If you listened to the podcast I did with Steve last night (here it is), you heard me glance through my list of San Diego Chargers that need extended playing time (and some success) against the 49ers on Thursday night. I thought it made some sense to write that list down, along with some notes.

Seyi Ajirotutu - Tutu has been relatively quiet this preseason, which not many of us were expecting. He's dedicated himself to Special Teams as a way to make himself more valuable, but the coaching staff is going to feel a lot better about keeping him if he can show some of those receiver skills we saw last season in the final game. Going up against a poor SF secondary, it should not be a problem.

Corey Liuget - Not that he needs to impress, but Corey is still getting caught up and could use the work.

Kevin Bentley - With how bad Stepehn Cooper looked against the Cardinals, all "New Coop" needs to do is show that he can pick up the defense and cover some people. He'll get plenty of time to do so.

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Two weeks ago, I copied the Silver Fox and tried to guess all 53 men that would make the final cut for the San Diego Chargers roster. With 6 days left until those final cuts, and two important preseason games under my belt since my first guesses, I want another shot.

Quarterbacks (3) (2)

Philip Rivers
Billy Volek

Changes: Sorry, Scott Tolzien. Carrying a 3rd QB on this roster just doesn't make enough sense. I hope to see you on the practice squad.

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How has Kevin Kolb looked in training camp and preseason thus far?

Kolb has looked like a quarterback that has not been with the team long. He looks better than any option from last year, though. He is developing very good chemistry with Larry Fitzgerald, who continues to amaze with the catches he makes. He is still struggling a little with the change in terminology, but there is enough that we have seen that indicates that he will be at least decent.

Click below to read the rest of the Q&A, including questions about the Cardinals rookies and Joey Porter.

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Saturday, when the San Diego Chargers take on the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium a number of players will have something to prove. This game is usually about solidifying jobs that include significant playing time. Most of the minutes in this one will go to first and second string players. For some it will be a chance to find some rhythm in their assured spots and for others it will be about removing doubts about the roles they are competing for. The defensive secondary on the Chargers represent these concepts.

The starters in the secondary are some of the players that know their roles come opening day. For Quentin Jammer it's another year to focus on getting the team over the hump. You can see his focus as he prepares. Covering the receivers with ease and making difficult stops look simple. For the other 3, despite knowing that they'll be first-teamers, they have something to prove.

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With Stephen Cooper's recent injury and likely IR placement, the Chargers are once again in need of some depth at the Inside Linebacker position. Now I know what all of you are thinking, but even though he seems like he can do it all Wes Welker Bryan Walters wouldn't be as sharp on kick returns if the Chargers moved him to LB. Instead they'll have to go another route.

Currently, there's a fair number of experienced ILBs on the free agent market. If we go back some recent examples of the Chargers dabbling in ILB free agency we might be inclined to say there is a trend. Derek Smith, Kevin Burnett and Takeo Spikes all came to the Chargers with experience in the 3-4. Not only that, but they played under former Chargers coaches. One way to read into that is that some free agents who've had productive years in the NFL (such San Diego St. alum Kirk Morrison) won't seem desirable to the Chargers since they don't have specific experience in their defense. They'll either find somebody that meets their criteria or stay in house using some inexperienced younger and cheaper players. Another way to see it is that this time they'll have to step outside their comfort zone. One more thing to think about is that in it's quite likely that this position will be called upon for goal line duties.

I've listed out the current crop of leftovers on the free agent market. Is there anyone that interests you?

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It's time for a preseason edition of my offensive playcalling analysis.  For the Chargers at Cowboys game this week, I compiled the details for the entire first half, minus the meaningless end-of-half possession.  This includes all three Philip Rivers-led possessions, and one with Billy Volek leading the rest of the entire first team.  Before I get to some rollups and details, let's settle one thing: currently, Mike Tolbert is the new Darren Sproles on offense.  There were six third down snaps this week, and Tolbert was in the game for all six.  We can officially end Jordan-Todman-as-3rd-down-back watch. 

I'm much more interested however, in the fact that Ryan Mathews was not used on third down even once.  The surface conclusion is that Norv likes Tolbert's pass protection out of the shotgun better, but Mathews did see four shotgun snaps to Tolbert's nine, and nine passing plays overall against Tolbert's eleven.  Time will tell if this is a preseason or small data-set fluke.

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Last time we looked at the offensive backfield for the Chargers. Philip Rivers and Billy Volek count the days until the season starts and get back to business. Ryan Mathews practices holding on to the football and trains to avoid injury. Tolbert keeps working hard to please his ever increasing fanbase. While Scott Tolzien and Jordan Todman prepare to take on big roles at Cowboy Stadium in the upcoming preseason game. Those guys jobs are important, but nothing gets done of a football field without men in the trenches.

The Chargers offensive line is led by 3 guys with Pro Bowls under their belts. Here there can be some shots dug up of Marcus McNeill, Kris Dielman and Nick Hardwick playing in Hawaii in their AFC gear. The talk shifts to how last year McNeill held out to get the big contract that Dielman and Hardwick already had. In the end he got his money and the core of the Philips Rivers protector was solidified for 2011.

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You can surf the channels all you want this season and you won't find a return of Hard Knocks. Due to the lockout that show will not go on this season, but may return in future. However, Hard Wonks is back. I'm your host Wonko and I'm going to to take you to training camp with the Chargers Hard Knocks style. If you haven't seen the real show, here's the basic idea: As the team prepares for the start of the season the show searches for storylines among the team. Sometimes it's big stories like Darrelle Revis' hold out last year. Sometimes it's small stories like the battle for the starting FB spot in Cincinnati two years ago. Sometimes you get a preview of a fringe guy who will make a bigger impact in a few years like Danny Amendola with the Cowboys 3 years ago who didn't make the cut, but became a useful player for the Rams for the past two years. But, those are all stories for teams not based in San Diego. At Bolts From The Blue we want to hear about our Chargers.

First Episode: The Offensive Backfield.

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