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2013 San Diego Chargers Unrestricted Free Agents List

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  • Antwan Barnes, OLB
  • Jackie Battle, RB
  • Ronnie Brown, RB
  • Chris Carr, CB
  • Antoine Cason, CB Starter
  • Brandyn Dombrowski, G/T
  • Aubrayo Franklin, DT Starter
  • Tyronne Green, G Starter
  • Gary Guyton, ILB
  • Danario Alexander
  • Curtis Brinkley
  • Richard Goodman ST Starter placed on IR
  • Seyi Ajirotutu
  • Rex Hadnot, G
  • Quentin Jammer, CB Starter
  • Corey Lynch, S
  • Vaughn Martin, DE Starter
  • Nick Novak, K Starter
  • Shaun Phillips, OLB Starter
  • Dante Rosario, TE
  • Micheal Spurlock, WR/KR/PR
  • Louis Vasquez, G Start
  • Reggie Wells, G
  • Demorrio Williams, ILB
  • Mike Windt

March 12th is right around the corner! If somewhere I made a mistake please let me know and I’ll make corrections. Any ideas on who should stay and who should go?

Changes needed At Chargers Park

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Disappointment seems like the norm for the Chargers.

 

It all looked good on paper when A.J. Smith signed Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal. I’m sorry, Danario Alexander is more motivated than Meachem and it shows. You have to question Meachem’s motivation. Remember Meachem’s dropped pass in Cleveland? I could have caught that pass in my sleep. If the Chargers want me, I can drop easy passes for 1/4 the money that Meachem is making.  Maybe the Chargers should go out and get street players. Guys like that don’t take anything for granted and just want to play football.

Problem is that A.J. Smith wants his puppet (Norv Turner) to play the guys that make the most money. I guess it makes business sense, but it doesn’t make football sense. Owning a football franchise isn’t like owning a regular business. That’s why this team isn’t winning. If I owned a McDonalds, I wouldn’t put a manager that makes top dollar making burgers if he/she doesn’t know how to cook a damn burger! When Turner coached the Oakland Raiders, he put Jerry Rice at third string on the recievers depth chart. In my opinion, this shows that Turner doesn’t know how to use his players correctly. I mean come on, Jerry Rice, arguably the best WR in the history of the NFL. I can’t for the life of me, figure out why Dean Spanos, wanting a new stadium, would stay with the “status quo” with this team. Look, the Indianapolis Colts cleaned house and they have a better record than the Chargers. I have seen the San Diego UT reporters siding with A.J. Smith. (Nick Canepa). Remember, John Butler (RIP) brought this team from the gutter to respectable. After he passed, his understudy, A.J. Smith took over. I will give credit where credit is due. Smith has done good things with this team. Remember the whole Eli Manning draft debacle? Smith didn’t take any shit and worked a miracle, trading Manning to the Giants. San Diego Chargers Get: North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers, the No. 5 overall selection. In addition, San Diego received the Giants’ third-round pick in 2004 (used on kicker Nate Kaeding, No. 65 overall) and Giants’ first-and fifth-round picks in 2005 (first-rounder used on Shawne Merriman, No. 12 overall; fifth-rounder traded to Tampa Bay, who traded pick to St. Louis Rams). It worked out for the Chargers.

Fast forward to 2012. This is a “what have you done for me lately” league. What has A.J. Smith done for the Chargers lately?

Ronnie Brown= Bust

Larry English= Bust

Robert Meachem=Bust

Eddie Royal=Bust

Jared Gaither=Bust

Charger’s offensive line=Bust

Ryan Mathews=Not playing like a #16 draft pick..maybe a bust.

Chargers have 10..count ‘em..10 linebackers on the active roster. Why not trade one or two of them and get an O-lineman or two? Just to compare, the Denver Broncos only retain 6 linebackers and look at their defense. Need I say more? Something is wrong here.

How many more failures until Dean makes someone accountable?

