With the Chargers unable to score points in the first half of games this season, they sit uneasily at 1-1 heading into Green Bay, who are undefeated and posses a stingy defense. Clearly the Chargers have some issues to address, and Keyshawn Johnson thinks he knows exactly what the problem is:



"Vincent Jackson needs to play like his size. Not the hype coming into this year. Like the 6'5" guy that he is." - Keyshawn Johnson


Can't say he doesn't make some valid points. If you take Ladainian Tomlinson out of the equation, Antonio Gates has more catches than everyone else on the team combined (so far this season).

That's bad.

Keyshawn called out Vincent Jackson, the guy who is leading Chargers receivers in catches with 7 for 81 yards. Fitting, considering Jackson had a ball bounce of his chest in week one and another bounce off his back in week 2.

Clearly we need someone to emerge as a dependable guy. The receivers are a young group, and Keyshawn Johnson thinks AJ Smith needs to find a veteran guy, ASAP. At this point, I'm not sure who is available. Unless the team feels like bringing back a couple of ex-Chargers like Keenan McCardell or Tim Dwight, you'd be looking at a trade to get a guy. Not saying the Chargers need to pull off a trade mid-season (although AJ Smith has done so in the past). I'm not going all chicken little either. I'm just saying that I can see Keyshawn's point about the team lacking veteran leadership at the wide receiver position, and thats a position that certainly needs to have improved play.

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The Chargers won a slugfest on Sunday in a game that feature two of the NFL's elite defenses. Not the easiest game to watch, the Bolts nonetheless came away with a victory. There were a number of players that caught my eye and I'd like to share my impressions of their performances in my post-game thoughts and impressions. Click on to read part one of two.


Eric Weddle continues to impress. While only credited with one sack, Weddell had two sacks in my eyes. He is a game changer and its only a matter of time before he starts opposite Marlon McCree on the base defense. Ted Cottrell and Ron Rivera are dialing up safety blitzes left and right and it’s a pleasure to watch. Using the defensive backs to blitz was something I would have loved Wade Phillips to do, and I called for them often last year. This is just another clear difference in philosophy that the defense under Cottrell/Rivera has versus the old Wade Phillips style of defense.

While he unquestionably has the physical tools to dominant in this league, it’s the mental aspect of the game that hinders Vincent Jackson’s ability to prosper. Jackson was called for a couple of penalties; one was an acceptable offensive pass interference that prevented a possible interception, but on the same drive Jackson was again flagged, this time for a costly false start. The knock remains against him about using his hands to catch so watching a football hit him directly in the chest and bounce off was both expected and yet heart-breaking. Jackson is expected to have a breakout year this season, and Coach Turner is certainly using him in a variety of roles – including lining him up in the backfield as a blocker. If Vincent can just wrap his head around the game, he is going to be a good one. He will never have a better opportunity than this season; no veterans ahead of him on the depth chart, and a thorough knowledge of the offense. He needs to have a nice season if he is going to have any shot at remaining the number one receiver. C’mon VJ!

The offensive playbook has certainly expanded, and if you were seeing the Chargers run plays that you never saw in years past, you weren’t alone. Its not too early to see why Norv Turner carries to reputation for being an offensive mastermind. The way the Bears defense was playing on Sunday, it’s a marvel the Chargers scored at all, let along two touchdowns in the second half. Its going to be awesome watching the Bolts run more of these new plays throughout the year. I’d expect a reverse play for next week’s matchup against New England.

Keep pounding the rock. Last year when the run game wasn’t there, Cam Cameron stopped calling it. Not so with Norv Turner. The Chargers kept running the ball, knowing they were facing eight and nine men in the box. The running backs accounted for 31 rushes in total, for only 78 yards. But the important thing is that the team remained committed to their bread and butter and forced the Bears defense to respect the run. LT didn’t gain but 25 yards rushing, but he needs his carries to thrive. He is still getting into his game-shape after sitting out the entire preseason as a precautionary measure. There is no better tune up than facing those Bears and their D-linemen. Especially considering Tomlinson will be taking the team into Foxboro next week where he is going to be counted on to lead the offense in hostile territory.

I have always liked Stephen Cooper, and I eagerly anticipated the day where he would take the reigns as a full-time starter. Cooper was forever around the ball, and hits with tremendous force. He has a compact and punishing build, similar to Michael Turner and Lorenzo Neal. Those two players are renowned for the blows they deliver to opposing teams, and Cooper is no different. He led the team in tackles and had a forced fumble to boot. Cooper will be more than an adequate replacement for Randall Godfrey and will bring a menacing presence to the middle of the field.

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san diego chargers

In the BoltHype 'Getting Better' feature, the staff will take an in-depth look at the different units among the team to determine areas in the Chargers' game where improvement would be welcome. For example, in today's feature BoltHype will break down the wide receivers and will highlight areas that the staff would like to see increased production.

