San Diego Chargers Roster: Who Stays in 2012?

fire everyone.
start from scratch.
fire all except norv turner
I kid of course

If you look at our personnel on D it would probably suit us better to switch to a 4-3. Castillo and Liuget could move to DE. Thomas and Harris (if he stays) could move inside. We would need to draft a pass rushing DE and would need a 4-3 OLB. The new coaching staff might prefer this style, and it would probably fare better for us in a run heavy division. Since we cannot rush the passer anyway, we might as well be stoudt against the run. If Jammer moves to SS (he should) then CB really becomes a priority. Cason is a nickel and Gilchrist is young. There is no quick fix to this team for next year, but the right personnel moves in FA and the draft is key to it being a 2yr rebuild instead of a 5yr job.

I’m actually more concerned about McNeil’s health than Deilman’s. Structural abnormalities in the neck just don’t heal. The dangerous thing about concussions is having multiple in rapid succession. For a baller like Deilman, given 8+ months to recover, I can’t see him tapping out. I haven’t read anything about McNeil’s recovery thus far but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he goes on the IR. Necks are not to be messed with. Surely he’ll try to come back next year but I would expect him to miss time again. I don’t think we can count on McNeil anymore. Gotta have a legit backup. Man that window closed fast.

What has Bryan Walters done this season?? Wasted WR spot.

Drafting wise:

I don’t see a player in this coming draft worthy as a first round pick as an OLB. If the Chargers continue to lose games, we will surely get a top 15 pick. I say we go after Receiver in the first. Its either Justin Blackmon or we go in another direction like O-LINE. I also hope we bring back VJ. Having VJ, VB and possibly Blackmon and Gates would be scary good of an offense. Rivers would be licking his chops.

I also hope the Chargers don’t grab a TE in the first, not worth it.

We also need SS, ILB and OLB. I know our D-line is fairly young but I think they are starting to get better.

We need more play makers in WR, TE, CB, S. This team lacks that type of talent.

People who are better at making football plays

despite the also dire need at pass rusher. It is generally seen to be a safer pick, and with better pass protection I trust Rivers to win shootouts even with a crappy defense. Maybe I will be wrong, but our first pick HAS to be either pass rush or oline……..right?

Because what else am I going to do, work?? I’ll try to be concise.

QB – Only Rivers stays. Chargers need to think about getting younger. Volek may stay, but they’ll keep a third — a rookie.

RB – The all stay.

TE – Maybe Sperry, but that’s it. Yes, I’m saying Gates is gone. He’s old, he’s hurt, and they can use his money elsewhere.

OL – Most stay except McNeil, who should retire while he can still walk. Again — use the money elsewhere. Notably, Dielman and Hardwick stay.

DL – This is the strongest group on the team. Most stay EXCEPT Castillo. See Gates and McNeil. Damaged goods + big contract = waived.

LB – Phillips and the kids (Butler, Mouton, Gachkar) stay. But no Spikes, and only one between Barnes and Brown.

And I agree with you re: the other three positions.

hes a fighter. a true warior.
i had the privelege to meet him and his wife. hes a true warrior and im sure he will be back, hopefully as a charger

The offensive line needs to be heavily addressed in the draft and free agency. This is clearly the weakest link on the team. Half of the players are currently useless, at least as they are currently being deployed— See Dombroski @ Oakland, and the few “quality” players are older and have serious health issues— See Dielman’s seizure and McNiell’s bum neck. Rivers has no time to do anything, which is clearly affecting is ability to be effective. Further, I am really no fan of Mathews, he has an entire list of flaws, but he does have game breaking talent, no doubt about it as we have seen it on occasion, a solid offensive line will help make him a true threat that defenses have nightmares about, the rest is up to him.

Then we need some one to replace Gates, a red zone beast who can dominate the intermediate routes while commanding and often times defeating double coverage.
Gates is still incredibly savvy, but the dude is in his 30’s and all but said his foot is chronically injured. People are delusional if they think he will be even close to the player he once was. So we defiantly need a replacement, but remember it doesn’t really need to be a TE, there are plenty of WR out there who more or less do what Gates did, albeit with a some what different style.

It would be nice to keep Jackson because the guy can play when he wants too and his role in the offense is equally as important as Gates’, but Vjax is clearly a very poor WR #1 investment, so… sigh… they will need a new deep threat, but I think this could be manageable, There are one trick pony deep threats out there.

As for the defense, same old story, its a broken record at this point, pass rush pass rush, then maybe you will find that our secondary (while not really good) is also not really horrible. It is also interesting how our current defensive coordinator made his old defense, the San Francisco 49’ers, instantly one of the best in the league by simply leaving… /shrug, But maybe being the Chargers defensive coordinator is like being the Padres hitting coach… good luck young man. Well I just thank god thats not my baseball team, yikes San Diego!

But I think we should resign VJax. IF we can get him for a reasonable price. Don’t think he deserves top 5 WR money, but he probably does deserve top 10 money. Hard to judge his play this year when Rivers is having an off year. He’s certainly shown he’s good in prior seasons.

At RB, I’d rather keep Hester than Tolbert if it comes down to it. Hester is really under rated as a blocker and he’s practically a guaranteed first down on 3rd or 4th and 1 hand off to the up back. Don’t know why we don’t do that more on the goal line. I like Tolbert, but I’d rather see most of his carries go to Mathews and he’s been dropping passes out of the backfield. I think Brinkly (or Todman) can be as good or better complements to Mathews with the ball.

Both QBs
RB’s = Matthews, Hester. I think Tolbert had his one year in the sun and will now revert back to why he was a UDFA. The other 2, havn’t seen enough of them to judge, so meh.
WR’s= VJ (if he’s reasonable about the price) as the #1, Brown as the #2, Floyd as the #3 (maybe he can last more than a couple games that way). Draft somebody who might make a difference.
TE = Gates (even though he’s in decline) & McMichael at a reasonable price.
OL = keep all the starters (although I dislike Clary with a passion) plus Green & Schill. But considering his neck problems, it’s time to look for a new LT and maybe a new LG for the future, both late picks. The other guys are bodies filling up a hole.
DL = agree with your 4 of Castillo, Liuget, Martin, Thomas. The rest, cya. That said, I think it’s a huge draft/FA need.
LB = Phillips, English (gets one more year to prove he’s a Buster too), Mouton (please not another injury pick), Barnes. The rest, who cares? Maybe Spikes, but with a new DC (please dear God, please) I doubt it. The only part of the team weaker than the DL, another huge draft/FA need.
DB = Jammer to safety (should have been this year), Weddle, Cason (in the belief some CBs take some time to develop, see Jammer), Gilcrhist, Wright, Stuckey.
ST = thanks for the fill in Novak, but you’ll get snapped up by some other team. The rest stay.

I have to admit I’m on board with AJ regarding most FA’s. How many of them ever live up to the money thrown at them? If you can find someone decent at a reasonable price, fine. But starters come from the draft. Hopefully AJ can break his streak of finding the guys who constantly get injured.

an actual functioning cohesive heads-out-of-their-asses defense. Keep: Phillips, Liuget, Martin, Castillo, Garay (hoping the D stays 3-4), Weddle, Barnes, Stuckey, Butler, Spikes, Gachkar.

I don’t know, to me, it hinges on the coaching staff. Again from my Dallas-based POV, a new head coach and DC basically took the Cowboys from 6-10 to where they are now (7-4 and climbing though I think their easy as pie schedule has helped their cause). The player personnel is pretty much the same yet they’re playing much better. I don’t know how much talent remains on this Chargers team but I believe a good/better coach can actually get the players to play UP to their potential.