Random thoughts on the San Diego Chargers after three days of training camp

The loss of Stevie Johnson to injury on day two is certainly disappointing. It looked bad initially, and while a meniscus tear isn't good news by any means, it's better than an ACL tear.

On the plus side, the wide receiver group of the San Diego Chargers has better depth than in past years. Tyrell Williams, in particular, is a very strong candidate to replace Johnson's production as the third wide receiver. His physical skills are excellent and his technique is solid.

Travis Benjamin keeps playing snaps with the second unit offense. It's an odd look for a big ticket free agent acquisition, but it can probably be attributed to him still learning the offense. And hey, after playing in Cleveland, maybe he's just more comfortable being thrown to by terrible quarterbacks.

The Chargers quarterbacks not named Philip Rivers are really bad. Very few teams have a competent second-string quarterback. The Chargers are not one of those teams. Even just watching them in drills throwing into nets, they're a mess.

Manti Te'o has taken on an obvious leadership role on defense. He has also looked sharp through three days. Hopefully, he can take a step forward in his contract year. If not, the rookie inside linebackers will be coming for his job.

Jatavis Brown got snaps with the first team defense on Monday. Mike McCoy raved about him and his work ethic. His college tape was encouraging and his first few days of training camp should only make Chargers fans more optimistic. On special teams drills, he does not look out of place as a gunner. He has good speed for a linebacker (or anyone frankly).

When you're watching 11-on-11 drills (or any drills really, but especially the 11-on-11s), Keenan Allen really stands out. We all know how good he is in theory, but when you're actually watching him live, it's almost distractingly impressive. If he stays healthy, I still think he's going to make a run at the team record for receptions.

The Chargers future Hall of Fame tight end does not look old. Antonio Gates consistently gets open against the defense and I can't count that as a knock on the defense. He's just still so damn good.

And on the tight end front, Hunter Henry has shown off some impressive hands. Very few rookie tight ends are all that productive, but he looks polished and the 12-personnel packages are getting well-deserved rave reviews. I'm really excited to see what they can do from it.

Rookie punter Drew Kaser takes a few punts to get going, but man can he boom the ball once he's warmed up. You hope you never have to see too much of your team's punter, but Kaser looks like a capable replacement for Mike Scifres. The backup punter whose name I would rather not learn is less good.

My favorite thing about training camp, though, was watching Jamal Williams work as an intern. He's still an enormous man, and it's great to see him back out on the field.