Los Angeles Chargers AFC West Title Contenders In 2024? Biggest Threat to Chiefs Divisional Reign

Los Angeles Chargers AFC West Title Contenders In 2024? Biggest Threat to Chiefs Divisional Reign

[Music] welcome to another edition of chargers Unleashed Jake effner and Dan wienstein here with you from the LA football network this is your time tuning in the show make sure to hit that like And subscribe button on YouTube you can also follow us on Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify and apple podcast and if you are tuning in on ESPN Radio thank you so much for joining us Dan walkenstein we are just over three weeks out from the beginning of chargers training camp down at their new facility the bolt down in ela gundo and as we gear up because football just needs to return already still lots of story lines to sift through Dan and I decided after weaving through a lot of the positions we’ve gone through the draft picks we’ve gone on players that are on the hot seat makeer Break season now as we’re getting closer to the season let’s kind of put it all together and let’s talk about some realistic expectations for Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers in year one how are the Chargers going to contend in the AFC West specifically when you’re going up against the two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs Dan wienstein how are you sir I’m well thank you uh other than the fact that there really isn’t much Chargers content or things for us to cover for this Chargers team so we’re all kind kind of going through slim Pickin finding things to discuss and thankfully for us uh and for our listeners we have an interesting article timely one by Maurice moton from Bleacher Report going over the top storylines that will determine the winner of each of the NFL divisions for 2024 and would don’t you know it the title of it for the AFC West can Jim Harbaugh quick fixed the Chargers too which got us thinking are the Chargers are they AFC West Title contenders we’ll get into that and all that and more but first Jake how are you then let’s pay the bills I’m doing just fine Dan the drolls of the NFL season are wearing on me you may not be able to tell it in my voice but there is a excited football individual that is just ready to let loose training camps are right around their corner followed by the preseason followed by the regular season football needs to come back please but by the sounds of your voice I have a feeling one of us is going at least one of us is going to be the pessimist in this episode I wonder who that would be Dan W trying to tap into the 2023 version of myself that it has been dormant for a few months this should be fun yes uh but Jake before we get get to that for the bills talk about our friends I want to remind everybody that bet online is your number one source for all of your sports betting needs this season from baseball golf soccer right up to the top fights in the UFC MMA and boxing every stat every matchup and even live odds and spreads while the games are being played when the game’s over head on over to our online casino and get in on the game of blackjack or poker or unwind with one of our over 150 slot games that we have available head on over to the website today that’s betonline.ag to get in the action use the promo code believe that’s bav for your 50% Free Bet credit on your first deposit for up to $250 bet online the game starts here so mentioned it before Maurice moton July first article so this was just yesterday uh came out with an article top story lines that will determine the winner of each NFL division for the 2024 season and Jake let me get to the AFC West here and wouldn’t you know it the AFC West biggest storyline mentioned before can Jim Harbaugh quick fix the Chargers too and he went on to kind of highlight the history of the Los Angeles Chargers now with head coach Jim Harbaugh what Jim Harbaugh has done in the past with previous teams this team winning pretty quickly after Jim Harbaugh comes in talks about the Pro Bowl players or Pro Bowl cable players on this team including C Mack Joey Bosa Derwin James even highight senzel pman in there talked about ran Slater as well as Joe Al being selected number five uh talked about the receivers and that being question mark that they were able to go ahead and kind of fill a major void with the departure of Keenan Allen and with Mike Williams uh gave a big emphasis in the Run game from a one Greg Roman offensive coordinator as well as Gus Edward JK Dobbins tandem but at the end of it he says the Chargers offense has question marks with alt moving to the right side and bid cleats to fill a wide receiver yet Harbaugh’s track record suggest that this team could be the biggest threat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West this year so that got us thinking but Jake before we get into today’s topic I do want to highlight our sponsor friends over at Rock Sports Mia who actually just had a crazy event signing event down in San Diego and had the likes of Dan Fels and had Charlie Joiner had Lorenzo o Neil had all kinds of folk down there uh J2 belu s Jr all in San Diego huge huge event they’re doing another one actually and this time it’s going to be a fundraiser down in San Diego saw the Chargers down San Diego over at Camp penlon uh that continues here and I want to kind of give a quick preview for this we saw it we posted about it on uh Twitter today but want to kind of give a quick overview here uh they’re doing a fundraiser backpack giveaway so it’s going to be on July July 21st in San Diego uh you can go to our Twitter handle at lacore unleash to get the details but alohi Gilman ran Slater Cornelius Johnson uh old school by the way Quinton Jammer will be there as well uh doing a bunch of signings and what rock solid Sports member is going to be doing for the fundraiser every signature or item purchased for this event which you could actually go there live or you can mail things in again details are on the link but for everything purchased two backpacks will be donated to a child full of school