My opinion on what the Chargers should do:

Fire A.J. Smith and his arrogant attitude. It’s known across the league that Smith is hard to deal with. Many players won’t come to San Diego just because of Smith. Player agents just don’t want to deal with him.

Fire Norv Turner. He’s too soft to be a head coach.

Bring in a proven motivator head coach. Maybe Brady Hoke from Michigan. He’s familiar with San Diego. Everywhere he’s coached, he has won. He reminds me of Jim Harbaugh and look at what he’s done with the 49ers. If Dean Spanos retains Smith, the chances of getting a good head coach is reduced because Smith is a proponent of bringing someone in that has head coaching experience in the NFL. That reduces the qualified coaching participant pool substantially.

All I can say is the Chargers need to make changes. They keep talking about being more like the Patriots and the Steelers, winning on a consistant basis, but it just isn’t happening here. Dean Spanos needs to man up, especially now that he’s trying to get a new stadium built here. He won’t get one unless he gets local support.

A losing team won’t get support.

Figure it out Dean.

Chargers Find One More Way To Lose

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When I think I’ve seen the Chargers lose every which way there is, they seem to come up with another one.

Sunday we saw seemingly decent play by the Chargers, at least in the first half. Lately the first two quarters have been good. It’s the last two quarters of recent games that seem to be dismal for the home team. I haven’t looked up the first half scoring statistics for the year so far, but I’m pretty sure the Chargers have been ahead after the first two quarters in most of their games this season.  But alas, one can dream, fantasize, whatever you want to call it. The reality of it is that games consist of four 15 minute quarters which really amounts to about 45 minutes per quarter. The Chargers need to play consistently through all four quarters.

The Chargers offense has been sputtering and the tailspin pretty much began after the first meeting with the Broncos. Our beloved team blew a 24 point lead in the first half. We didn’t score a single point in the second half in that game.  Chargers could only muster two field goals in the Cleveland game. Are you kidding me?! Kansas City was a blowout but hell, it was the Chiefs for crying out loud. The Aztecs could beat them. Then you had Tampa Bay. Seemed like we were gonna make it a close one, but again, mistakes, turnovers and no offense in the second half. Then we get to Denver again. I hate to rehash bad memories but 54 total yards in the first half? I guess this was a game that we came alive in the second half after adjustments were made to help the O-line block Von Miller. Adjustments that came too late. Then comes the game Sunday with Baltimore. What a complete and total disappointment. I’m sorry but how do you let a team get a first down on 4th and 29?! All they had to do was make that stop, game over. That’s a fireable offense in my opinion.

The problem with this team isn’t Philip Rivers. Yes, he has made some errant throws which cost us. He’s a competitor and sometimes tries to force things that aren’t there. I still have faith in him. As I’ve said in previous articles, and I’ve thought this for about 3 years now its the O-line. Now they’re starting realize how bad it is. Three years too late. I remember thinking this when the Chargers played the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game. Rivers got sacked nearly four times just in the first quarter alone. That should have been a red flag for Norv Turner, AJ Smith, the O-line coach, or somebody! No, they just decided to ignore it. Now you’re seeing the consequences of it.

Rodney Harrison said it best when he said, “The Chargers have let elite players like Drew Brees, Darren Sproles, and Vincent Jackson leave but yet they keep Norv Turner.”

All I can say is I sincerely hope that Dean Spanos is pissed. Since this is Christmas, maybe he should go shopping for a set of balls and make some changes, big changes.

 

Chargers-Broncos Game Recap and Opinions

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As I said in my article last week, my criticism of our offensive line. It became to the glaringly obvious this week. In the first half, the offensive line was just that…offensive.

The Chargers first half possessions consisted of this:

1st quarter: Punt, punt. Punt, punt, interception

2nd quarter: Punt, punt, blocked punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble.

