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Top Offseason Needs of the Los Angeles Chargers
2016 Season Recap
The Chargers finished the season with disappointing 5-11 record, which is sort of the team’s way of telling city of San Diego to go f**k itself. In other words, the Chargers had their eyes set on making the move to L.A. an even bigger priority for the past couple of years now, and their output on the field last season illustrated just how disinterested they were in leaving San Diego with a big bang.
Nonetheless, the team had flashes of brilliant performances, particularly from second-year running back Melvin Gordon and a young, tenacious defensive core. But when quarterback Philip Rivers couldn’t get the offense going, the entire Chargers ship often sank along with him.
The firing of head coach Mike McCoy was long overdue, and McCoy’s tendency to have his team utterly melt down late in games duly justifies his departure. Since the start of the 2015 season, the Chargers have gone 7-17 in games decided by eight points or less, and they’ve even lost six games wherein they had a fourth-quarter lead in the previous season alone.
However, with Bills offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn now in control of the team, we’re very curious as for how the Chargers will use Rivers on offense considering that Buffalo is a run-heavy club with an agile quarterback that can also extend drives with his mobility on the ground.
Top Free Agency Needs
Before Los Angeles starts searching for talent in the market, it has got to lock up outside linebacker Melvin Ingram first and foremost. Ingram has racked up 18.5 sacks over the past two seasons, and having him work alongside stud rookie defensive end Joey Bosa makes for one pass-rushing combination that the Chargers mustn’t break up.
From there, the team can then focus on the one main area of concern: the offensive line. Just about everybody in Los Angeles’ offensive trenches was abysmal, particularly with Orlando Franklin and Joe Barksdale not even close to living up to their respective multi-year contracts.
There are more viable offensive linemen in free agency than at the draft. The Chargers will have their litter of options to choose from in Dallas’ Ronald Leary, Green Bay’s T.J. Lang, and Cincinnati’s tandem of Kevin Zeitler and Andrew Whitworth just to name a few.
Top Draft Needs
Releasing four-time Pro Bowl selection and disgruntled safety Eric Weddle in 2015 was a huge blow to the Chargers’ secondary indeed, as Dwight Lowery was nowhere near Weddle’s level last season.
As such, drafting a promising safety with their seventh-overall pick is almost a no-brainer. Luckily, the seventh pick is a sweet spot for the position in this year’s draft, which means Los Angeles has a fine selection of safeties to work with.
Ohio State sophomore Malik Hooker should be on the top of the team’s list with his pro-ready set of skills. The same could be said about as Jamal Adams, who’s coming from an FSU program known for generating NFL-worthy defensive backs (Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson, Eric Reid, LaRon Landry). The team is also within striking distance of grabbing multi-faceted Michigan standout Jabrill Peppers should Hooker or Adams fly off the board quickly.
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