04:09this year you're going to see
04:10a little bit more of the
04:11vision that him and Greg Roman
04:12have for this offense last
04:14year was they kind of grab
04:16glue. They grab some string.
04:18They grab popsicle sticks and
04:19they kind of built this thing
04:21or they put pieces thing
04:23together. And yeah, it turned
04:24out to be an 11 and six season.
04:26But this year, I think you're
04:27going to see a little bit more
04:29of what they want to do with
04:31this offense, especially with
04:32the addition of Trey Harris.
04:33Keandre Lambert Smith out of
04:35Auburn is the guy that they're
04:37really excited about in Greg
04:39Roman moments ago just told us
04:40he he reminds me of Brandon
04:41Lloyd and we all remember
04:43Brandon Lloyd was big for San
04:44Francisco and he was big for
04:45Denver when he went over there.
04:47So they're really excited about
04:49the rookies that they brought
04:50in. I think the offense in
04:53general is really interesting. You
04:55know, going into last year, I
04:57was like the the leader of the
04:59hype train when it came to
05:00Joshua Palmer didn't really
05:02work out. He is gone. Mike
05:04Williams has just in the last
05:05couple of days retired. You
05:07have Lad McConkie who was
05:08incredible as a rookie last
05:10year went for almost 1200
05:12receiving yards. Obviously he
05:13is back and he is the the go
05:15to the focal point for Justin
05:17Herbert widely considered a top
05:1910 quarterback in the NFL has
05:21some interesting props that we
05:22could get into as well. But
05:24around him around McConkie
05:26you've got Trey Harris who you
05:27talked about the rookie out of
05:28Ole Miss. The run game is
05:30fascinating because on the one
05:31hand you have Najee Harris and
05:33obviously he's coming off of
05:34this July 4th situation, but
05:36he's gone for four straight
05:37thousand yard rushing seasons
05:39even in Pittsburgh under Tomlin
05:41and then next to him, you know,
05:42you got the the rookie coming
05:44in here on Marion Hampton who
05:46had back to back 1500 plus
05:48rushing seasons for North Carolina.
05:49And so just in general should the
05:53expectations be high for this
05:55team's offensive output. It
05:58should because of like I
05:59mentioned Najee and in we have
06:02to remember to Najee said after
06:04he left Pittsburgh, we didn't
06:05really have an identity like we
06:06had an identity crisis in
06:07Pittsburgh and you're kind of
06:08like, oh wow. So he's coming
06:10into a team here that has an
06:12identity. You're going to run
06:13the football, but when the time
06:15comes, the superstar quarterback
06:17is going to be the one that
06:18takes off and to be honest, I
06:20think last year was a little
06:21bit of getting used to. Now I
06:23know Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick,
06:26they're very good quarterbacks,
06:28but they're not a Justin
06:29Herbert. So I think it was an
06:30adjustment period, not just for
06:32Justin with them, but it was
06:34also them with Justin. Hey, our
06:35quarterback can do a lot of the
06:37things that maybe those two
06:38combined could do and then some
06:40he hasn't had that talented
06:42of a talented of a quarterback
06:43since I think at Stanford when
06:45he had Andrew luck. But yeah, no,
06:47I definitely think that the
06:48offense should be better. My
06:50biggest question mark with
06:51them is the center and guard
06:52position. Bradley Bozeman, Zion
06:54Johnson, they were kind of the
06:56weak point last year. They
06:57decided to keep both of them. And
06:59as of right now, they see them
07:00as the potential starters, but
07:01they've talked about flipping
07:02them. So Zion goes to center
07:05and Bradley goes to guard and
07:07you're kind of like, I don't
07:08know how that's going to work. So
07:10that's kind of the weakness
07:11there. But when it comes to the
07:12weaponry, Greg Roman right now
07:14said he they're very excited
07:15about all the weapons that
07:16they have. He's talked about
07:17Quentin Johnston taking the
07:19next step forward. And he
07:20talked about how he believes
07:22that Latin McConkey is only
07:24going to get better, which
07:25honestly should be a huge plus
07:27for them. All right, we have
07:32Fernando Ramirez here with us
07:33from Sporting Tribune. We're
07:34going to keep talking about the
07:35Chargers when we come back much
07:36more on the other side,
07:38including hitting on this
07:39defense that looks so good a
07:41year ago. Can we expect the
07:43same from Jesse Minter in year
07:45two with some change, some
07:47turnover in talent. Stay with
07:49us here. IGL game day returns.
07:51Well game day. We're talking
07:52about the AFC West specifically
07:54the Los Angeles Chargers.