supplies for this upcoming school year so huge event it’s going to be kind of a tailgate block party type thing down in San Diego at the beach in Mission Beach Jake and I will be there go do a good deed go get some swag we can help with a fundraiser uh we’ll be doing a giveaway here in a bit to kind of help promote this thing a little bit more but want to get folks details again if you have any questions about it DM us question Us in the chat and uh we’ll go ahead and get you more information but Jake without further Ado let’s go ahead and get started with today’s episode are the Chargers AFC West contenders we’ll talk about that next on Chargers Unleashed should the Chargers be viewed in your opinion as AFC West Title contenders and when we get when we get we go through this right I think there’s a few lenses to look into one is perspective look at the history and what that tells you which that doesn’t look great then we can go through some of like the big rocks of what’s most important in determining that coaches coordinators players and schedule so Jake what does history tell us history tells us no this is not going to happen at all uh you go back to the last 20 matchups that the Chargers have had versus the Kansas City Chiefs and this is dating all the way back to 2014 the last 20 match match ups the Chargers are three and 17 against Kansas City Chiefs the Kansas City Chiefs is just absolutely dominated this division they’re heading for they’re they are going for their ninth consecutive AFC West Title they are vying for that three peat of the Super Bowl the first time that that’s ever happened and they have done it on the backs of Patrick Mahomes they have done it on the backs of Andy Reid and the CRA thing about this Dan is that you’re talking about Patrick Mahomes who came off of some of his worst regular season stats that he has had since he’s been in the NFL worst regular season record he’s ever had in the n in during his time in the NFL so far the stats were not there the weapons didn’t show up as consistently as we have seen them in previous years so what did they have to lean on last year by the time that they got in the Super Bowl and in the playoffs it was their defense down so now you’re talking about a team that’s just rounding out to be more complete and tougher to beat whether we’re talking about it Arrowhead Stadium or on the road and they are constantly retooling improving in certain positions and everybody’s trying to figure out when is that time going to come where the Kansas City Chiefs are going to stumble and they’re going to be knocked off their proverbial perch and Dan I I mean I hate to say it this is a char podcast and I know that we’re going to get heavy into this but there are a lot of much like this article says there are a lot of question marks as it relates to the Chargers and Jim Harbaugh as we have said repeatedly on this show has won everywhere that he has been and the expectations for him to rebuild this team into a contending team in the AFC is obviously looks like it started off on the right foot th far with the staff that he’s created with the way that this team has been put together by him and general manager Joe horz but now it’s time for the results because you and I have been doing this show now for a while and we’ve been together we’ve been together through the Anthony Lynn days we’ve been together through the Brandon Staley days and we have had similar conversations like this and I don’t want to have that same conversation again for it just to come out to be empty words so I will not come on this show today to tell you you know the sky is red I’m I’m not gonna tell you that today uh or the sky is red sky is red yes that is true I’m not going to Pro blow the proverbial smoke if you get what I’m saying uh this is going to be a big challenge for the Chargers the goal for Jim Harbaugh is to get them back to being playoff content Enders which is something they have not been for a while and however you want to set that barometer for yourself I think that’s a realistic expectation for Jim Harbaugh in his first year as the Chargers head coach as we delve into this Dan and we’ve talked about it plenty of times in this show there are still a lot of question marks as it relates to this roster in terms of things that need to get done along with the coaching staff that still will be in a little bit of a you know learn as you go collaboration with the team trying to get everybody where they need to be by a certain point in the year so a lot there but let’s kind of kick it off I guess so first things first you the question was can Jim Harbaugh quick fix this Chargers team to be the threat to the Chiefs so let’s just one piece at a time so Raiders Chiefs Broncos Chargers are we in agreement that chargers at worst should be second best in the AFC West I I.E are the Raiders and Broncos worse than the Chargers do you believe that they will end up being worse than them end of the day yes I like what Antonio Pierce is is doing with the Raiders I think that he’s taking them in a good direction it’s almost ironic considering that these were two teams that were vying for the services of Jim Harbaugh after the national championship game but I I think that you’re going to see the Raiders just eventually step by step they’re going to become harder to beat divisional opponents and even against the Raiders they’re they’re still tough they could be finished winning two games a year and if one of them was against the Chargers it would not matter to them these are games that these two teams get up for and they play hard for and one of the individuals that you have on the screen there really loves playing against the Chargers because he’s had a good track record and I’m talking about One Max Crosby and big reason why the Chargers went out and went offensive tackle at number five Max Crosby meet Joe alt and or ran Slater uh you know for the Raiders in my opinion they got a pretty darn good tight end room I’m not sure about the running backs the wide receivers I mean they got arguably the best one in the NFL