@Biscuiteater1
@maxwagers781
Instead of quoting multiple comments, I'll just provide a general reply to all of them...
The Chargers went 5-12 last year. I think they can get to 9 based on the following response provided by me earlier:
Quote Originally Posted by iConsciousness:
The Chargers finished at 5-12 last year, but if you take a deeper dive into what happened last year, you'll see the composition of their W-L record:
Losses within a FG: 7 (Dolphins, Titans, Cowboys, Lions, Packers, Bills, Chiefs)
Losses within a TD: 1 (Broncos)
So they've had 8 games that were a 1 score difference.
The rest were games they won, or lost by 2 scores.
Minus the travel, their schedule is considered to be on the favorable side.
I expect a better ground game, with a better *collection* of running backs to aid in that. Ekeler was used as a pass catching back plenty last season, but the Chargers never had a true, run between the tackles back.
Who knows if Edwards and Dobbins stay healthy. Their track record isn't promising, but Habaugh lured away Ben Herbert from the strength and conditioning program at Michigan. I had no idea who he was before the hire, but apparently he's a fitness and soft tissue guru. So, uh, there's that. We'll see if the injury woes subside with him at the helm. I know the artificial turf at SoFi doesn't do the players any favors.
To address the WR depth chart, I mean they played most of the season without Mike Williams. They played some games without Palmer, and sat Keenan Allen towards the end of the season (when reaching the playoffs were unobtainable).
Herbert played with a fractured finger for the 2nd half of the season, until he was shelved too.
So when you compare the main WR corp for last year and this year you get:
2023 2024
Keenan Allen Joshua Palmer
Joshua Palmer Ladd McConkey
Quentin Johnston DJ Chark
Alex Erickson Quentin Johnston
Simi Fehoko Brandon Rice
I'm more excited about this year's WR group. McConkey won't be the 1:1 Allen replacement this year, but he's got all the tools and route running skills that Allen has coming out of college, only quicker. He's looked really solid at camp, and has built a great rapport with Herbert already.
Chark is a veteran presence that the Chargers didn't have when Allen, Williams, and Palmer were out. Johnston could take a leap with this coaching staff, and their willingness not to slot him in as the X receiver as they tried to do when Williams went down.
Add that PFF has ranked their O-line as the 7th best in the NFL (adding Bozeman at C, and Joe Alt at RT), and I think you're just simply asking if the Chargers can win 4 more games than they did last year. If half of those 8 one score losses go the other way this year, that's 9 wins.
-to be cont.-