The Chargers O-line had a difficult time blocking Von Miller. We saw in the second half, Norv finally made some adjustments and we saw what Philip Rivers can do if he has the time. The adjustments just came too late.

The defense is what kept the Chargers in the game. Hats off to Marcus Gilchrist and Eric Weddle with the defensive play of the game for the Chargers.

Some things we can take away from this game are:

Our defense was solid except against the run. Denver got too many big run plays.

Marcus Gilchrist, Shareece Wright and Kendall Reyes proved they should get more playing time. They played well.

Ryan Mathews is still a play maker. Forget what I said about Jackie Battle. I was tweeting with Ben Higgins of XTRA Sports 1360 and he said Battle gets the big yards because he get put in that situation where he can get the yards, but he’s not an every down back. It showed today, he was right.

Danario Alexander should be signed to a long term contract.

Eddie Royal and Robert Meachem are a bust.

Norv Turner sealed his fate. Question is does Dean Spanos make a change mid season or does he make us suffer through the rest of the year? My guess is the latter. Spanos is not known to make a change during mid season. That being said, they did fire Kevin Gilbride during the 1998 campaign so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.

One can only hope.

Bolt Chat: Going Into The Half At Mile High

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Just heading into the half the San Diego Chargers are already suffering a ten point disadvantage. The Denver Broncos put it the Bolts early in the game and not to mention the injuries that have already occurred in game are not helping the Bolts. Quentin Jammer left early in the game, however I’m sure Bolt fans may have forgotten when Eric Weddle’s interception was returned for a touchdown.
Bronco’s Matt Prater missed their first field goal attempt.
However, it wasn’t long before Peyton Manning found Demaryius Thomas for a touchdown. Soon after Philip Rivers was picked off by Denvers’ Defense, Woodyard.

Prater then makes another field goal.

7-10 Denver

Vasquez and Tyronne Green both were hurt during the game and replaced with Rex Hadnot and Molk. Eddie Royal hurt his calf.
During a punt, Scrifres got blocked and was injured as well.

Few minutes before ending the half, Manning passes deep right to Brandon Stokley for a 31 yard touchdown to wrap up the end of the first.

7-17 Denver

 

Inside The NFL: Winning The West

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The Chargers started the season with a win against a rival, the Oakland Raiders, of the AFC west, placing them in a comfortable lead in front of other  AFC opponents. It wasn’t long before week four trailed along and the Bolts record was a decent 2-1 before facing off with the Kansas City Chiefs. Once they silenced Arrowhead Stadium, and came back to San Diego with another win, that’s when The Denver Broncos heard the calling from the West.

Leading into week four, Denver’s record was 2-2. The Bolt’s were holding up an astounding 3-1 record. As for the Chiefs and Raiders, they stood proudly at 1-3. No biggie at the time right? Wrong. Because after that win against the Kansas City Chiefs, the only other win the Chargers would get, would be the Kansas City Chiefs at home for the second time. The Denver Broncos have only lost one game since week four which was against the Patriots in week five. After much contemplation, hours of frustration, minutes of hearing other Bolt fans whine, and complain. Looking back, I realize now that before the season began I wondered how Peyton Manning would adjust to his new home, and I think he knew it would be hit or miss. I believe he knew the nation was watching and expecting him to fail. He made it his priority to fulfill the expectations of the void that was left when Tim Tebow was traded to the New York Jets. Therefore, Peyton Manning went above and beyond to be the big brother by stepping up his game and leading his team to a very impressive 6-3 record.

Do you recall what team has been the AFC Western Division Champs for the past year? If the Charger season continues the way it keeps going, it may end up being two straight for the Broncos. The Chargers may be lowering their heads with their 4-5 going into week 11 against Denver at Sports Authority Field, but before their embarrassing Monday Night game, I recalled all the losses Philip Rivers made Peyton suffer as a Colt.  Peyton was 1-5 in his last six games vs the Chargers, of course while he was still with the Colts.