offensive line train wreck in my opin opinion secondary no clue what they’re doing that secondary looks like it needs some help uh if you have a bad offensive line in this division in this conference that usually doesn’t spell well so bad offensive line plus question marks in the running game plus secondary question marks sounds like the Chargers issues from last year sound familiar exactly then you go to the Broncos and I think it’s an easy one like that team seems to be kind of a fire stale Jerry Jud not there uh Justin Simmons not there bone Nicks is supposedly going to be their quarterback or maybe uh Zack Wilson you know who knows um a lot of question marks there so in my opinion I think both us agree chargers at least two but like you said Jake did you say three and 17 three and 17 in the last 20 games that’s a if we were to average that out in that’s one and a half wins for every 10 attempts and realistically you could scratch one of those games because that’s I’m talking about January 3rd of 2021 when the Kansas when Kansas City Chiefs at that point in time were resting their starters so like so it looks even yeah it really looks even worse well but you know we’ve talked about the the reasons and you’ve kind of earmarked the head coaches the general manager for the charger team and we’ve all talked about the pitfalls of this team and the reasons that they have been less than contenders at the end of the day so at least two so before we get into can they be AFC West contenders let’s look at some of like the big rocks of what signifies that so let’s start off with the coaches right if we were to go head-to-head here again we’re not going to sit here and put rose-colored glasses through this although some might try people can say they want what they want about Jim Harbaugh and we’re all excited about Jim Harbaugh but Andy re is a different story right like Andy Reid might be the best offensive mind in football paired with oh by the way Patrick Mahomes but what I think is important here is many would say this has been the biggest disadvantage for the Chargers has been the coaching comparison and that has been one of the reasons why the Chargers consistently to the Chiefs is because at the end of the day coaching matters and the team hasn’t been coached up so what I would say is it’s a lot closer now would you agree I would agree with that so from a coaching perspective how much stock do we have in Jim Harbaugh and in company Jim Harbaugh Jesse M we talk about a second Greg Roman Ryan ficken how much confidence we have in the coaching staff being a determining factor in them winning or potentially winning or contending with AFC West is that a confidence or is that a deterrent I would imagine it’s a confidence right it’s it’s definitely a confidence you know again you measure it one to one ratio here there is no question on who you give the advantage to as a head coach between Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh as it stands right now everybody will obviously point to Jim Harbaugh being out of the league for 10 years and him having to re acclimate and obviously you know gear this entire group together both player and Coach you know Personnel coaches alike in order to generate a woman in Formula now do I think that he can go out there and do that yes I believe that that’s been his goal from day one but if you’re measuring it against Andy Reid it’s it’s still a tough mountain to climb but to your point Dan it gets it a little bit closer the one of the biggest X factors that we have talked about repeatedly more specifically during the Brandon Staley era has been coaching and whether it was a combination of Brandon Staley’s defense with Joel lardy’s offense that was there for two years or if it was Brandon ste’s defense with Kell Mor’s offense the game planning the adaptation from one half to the next the proverbial plan that the Chargers would come out to a game with and E and go on to execute that just wouldn’t end up coming to fruition or when someone would have more importantly when someone would have a counter for that plan the Chargers just would not know how to react now you bring on Jim harau now you bring on Greg Roman who Jim Harbaugh has plenty of familiarity with from his in San Francisco now you bring on Jesse Menor who obviously Jim Harbaugh has a lot of familiarity with just coming off winning a national title with Michigan and you have positional coaches that are littered on both sides of the ball that Jim Harbaugh has had familiarity with I think that from the ground up this system is being built in the image of Jim Harbaugh and the team that he wants to create and run so what does that what does that mean that Jim that Justin Herbert’s going to go back to being a game manager no I think he knows exactly what he’s got with Justin Herbert and the Howitzer that he possesses but the point is how are you able to get him to use it in a much more balanced way how many times would you like to see this Chargers team milk the clock for the final seven minutes of a game which if we’re talking specifically about the Chiefs that’s how other teams have been able to do it control controll the clock keep Patrick Mahomes off the field run the ball especially turning it over to the opposite side of the ball the defense has been one of the biggest hindrances of Justin Herbert’s career since he has been in the league and now you take one of the youngest defensive Minds in the game in Jesse M bringing him up for the college ranks giving him the title of defensive coordinator for the Chargers and solely defensive coordinator having him build out this staff with this team which again as far as person else goes there’s still a lot of questions here but if there’s one thing in terms of what Dan’s talking about as far as confidence goes it’s already been proven from the standpoint that Jesse M has been able to adapt in certain situations as I’ve said repeatedly and as defensive line coach Mike Elon has talked about he says that Jesse Minter is the best situational defense mind that he has gotten a chance to coach with