Chargers’ Biggest Questions Amplified by NFL Execs Commentary

Some bold NFL predictions recently threw major doubt on the Los Angeles Chargers this season.

Fair play. As much as there is hype around Justin Herbert getting to work with an offensive mind like Mike McDaniel, there are some serious causes for concern elsewhere.

There are, for example, big injury woes and questions around the offensive line yet again. There’s quietly a defensive coordinator change for a unit that might have some holes on the depth chart, too.

There are other injury woes on both sides of the ball before Week 1 practices even start, too.

These things have some NFL execs wondering what the ceiling really is for the Chargers.

NFL execs question Chargers’ outlook

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert — Justin Herbert | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Look, the Chargers aren’t media darlings who get love on the national scale often.

But that doesn’t invalidate questions from NFL executives.

The Athletic’s Mike Sando recently chatted with personnel around the league about each team, with a poll ultimately ranking the Chargers eighth in the AFC.

One NFL exec wondered if the Chargers can afford to “have multiple years of your offensive line being decimated.”

Another aimed big questions at some of the Chargers’ foundational building blocks like Khalil Mack and Derwin James.

"Khalil Mack is older, and at what point does Derwin James hit the wall?" the exec said, per Sando. "There is a lot to like with Herbert and the passing game…I want to see it first, and I do expect some regression on defense with Jesse Minter gone."

It’s all fair play. There’s no guarantee that Chris O’Leary and his one year of coordinator experience at the college level can come back to the Chargers defense and keep things rolling. Ditto for, say, his defense getting as much out of a rookie like Akheem Mesidor as it did Odafe Oweh last year.

And the offensive line issues? Some of it can’t be helped, like the Tyler Biadasz injury. But hoarding assets while underwhelming at both guard positions was a red flag, as was using a second-round pick on a center, intending to play him at guard.

The Chargers can’t help the aging of stars like Mack and James. Better to have them than not, though. But they probably could have done more to insure themselves against some of the problems they’re already suffering from, so anyone questioning their outlook right now is justified.

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