07:55Fernando Ramirez is here with
07:57us live from Chargers training
07:59camp and of course does a great
08:01job covering the team for the
08:02Sporting Tribune. We were just
08:04talking about the offense
08:05Fernando and I want to really
08:06dial in on Justin Herbert
08:08and expectations still young
08:09kid still relatively early in
08:12his career, but he's had some
08:13robust seasons and I'm going to
08:15take this to the to the
08:16gambling world a little bit
08:17because in the first few
08:18years of his career we have
08:20seen granted different
08:21coaching staff passing totals
08:23of forty three hundred yards
08:25five thousand yards forty
08:27seven hundred yards. He gets
08:29hurt couple of years ago only
08:31plays in 13 games so barely
08:33clears thirty one hundred last
08:34year full year but first year
08:36in a new system under Harbaugh
08:38and he goes for thirty eight
08:40seventy so still really doesn't
08:42even sniff four thousand. We
08:44have a prop this year looking
08:46at FanDuel and it does
08:47fluctuate book to book, but
08:48on FanDuel thirty six fifty
08:50and a half is the passing
08:52prop which in some ways feels
08:54laughable when you consider
08:56obviously the the bloated totals
08:59he had the first few years of
09:01his career, but now it's the
09:03Harbaugh effect even with
09:04Harris even with obviously
09:05McConkie. Do we like the over
09:07there if he stays healthy or
09:09should that number scare us
09:10off a little bit. I think you
09:13should take the over just
09:14because I think he's going to
09:15grow with this offense. They
09:17brought in Tyler Conklin. They
09:19brought in or they drafted a
09:21Ronde Gadsden from Syracuse
09:23that the team really likes. I
09:24always ask Derwin James every
09:26offseason. Give me one player
09:27to watch and that was the
09:28player he gave me. He's like
09:30a Ronde is a very good
09:31versatile tight end who I
09:32think could really grow in
09:33this offense. So they're
09:35excited about him. Trey
09:36Harris again is another guy
09:37that they're excited about
09:39back shoulder throws down the
09:41field. Keiondre Lambert
09:42Smith. I really think that
09:44he'll get to those yards. I
09:46would take the over right now
09:47because also a big weapon of
09:49Omarion is Omarion Hampton. He's
09:51able to catch the ball well
09:54out of the backfield and I
09:55think he's going to make
09:56some plays where they're
09:57long touch or long receptions
09:59that are going to help with
10:00that total. So as of right
10:01now, if Justin stays healthy,
10:02I think you're going to that
10:04he's going to hit the over on
10:05that. I don't disagree with
10:07you, Fernando. I think
10:08because of what happened last
10:10season, we're probably
10:11getting a deflated number
10:13there of what we should
10:14expect what we're used to
10:16out of Justin Herbert one
10:18fly in the ointment though
10:20that I thought was very odd
10:22because we remember the
10:23combination of Jim Harbaugh
10:24as head coach and Greg
10:26Roman offensive coordinator
10:27with Colin Kaepernick, like
10:29you mentioned, and there was
10:30a lot of running. There was
10:31Frank Gore, but Roman was
10:34very pass heavy in this
10:37inaugural season last year. Do
10:39you know why that was and
10:41would you expect him to
10:42revert more towards the run in
10:44a second time around with the
10:46club? I think last year they
10:49didn't have the weapons all
10:52around that they that they
10:54wanted to like JK. JK was
10:56good, but he wasn't
10:58consistent. And then you
11:00looked at Gus Edwards, Gus
11:02Edwards, what didn't really
11:03fit this offense. The only
11:05game that he had that he
11:06really did well in was that
11:07Denver game and that was on
11:08a big 60 yard run. But I
11:10feel like again, it was a
11:12feeling out process. And I
11:14feel like last year they were
11:15like, well, we have Justin,
11:17we might as well should use
11:18them. But the problem was you
11:19didn't have the weapons
11:20around him to be able to let
11:21him lose. I mean, we have to
11:22remember also, he went from
11:24having Keenan Allen, Mike
11:26Williams and all the and for
11:28all this weaponry, Gerald
11:30Everett to last year going
11:32cold turkey and relying on a
11:33rookie and in Latin
11:34McConkie relying on Quentin
11:36Johnson and kind of take that
11:38next step forward. So I think
11:40they kind of they kind of ran
11:42into a brick wall in a sense.
11:44And that's why you didn't
11:45really see this offense
11:46consistently take over. And
11:48we have to remember also at
11:49this point last year, Justin
11:50was out of training camp. He
11:52didn't practice the rest of
11:53the training camp. You had
11:54Easton stick, you had Luis
11:56Perez, you had Max Dugan
11:59taking reps and Justin
12:00wasn't there. So I think that
12:02was that had a lot to do with
12:03it. So there was just a not
12:04a numerous factors that kind
12:06of went into that. I think
12:07last year.
12:10Defensively, you know, again,
12:12this team won eleven and
12:13seven, including that
12:14playoff loss twelve five
12:15and one against the spread
12:17four and two in division,
12:18by the way, sweeping both
12:20the Broncos and Raiders. So
12:21you know where those losses
12:22came from. But a lot of the
12:24success defensively under
12:26Jesse mentor first year led
12:28the NFL in scoring defense
12:30at seventeen point seven. You
12:32mentioned some of that
12:33defensive talent. Joey Bosa
12:34is gone. Drew and James
12:35among others still there.
12:36Should we expect to repeat
12:37performance?
12:38I think so. The defensive
12:41line with going to forward
12:42leaving is kind of a rough
12:43spot, but they're excited
12:45about day on Henley. They're
12:46excited about some of the
12:47young cornerbacks. Are you
12:49still Cam Hart? They're
12:50excited about those guys. So
12:51I think the defense should
12:52be a lot better with Jesse
12:53Minter coming back.
12:55Fernando Ramirez again on
12:58Twitter at Real F Ramirez
13:00covers the Chargers for
13:02Sporting Tribune. Kind
13:04enough to join us in Chargers
13:05training camp. Thank you so
13:06much, Fernando. We'll
13:07definitely talk to you again
13:08down the line. Thank you.
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