and Mike elon’s been coaching in the league now or just in football for the past 27 years so it’s he’s been around a while to and that’s quite something to say about Jesse Minter at this part of his young career so the confidence level Dan has to be up but does it come par to the Chiefs you know I kind of hate to use that old term that Patrick said when he was walking on the green during that golf tournament knew you were going there you believe it when you see it you want an optimistic year for the Chargers and we’ve essentially said this any of the last three years is you split one in one that’s optimism going to and0 against them is damn near an impossibility but most of the time as it’s related for the Chargers these past several years you go 0 and2 for those of you on ESPN Radio you can listen to this full episode YouTube and anywhere you get your podcast Apple Spotify you name it um thank you so much for tuning in J let’s continue so again like I think there’s there’s a two major components right there’s the head-to-head thing and then there’s just strength there’s just looking at the schedule right Chargers have a much easier schedule this year than they have in years’s past and just from a schedule win loss record can they take the crown and in our schedule release we went through our kind of predictions for the team I have them going optimistically 11- six or 10 and seven that’s kind of like the the realm of where I have I believe you were similar right I was similar I think we were there was one game that separated us I think we were between 10 and six 10 and seven 11 and six and do we think that that can win the AFC West I don’t think so unless the Chiefs take a step back and do we honestly think they’re going to take a massive step back last year they were supposed to take a massive step back last year was their step back and their defense went a wall and absolutely torched the NFL um but if we’re but what I think is important here is the Chargers have closed that Gap and you know it’s it’s you hate the half full Silver Linings stuff when the Chargers face the Chiefs you know the proverbial you hear them hear the quot all time oh they play them so tough and they match up so well against them and then they lose 17 of 20 so realistically you don’t if you lose that many I don’t care if it’s all by one point you’re losing everything that’s the constant that’s the theme the theme is you’re not close theme is you lose almost every time you play a lot of that and I think what has made this kind of a a juicy question in my opinion is realistically the coaching staff has been the biggest reason for that I think all of us would agree on kind of the big rocks of why the Chargers have not been AFC West contenders right and it’s it’s easy there there’s a lot of low hanging fruit right was one coaching situational play calling inability to adapt uh defense has been nothing like it should be injuries have been an issue they can’t run the ball can’t protect Justin Herbert that’s kind of it from a high level perspective and then Tom Tesco and the roster management and not being deep enough and all that like it all kind of comes frisan to become a team that is decimated and loses 12 games last year but I think this team has real belief from the top down and real Buy in from the top down and so can the qu so the question was again in the article can Jim Harbaugh quick fix the Chargers too I think the answer to that is yes but what is Quick Fix does that mean AFC West contender I’m not there I’m I just I can’t honestly sit here and say that I think the Chargers can take on the defending champs and win the AFC West at 10 or 11 games I just don’t see it and I mean I could be the Homer and be like oh yeah they’re for sure going to win again remember the schedule the losses I have are at the Steelers against the Chiefs at the Browns home against the Bengals and Ravens and then losing to the Raiders and then the Chiefs again and that’s 10 and seven if we’re talking I have the Raiders splitting I have the Broncos have them being the Broncos twice I’ve got them losing to the Chiefs once but then Ravens Bengals can you say confidently you’re going to beat either of those teams I can’t Browns I can’t confidently say they’re going to beat them Steelers can’t confidently say I’m G to beat them so what’s been the chief’s record the last three years could 10 and S win the AFC West hell no not even close no the quickest way I’ve the quickest way that I’ve always said to get to the playoffs is you win your divisional games and the Chargers have been unable to find a winning record in their division for a long time and with Jim Harbaugh obviously that’s going to nullify different things obviously as Dan said as in terms of change belief buyin which we’ve already heard and talked about these players saying there’s a there is a different feeling that you have seen in the last few months of Jim Harbaugh entering the Chargers facility and what he has been responsible for and had to do in terms of rebuilding this coaching staff rebuilding this roster draft process Whittle it down to what otaa and mini camp has been like the vibe has been completely different you hear players saying talking differently about what this training camp or the what these OTAs and mini camp and offseason have felt like thus far there was some open from players in terms of where they made mistakes in years prior in terms of where they should have been Dan and I refuse to say that phrase on paper anymore we’ve had enough of it we know that the fan base has had enough of hearing it this is why you had to go out and get a guy like Jim Harbaugh because results have eluded the Chargers for too long you need to get results on Sundays and that’s what it’s about so again can Jim Harbaugh quick fix the Chargers I think the answer to that is yes and I think a quick fix going from five win team to a playoff birth that sounds like a quick fix that’s a success in my opinion and again this is a deep hole that this staff came into staff being GM and coaching staff looking at the roster