As a Charger fan I sat comfortable watching week’s six game, knowing what the Bolts were capable of doing to Peyton. Its not about what they can do physically, its the mental part that gets to him. Time and time again when they get into his head, they’d break him. Some of his worst games are against the Bolts. For example, November 28, 2010 Chargers brought it to the Colts. The Colts 36-14 loss to the Bolts was the worst home game loss since they lost to the Seattle Seahawks in September of 1997 with a score of 31-3. Not enough inside Peyton’s head yet? That was also Peyton’s worst home game defeat. I may have failed to mention that Manning had given up four interceptions in that game. It had only happened three times in his career up til that point in 2010. Twice it happened to be against none other than the Bolts. Rivers interception count for that game, zero.

Let’s take it back to 2012, Denver now holds a two-game lead over the Chargers. They just had the most embarrassing loss since Ryan Leaf was quarterback. I’ll admit I try to pretend those years never even happened. Hell, I even act like he doesn’t even exist when people try to say his name. Ryan who?
During halftime, it was as if the Bolts thought they had it. As if the battle was over. Denver’s defense is good. Peyton is an Elite quarterback unlike their own. He’s more than qualified to make comebacks and he’s not one to sleep on. Not to mention I’m sure he himself gave a talk in the locker room to rally the troops to gain momentum. In history as you see, he alone can not beat the Bolts.

Last season with Tebow leading the Broncos, he took over in week five against the Chargers and lost. Tebow then led them with a solid seven wins out of their next eight games, three of which led into overtime. They won the Wildcard against Pittsburgh and lost their final game against the New England Patriots who went on to play in the Superbowl.

There are a lot of different dynamics to the game. You can look at the two Denver players we picked up Eddie Royal and Dante Rosario, and ask what we can do to stop their defense, or perhaps we can try to get inside the head of Peyton early and shut down the offense. As long as they do not let up, there is no saying what can be done to that team. It may be that Rivers doesn’t trust his offensive line or he forces balls when he should be just throwing them away, but what ever happens this Sunday might show the real works of who will be winning  the  AFC West title this year.

Bolt Chat: Keys For Chargers Success

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Among other things, these are some of the problems with this Chargers team.

Since Turner took over, the offensive line has deteriorated but they just keep with the status quo. If you look at the teams with great QB production, ie Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, (as much as I hate to say it) Eli Manning etc, etc.,  is the simple fact that they have time. Time to let the receiver routes to develop, time to go through his progressions and check down if he has to. Rivers isn’t getting that kind of time, which is causing him make bad decisions. I’m not making excuses for some of his errant throws, but another second or two would let the receiver routes to develop. If you watch Tom Brady and the Patriots play, pay attention to how much time he has to throw the ball. This is why he is the best QB in the NFL and has been for so long. It’s because Bill Belichick always makes sure he has a solid O-line. It’s all about protection. I don’t understand why A.J. Smith and Norv Turner don’t understand just how important it is. They didn’t do much to beef up the O-line in the off season. Instead they concentrated on defense, defense, defense. Did our defense get that much better? Sure but I still think they could have picked up a couple of O-linemen. We’re over loaded with linebackers.

What’s wrong with us?

Chargers need better cover corners. I’ve never been a fan of Antoine Cason. He’s always getting beat. Quentin Jammer has always been solid but he’s getting old and has lost a step.

I think that Turner isn’t using some of the talent on this team that he has.

Jackie Battle could be used more often. This guy is a beast. Every time he gets the ball, he gets positive yardage. Instead, Norv Turner used Ryan Mathews 90% of the time against a stout Tampa D-line and he was constantly getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage.

For Chargers to have a chance beat the Broncos in their home stadium, Jared Gaither is going to have to be able to play to give Rivers a little more time and Rivers is going to have to make better decisions. I put the Tampa Bay loss squarely on his shoulders. If he didn’t make those two bad interceptions, I think we could have won that game. He’s always making those bad decisions at the worst possible time.