Good teams can always get better. Take the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers want to get better in their wide receiver corp and have committed high draft picks to the position.

In 2005, Vincent Jackson was taken with the team's second round pick. Jackson was viewed as a developmental prospect with huge upside. We saw flashes of potential greatness last year, and many feel VJ is poised for a breakout season in 2007.

The Chargers were not totally satisfied with their group of receivers, so they again looked to upgrade the position. In 2007, Craig 'Buster' Davis was tabbed in round one. The team saw Davis as a polished receiver who could come in and contribute immediately on offense and special teams as a returner.


The San Diego Chargers are unique in that their passing attack does not feature a go-to wide receiver. Instead, the passing offense under former coordinator Cam Cameron, was filtered through Antonio Gates (71 REC, 2007) and LaDainian Tomlinson (56 REC, 2007) first, and any remaining balls were trickled down and spread out among the wide receivers. With Norv Turner taking over the play-calling duties in 2007, not much is expected to change.

What will be different, however, will be the roles that Vincent Jackson and Craig Davis play in the offense. Norv has expressed that he sees plenty of room for improvement on the team, and particularly in the passing game. In Vincent Jackson, he would like more consistency:

“We just need to him to continue to grow,” Head Coach Norv Turner said. “We need him to have more consistency. I think he’s working hard on that. Vincent is a big-play receiver. He did that a year ago. We can get him the ball underneath and let him run with it. Those are the kinds of plays that you have to have great consistency on.”

As for Craig Davis, he will contribute immediately as a returner and will get his fair share of receptions.

“Like all young players that come into the League, he’s going to have to learn, but we feel Craig is a complete receiver,” Turner said. “He has great hands. He has great run-after-the-catch ability. That’s something we felt we could add to our football team. He’s mature. This is another young guy who’s certainly going to contribute and have an affect.”

What is of most interest to me is that both Jackson and Davis posses the ability to gain yards after the catch (YAC). Both players are tough and physical and have big-play ability. The can make plays with the ball in their hands and can break tackles. If there was one thing that absolutely annoyed me about Keenan McCardell and Eric Parker, it was that they were too easily tackled. Rarely did turn a short pass into a big gain. And it was all too often that they were tackled with the first contact from a defender.

Keenan McCardell is no longer with the team. Vincent Jackson is likely become the Chargers' primary receiver, a position that McCardell had in 2005. Eric Parker had the most catches among wide receivers on the team in 2006, but that will surely change in 2007 with the addition of Craig Davis and the emergence of Vincent Jackson.

I'd like to draw a relevant comparison between Wide Receivers Santonio Holmes, Eric Parker, and Craig Davis. Holmes, you'll remember, was the Pittsburgh Steelers' first round pick a year ago. Taken with the 25th pick in the first round, Holmes brought a diverse skill set to the Steelers with his dual abilities as a receiver and returner.

As a rookie, Holmes paid immediate dividends. Below are his stats compared to Eric Parker's stats in 2006:

Receiving-

Santonio Holmes (5'11" 189lbs)
16 games, 49 rec, 824 yds, 16.8 avg, 7.0 yac, 41 1st, 2 td

Eric Parker (6'0" 190lbs)
15 games, 48 rec, 659 yds, 13.7 avg, 2.9 yac, 35 1st, 0 td

Punt Returns-

Santonio Holmes (5'11" 189lbs)
16 games, 26 pr, 264 yds, 10.2 avg, 65 long, 1 td

Eric Parker (6'0" 190lbs)
15 games, 37 pr, 331 yds, 8.9 avg, 50 long, 0 td

Looking at the above stats, its clear that Holmes is much more dynamic than Parker. Holmes' YAC numbers and average punt return are markedly better than Parker's. And considering that the rookie Santonio Holmes put up better numbers than the veteran Eric Parker gives me hope that our rookie Craig Davis can provide the Chargers what Holmes provided the Steelers.

Craig Davis has a very similar set of skill to that if Santonio Holmes. I expect that Davis will assume punt return duties from day one, and I would hope that his numbers are closer to what Holmes did than Parker.

As for YAC, I feel that Jackson and Davis are going to help the team get further down the field by breaking tackles, catch and runs, and jukes on the initial defender.

Jackson and Davis are different type of players, but both can help the team on offense. While neither may become a true number one like other teams around the league have, they will nonetheless provide Philip Rivers a good mix of talent and abilities, and both will help the offense be more productive in the passing game.

“I like different styles of receivers,” Smith said. “We like to have a mixture if we can to give your coordinator several guys; all talented with different shapes, sizes and expertise. It’s diverse. We’ve got the big guys. We’ve got speed guys. We’ve got receivers who run good routes and catch the football. I think we’ve got good football players at the wide receiver position.”

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