what they had what they had to kind of fix to get to where they’re at now playoff birth I would say is a quick fix that’s a win and realistic expectations for year one going from a five win te five win team adding five or six wins in one season now again five wins you lost your quarterback for the last month of season you were decimated with a lot of injuries but still that’s a quick fix hey you’ve you’ve seen it happen with these teams that can have quick turnarounds look at the Houston Texans where they were two years ago and look at reasons why they turn around I think that’s kind of the there you go the big piece how about coaching being a big one of them rookie stud quarterback another one or just quarterback who’s healthy it it is possible it can be done but in terms of success then I would actually kick it up a notch further not just playoff birth I would say you’ve got to you’ve got to take you’ve got to get one W in the playoffs I think that that has Tois round yes I think that has to be your barometer as it stands right now so let’s say that’s the Quick Fix so if we if we put the bar at playoff win can they do that do are you expect that if you told me that the Chargers could enter the playoffs with a 10 and seven record and get a playoff win in that scenario I would say hey that’s a great start in year one of Jim Harbaugh’s coaching career for the Chargers but will they that’s I’m asking do you think they can I believe that they can yes now you get to the playoffs without being able to predict obviously who’s going to be there the AFC is still stacked with tenders of team it’s not like Dan and I can just stand here and say it rub the magic lamp and it’s going to take place this is obviously going to take a lot of work between now and by the time that we get to January but at the same token yes I believe that it is possible are there going to be some pitfalls along the way yes would you love to see the Chargers go out there and dominate every Sunday of course you would but let’s just stay in reality here for a second I think there is going to be some Pitfall times there’s going to be some Growing Pains between whether it’s situational coaching or if it’s players you’re going to have those bad days yeah but it’s more so that I have a belief in this coaching staff that if this team suffers a loss that they’re going to be able to Rebound in a great way the following week and that’s going to be the difference that’s going to be the difference to me Dan so so let let me ask you this in a different way um for the Chargers to be a playoff winning team who aside from Jim Harbaugh because I think let’s just take him off the table what person that could be Personnel or player would you say would be the biggest determining factor in that turnaround aside from Jim Harbaugh yeah know it’s funny ask me today you could get a different answer than what I would possibly tell you tomorrow there’s a reason why you went out and you paid Ben Herbert a lot of money and gave him a press conference when he arrived with the team okay okay we know we know that dreaded word that again we don’t like saying on this show it starts with an I that he was solely brought into fix but I think you look at it Dana and those stats against Justin Herbert given what his defense has given him over over the last four years since he’s been in the league you gotta say it’s Jesse Minter oh you’re oh okay I thought you’re gonna say Ben Herbert okay J ask me tomorrow it may be Ben Herbert today I’m saying it’s Jesse Minter yeah you took my answer sorry no that’s okay uh I I’ve I I think you know it’s unfortunate what happened with the Chargers these last three years and it’s loow hanging fruit to just bash on the previous coaching staff and you know I I do think that BR and Staley uh tried doing everything himself and I think sometimes just took on too much water and it obviously didn’t work out and he didn’t listen to the people around him he didn’t bring in the right people to help support him and instead of just being able to focus on the defense or focus on something he focus on everything there is something to having a Bonafide Elite defensive coordinator that you can bring in to still just be the defensive coordinator when you have a head coach like Jim Harbaugh for example like if Brandon Staley came to the Chargers previously and went from DC of the Rams to DC of the Chargers I think that would have gone better for him and this defense than what we ended up seeing but we’re already seeing some differences in this defense and what they’re talking about and how they’re learning and how they’re applying with they’re learning what the players are saying about being adaptable what the coaching staff is talking about and the success and track record of Jessie M and the players and coaching staff that have come along with him right all the praise and and the teaching aspects and all all of that right I dare this Chargers team to have even just an average defense give Justin and this offense an average defense 15 I can I I’m not even asking for top 10 right now we know the stats would do the job we know how good Justin Herbert is when he has the defense give less than what was it like 20 something points he’s like 22 and six or something crazy and he’s having to win these shootouts we talked about it before I am so bullish on Jesse Minter and that was the most important hire I thought of any coach that was brought in after Jim Harbaugh and say what you will about the question marks that we’ve alluded to for the secondary you know again I think were 30th in passing yards allowed last year I think it was 17th in rushing yards like they got torched in the secondary and I don’t know defense and I don’t know if you can say that this passing defense roster wise is better than last year right now you lost Mike Davis not not saying Mike Davis was great but who’d you bring in who was better last year Mikey Davis or Christian fton for just going off last year again we’re looking at different reasons for all of it but there’s a lot of stock you’re putting in as coaching