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Bounce-back season expected for Chargers RB Melvin Gordon - Eric Williams
I’m going with the over here. Gordon finished without a touchdown his rookie season, but already got into the end zone during preseason play on a 44-yard catch and run. Ryan Mathews had his best season in the NFL during offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt's first stint with the Chargers in 2013, finishing with 1,255 rushing yards and six touchdowns. With Whisenhunt back in the fold, If Gordon stays healthy he could put up similar numbers in his second season.
Expect Philip Rivers to fill up the stat sheet again in 2016 - Eric Williams
He hasn’t missed a start in a decade, and the offense generally runs through him, but I’ll go with the under for Rivers this season. With the return of offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, the Chargers are committed to running the football. I also think San Diego will play from ahead more often this season, which means a steady diet of runs in the fourth quarter and less of an opportunity for Rivers to stay in shotgun and throw it all over the yard.
Bold fantasy predictions: Seven bold calls - Brandon Marianne Lee
Gates is already the San Diego franchise leader in career receptions (844), receiving yards (10,644) and touchdown catches (104). Gates ranks seventh all-time in touchdown receptions and third among tight ends in total receptions and receiving yards. Right now he’s seven touchdowns away from tying Tony Gonzalez’ record, eight away from beating it. I say he beats it. Philip Rivers wants Gates to beat it and I want a tight end that has a nice touchdown total in his head. Gates only played in 11 games last year, and he still was targeted 75 times. Even at 36 years old, he’s a volume play with an extremely high floor. He and Rivers have a strong rapport and they know they are running out of time. Gates is old. He’s not flashy, but he’s scored eight or more touchdowns in eight seasons. It’s meant to be.
Keim: No signings, but maybe a trade? - Darren Urban
On the other hand, Keim reiterated he and Chargers GM Tom Telesco will get together this week when the Cards and Chargers have their joint practices and discuss the two rosters, each team’s deficiencies, "in hopes where we can talk about, ‘Hey, is there an area where we can help each other improve?’ "
Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys and Third Level RPO/Packaged Play Reads - Chris Brown
In recent years a few teams — most notably Baylor, although there are others — began using packaged plays where the quarterback read a safety to determine whether to hand off or throw. This had two primary effects: (1) it is an excellent response to Quarters coverage, in which the safeties read the offense to determine whether to play the pass or the run, often outnumbering offenses in the run game as they are so difficult to account for; and (2) it transforms a read concept that was originally designed to move the chains by having the QB either hand off or throw a screen into a handoff or a touchdown.