Cason and Jammer are going to have to play better. Jammer got burned on a couple of plays, one of them a big one against Tampa.

Oh and one more thing, No more bonehead mistakes on special teams, I’m tired of it already.

 

Week Ten Preview: The Second Half Begins

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For a change this week, the Chargers have the opportunity to build on a winning streak. Fans probably should not be too excited over last weeks win, as it was over possibly the worst team in the NFL, but at least it was not a loss. Today the Chargers will be playing an early game, on the east coast, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The big storyline in today’s game, is facing Vincent Jackson, a former star Wide Receiver for the Chargers.

The Chargers lead the all time series between the two teams 8 – 1, and have never lost a game in Tampa. A win today would make the Charger 5 – 0, when visiting the Bucs.

The Chargers have a total of nine players, listed on the injury report, but nobody is ruled ou at this point. Situational pass rushing specialist, Antwan Barnes will likely miss today’s game with a hamstring injury, and did not practice all week. Jared Gaither (Tackle) and Corey Luiget (Defensive End) are both questionable for today’s game, which is somewhat of a concern, as both are starters for their respective positions. Both practiced early in the week, but sat out practice both Thursday and Friday. The Chargers should also have two of their top Wide Receivers in Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal return to action this week, after being inactive last week.

The Bucs on the other hand are in pretty good health. They do not have anybody listed any worse than questionable for today’s game, and only two of their players are listed as questionable.

This has been a fairly good week for Chargers fans, coming off a win, and also getting the news that the cheating accusations from the Broncos game, we in fact a false alarm. Hopefully today the Chargers can get past a .500 winning percentage and start a push for a playoff spot, in this second half of this season. Go Bolts !

Chargers “Stickum” Not a Scandal At All

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No stickum here.

Chargers so called use of “stickum” controversy not as big a deal as everyone made it out to be.

What happened was that a team employee ran onto the field during the third quarter of the Broncos game with what is called a “Gorilla Towel” that has a wax based material on it.

This towel is widely used in the NFL,  but the team employee failed to kiss official’s ass so he’s being reprimanded for it.

“Despite reports linking the team to “stickum”, San Diego was not found in possession of a banned grip enhancer.” (SDUT)

They will however still be fined $20,0000 because the team employee didn’t talk to the official on the field about the towel and didn’t empty his pockets when asked to.

Why is it always when the Chargers play the Broncos there is a controversy?

Week Nine Preview: Time To Wake Up

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The past few weeks have been a tough time to be a Charger fan, and many fans are starting to lose faith. They have good reason to, but the fact remains that very few teams have been dominant this year. Most team’s in fact are having an off-year, and the Chargers are far from mathematically out of contention. There is time to get hot, and make a run, but that time is starting to run out. The Chargers face the Chiefs for the second time this year tonight, and hopefully can complete the season sweep.

The all time series between the two teams is currently dead even at 52-52-1 . The Chargers have won eight of the last ten matchups, including the last four at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Chargers will likely be without Eddie Royal (Wide Receiver) this evening. Royal missed practice all week. Questionable players include Robert Meachem (Wide Receiver) and Chris Carr (Defensive Back), both of whom were limited in practice during this short week. Finally some players with ailments that should not keep them from being available this evening include Takeo Spikes (Linebacker), Jonas Mouton (Linebacker), Jared Gaither (Tackle) and Vaughn Martin (Defensive End).

The Chiefs will be going with Matt Cassel at Quarterback this evening, due to a concussion suffered by Brady Quinn last week. The other highlight of the injury report for the Chiefs is Glenn Dorsey (Defensive End) who is listed as questionable.

Tonight is an important game, as all division games are. This game can also be the beginning of a second half surge, or another step towards being irrelevant. The Chargers should be able to win this game, but we’ve thought that past few weeks, only to be utterly disappointed. Hopefully the Chargers give the fans a reason to believe again tonight. Go Bolts !