staff but we’ve said this coaching matters and you get can you do more with less or can you do more with the same and I do think that this coaching staff can get more out of these players when we had Shan marman on this show just last month he was rattling off the point differential record that was in a five game span that the Chargers lost five games by what was it three points or less last year I think they’re like one in seven in those games last year and he just said do you you don’t think that Jim Harbaugh can give you five of those games back and put them in the win column instead of the loss column right there that’s 10 and seven by the way it’s the biggest X Factor that has eluded the Chargers since realistically Marty Schottenheimer everybody would could say oh yeah norf Turner the AFC let’s be real nor Turner inherited the team that Marty shimer was bu Marty ran circles around nor let’s be let let’s be real here yes great play off got fired after forg and two by the way it it forged a great legacy for Philip Rivers playing in that AFC Championship game with his torn ACL it was awesome even in a loss but you haven’t had a Vibe like this since the days of Marty Ball it just feels different from a coaching perspective and that’s the one thing that the Chargers have been chasing so so like realistically right and maybe this is a topic for another day but in short do you think that the roster one to 152 when it’s all said and done will be better this year than last year 1 to 52 I couldn’t accurately say that D I could say that I believe that there are certain position groups that will definitely be stronger than last year well what I’m asking is is the team is this team better is the talent better or worse than last year overall there’s there’s arguments on both sides of the ball I think if you the the way to make a good argument for this is that I think the Chargers in terms of obviously you know time permits we haven’t seen it actually played on the field yet but I think you have a coach that knows exactly what he wants to do with this team you know the Chargers have gone back and forth between Joe Lombard’s offense they’ve brought in Kell Moore to try to replace that and be more efficient and go downfield that didn’t end up happening I think Jim Harman knows exactly what he wants to do with this team both sides of the ball and I think it’s going to create more consistency more efficiency it’s going to make Justin Herbert a better quarterback in the the long run how about not playing Superman every game how about not having to rely on Justin Herbert making a 30 yard bomb just to get them back into the game having a defense that’s going to come in play Fast physical disciplined defense know exactly what they want to do yeah even with a young nucleus that you have on both sides of the ball I think that they’re going to come in with an identity of what they want to do because of that I think that’s the aspect where you could say that even even with the Keenan Allens and the Mike Williams under previous regimes you could say that collectively this team is going to know what it wants to do better than they have over the past three years it just feels different so I think what I’m getting at and let me just draw this string for a second you say we’re not going to discuss this team as you know on paper anymore because for years we’ve talked about you know on paper this team is arguably you know the best roster in NFL or whatever you know we’ve seen all those stories and articles and everyone comparing and like they haven’t even been close to the best team in the NFL I mean I wouldn’t even say they’ve been close to top 10 in the NFL let alone the best so Talent hasn’t been the reason at least we thought you know top end wise right like it’s always been to me it’s less about top end talent but if you average the talent across the board how good is that team and to me like it’s been heavily skewed both roster wise and salary-wise to the top and when if those guys go down it goes sideways I would say generally speaking I think the top end Talent on this team if you were to average it out it’s probably less mainly because of guys like Kean Allen Mike Williams not there anymore um sa Real L Austin Eckler like he was still a good player right wasn’t what the charges needed but he still a good player so I think top end wise not sure you know older Mac Joey BOS took him back off an injury who knows but average you look at the depth of the team like I think in short I think the average of this team is probably better maybe a little bit better but I think it’s close if you average one to 52 top to bottom right look at the depth of the linebacker room for example look at the depth of the edge group for example look at the depth of wide receiver instead of just going one through two go one through five one through six so if that’s roughly the same right and we had this team prior to the season as like a playoff team until the collapse of last year the coaching difference I think that one is like a big advantage to 2024 charterers huge Dan Michael Lombardi touched on this very subject a couple weeks ago when he was on the Pat McAfee show in terms of what Jim Harbaugh is going to create with this team and as you said for the longest time we he we’ he it from the national media we’d hear it from everybody oh the Chargers are one of the most talented teams in the NFL and at some points it was strong enough to where you could go to any position group and you could say yes yes yes that’s they’re right up there with their personnel in the top of that particular position group Michael Lombardi has a different philosophy on this because Jim this is what he said it’s not about being the most ented team it’s about being the most connected team and he said that is what Jim Harbaugh is going to instill in this roster we haven’t mentioned him much but Joe Ortiz has done exactly what he said he’s going to do in terms of building this depth up from this roster both in free agency moves and in the draft I think they have made their team deeper and Dan as you mentioned coaching is going to elevate a lot and whether we’re talking about veterans that have been in this league for 10 plus years or we’re talking about guys that are coming into their first season coaching is going to elevate a lot with the Personnel that you have on this team and that’s going to be the difference that’s going to be the difference yeah we can get into the specifics right which we don’t need to we’ve done it before but what Jesse Minter means in terms of the style of coaching the style of Defense the type of Defense his staff he has beneath him right the emphasis of Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman and what this receiving group is looking like now and you know that balanced attack that everyone’s kind of talked about and protecting Justin Herbert you know the tip of the spear and the Fist and all of that stuff from Jim harb on the offensive line and the focus they put in free agency and building the underbelly of the roster right Joe alt was a big signal of what was important to this team you know signing guys like Bud dpri like that’s a difference that edge group looks great right now uh having Junior Coulson kind of probably if not man the middle of the defense and the entire defense be one of those guys there’s a lot that is in the Chargers favor that points to why this coaching staff can bring this team into a quick fix right they’re not I I would be shocked but I will be so happy to be wrong if the Chargers win the AFC West but do I think that that is a realistic expectation in year one I think the Chargers players and staff might tell you yes but should fans believe that right now like should you I can’t honestly say that I can expect this team to beat the Super Bowl defending champs in their own division until I see it like you said what is it what did he say like I’ll see it when I believe it he said it backward he said it backwards but say it backwards too because look say what you will about Patrick Mahomes the guy the guy’s absolute Nails it’s hard to bet on him especially after you saw from yes especially uh after what you saw from him and this team overcome last season it’s hard but hey if there is a if there is a coach to do it stranger things have happened not with the Chargers no no no definitely not with this I would love for that strange thing to happen right if he still strange to the Char ofc I would love for a 2007 New York Giants type of a situation where you take on the Goliath of the 17 and0 Patriots obviously that’s a Super Bowl situation and the Giants getting into the playoffs even with a was it I think a 10 and six record that year I would love for a situation like that to plan play out for the Chargers but if we if we look at it like this again this is year one for Jim Harbaugh I think if you could tell me and play noer damus and tell me that January comes and the Chargers get in the playoffs win a playoff game even at winning a playoff game after what the Chargers have suffered over the past several years I’ll take that in year one for Jim Harbaugh you’re on your way I have full confidence in what he’s going to be able to continually build with this team along with Joe hortiz for the future so you may say that my expectations are severely low and I get that and hey for everybody that that wants to you know pound the 2025 Super Bowl drum for the Chargers please do it and do it loudly and do it proudly but it’s it’s hard to it’s hard to find the road to get there as it stands right now yeah so you you and I have the charge going 10 and seven 11 and six somewhere in that frame okay real quick for those of you watching and you’re still listening shout out to you by the way because I know this time of year there’s not much going on but Jake real quick this is the chief schedule for 2024 would 10 and seven 11 and six be AFC West Title okay real quick week one against the Ravens win or loss for the Chiefs oh sorry the way that this looked for a second I thought it starting the pitch like oh no no that’s pre-season my ball uh it’s a tossup honestly it’s a tossup I I say first toss up let’s call it a win I’ll probably you know week one at Arrowhead you always have to go with the chief when they’re at Arrowhead essentially okay there’s one win week two Raiders week three at Browns yeah three wins week four at Falcons four wins week five vers Bank L I’ll call this one a loss this is probably where they suffer their first loss okay week six at the Broncos you call it a win win week seven the Chargers depends on what Chargers team shows up honestly optimistically you always just say as it stands right now that you would hope to split with the Chiefs and let’s say this one let’s say let’s say the Char let’s get optimistic to the Chargers win okay Chiefs lose so five wins Curr at the Chargers so okay you give them the benefit of the doubt okay so that’s five wins going to week eight verse Bucks Chiefs win that game that’s six wins and a buy at the Panthers that’s they have two Buys so Chief win that game as well okay that’s seven at bills can be optimistic and say they lose this I don’t care know but it’s just like I can’t even be optimistic about this game to toss it up and say and now essentially Josh Allen has less weapons offensively than he had last year and now there’s question marks surrounding his wide receivers so let’s just say they lose this one even even at Buffalo I God I feel this what I’m getting at that’s what I’m getting I know but I feel for Bills fans who have had to suffer over the past couple years and I’m sorry I just not with that roster as it stands right now and not even in Buffalo I I can’t trust that but let’s just go with that for a second and let’s say they lose this still seven wins week 12 versus the Saints they win that eight wins week 13 at the Steelers they win that nine wins week 14 versus the Chargers they already lost the Chargers they still split because they’re this one’s at home for them that’s 10 at 10 by the way week 15 at the Raiders yeah they’ll take that one too okay 11 week 16 versus versus the Texans this is God I would love to see CJ strad get this game honly that would be great to watch and it’s in Houston I say it again though it’s just it’s it’s hard to bet against Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes so 12 Wis mhm week four week 17 at the ners God you know the ners are going to be pissed off and L home I say they’re gonna grab this game okay so that’s 12 still and you finish out the season against Bron Broncos another win so that’s 13 wins so again we were being kind of optimistic here for Chargers fans as to what path leads to the Chargers getting an AFC West Poss ility they got to get to 13 wins I don’t do you see that happening is there I mean I I don’t even even somewhere in there Den I’m sure that one of those Chiefs games is going to be like a surprise loss because there’s always one of those every year like remember the opening game last year everybody thought that the league was just gifting the Chiefs an opening game win and then look what happened yep so one of those games is is going to a surprise and it’s going to end up in a different column for them so record wise not withstanding you’re still probably hovering between 13 and 11 wins for the Chiefs I I I unfortunately I just don’t see the the Chargers being able to to get there realistically the Chiefs would have to take a similar nose dive to what happened to them last year and the fact that they went still went on to win the Super Bowl with everything that they had going against them last year unfair they are not going to allow that to happen again no and and you and again you look at the charger schedule like I don’t know how you’re going to get to 13 hell even 12 is tough and that was a low end of what this Chargers team was looking at was or the Chiefs team was looking at so maybe in this if we’re talking really here we’re both pessimistic no I don’t think that this Chargers team is an AFC West contender in year one in 2024 mean title Contender AFC West AFC West Title Contender correct yeah but playoff birth playoff win totally I can see that uh anything else I know this is a long one we kind of went through different angles here we went through the coaching side went through the AFC West as a whole we went through the Chargers history with the Chiefs went through kind of a head-to-head type thing as well as a schedule again I don’t want this to sound like we’re being Doom and Gloom about the Chargers because that’s that’s not really what this is but I think it’s also I think it’s more just setting realistic expectations about what this team could and could not be I don’t think it’s being pessimistic at all Dan people can surely construe it that way there’s obviously a saying out there that comes for overcoming expectations let’s have that I’m all for being proven wrong I’ve said that many times on this show I love being proven wrong because it means that the Chargers did something good in that circumstance so by all means prove me wrong every chance that you get Chargers please please prove us wrong Chargers we would love to come on here and use this as like the old takes exposed handle and just go back and play a goofy clown song as we’re talking about stupid we look when the Chargers are hoisting the AFC West Crown like yeah please see when I believe it Jake uh we did it somehow got to 50 plus minutes on an episode in July we’re like What three weeks two weeks little over two weeks away three weeks is it the 16th and the 23rd I think those are the two 16 for that but we’re getting talking about open training camp okay yes yes we’re just over three weeks away yes let’s end this one um anything going on for the fourth low key easy yeah a good libation is all I need good Libations that sounds like a good remix to Good Vibrations for Jake cter I’m Dan wienstein this been charge un leash we’ll talk to you next time on Chargers unleash happy 4th of July everybody [Music]

In this episode, Jake and Dan discuss a recent Bleacher Report article (link below) asking if Jim Harbaugh can “Quick-Fix” the Chargers and contend with the Kansas City Chiefs to win the AFC West title. What are realistic expectations of the AFC West? How does this new staff elevates the Chargers chances to dethrone the Chiefs and contend? What does a successful season looks like? Then they dive into schedules to determine if the Chargers should be viewed as AFC West Title contenders. Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert, Jesse Minter, and more discussed.

Maurice Moton’s Bleacher Report article: Top Storylines That Will Determine Winner Of Each NFL Division for 2024 Season (https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10125799-top-storylines-that-will-determine-winner-of-each-nfl-division-for-2024-season)

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Chargers Unleashed Hosts: Jake Hefner (@JakeTHefner) and Dan Wolkenstein (@DanWSports)

Blueprints Host: Jason Balliet (@Syntari13)

Chargers Unleashed Podcast, and Blueprints, are weekly Chargers podcasts, part of the LAFB Network, covering all things Los Angeles Chargers. Chargers Unleashed and Blueprints provide listeners with unique and refreshing perspectives on the latest in Chargers news and storylines, along with special guest appearances, player interviews, off-season discussions for NFL Draft, Free Agency, training camps, and weekly updates surrounding Los Angeles Chargers for fans around the globe. Tune in for Chargers interviews, Chargers news, and more!

Chargers players discussed include Justin Herbert, Derwin James, Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Rashawn Slater, Josh Palmer, Asante Samuel Jr, Daiyan Henley, Quentin Johnston, Tuli Tuipulotu, and much more. We also discuss Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, OC Greg Roman, DC Jesse Minter and the rest of the Chargers coaching staff. The LA Chargers 2024 draft class: 1 OT Joe Alt 2 WR Ladd McConkey 3  LB Junior Colson 4  DL Justin Eboigbe 5  CB Tarheeb Still 5  CB Cam Hart 6  RB Kimani Vidal 7  WR Brenden Rice 7  WR Cornelius Johnson

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