Second day of mandatory minicamp a week ago.
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Chargers minicamp takeaways: Jalen Guyton stands out, Austin Ekeler’s offseasonDaniel Popper
June 15, 2022
COSTA MESA, Calif. — The Chargers concluded their two-day mandatory minicamp Wednesday afternoon at the team facility. Players are off until training camp begins in late July.
Here are my notes, observations and takeaways from Day 2.
1. Wednesday’s practice had a similar structure to Tuesday’s and included individual position drills, special teams periods, separate offensive and defensive walk-throughs and two full-speed seven-on-seven passing periods. The only difference was the Chargers did not finish Wednesday’s practice with 11-on-11 walk-throughs. They instead wrapped up minicamp with lighthearted competitions. More on this later.
2. Jalen Guyton had two excellent catches in seven-on-seven drills, and they came on the same series of reps with backup Chase Daniel at quarterback. First, Guyton beat Michael Davis on a deep dig from the left side of the formation, and Daniel hit Guyton in stride for a first down. Three plays later, Guyton ran a post route from the right side of the formation, and Daniel aired out a deep ball. Guyton jumped over undrafted safety Skyler Thomas and came down with the long reception.
When asked after practice for any notable standouts from the spring, coach Brandon Staley first mentioned Guyton.
“Jalen Guyton was fantastic in the offseason,” Staley said. “This guy made a lot of big plays for us in the spring. Came in just physically in great shape, is moving great, thought he was able to move around. Really did a nice job on special teams. We kind of challenged him to be a factor in the kicking game. I think he’s looked really good out there.”
The special teams aspect of Guyton’s role is really interesting. He has been lining up at gunner with the punt team — something he had not done before in his young NFL career. But it makes some sense. Guyton has great size at 6-foot-1, 212 pounds and can absolutely fly. He has 4.3 speed and is the Chargers’ fastest receiver. We will see if he can develop as a tackler. That will be decided in training camp. As a fourth wide receiver, Guyton is going to have to provide some value in that phase.
“To be a good receiver, you have to beat press, so that’s a natural part of your job,” Staley said of Guyton playing gunner. “Trying to create as much value for him as possible. … Understanding that’s going to be a big factor in him being in the league for a long time and hopefully making his way in this league.”
3. An undrafted name to watch as we head into training camp: tight end Stone Smartt, whom the Chargers signed out of Old Dominion. Smartt was a quarterback until his final college season. He played quarterback in junior college at Riverside City in Riverside, Calif., and he played one season of QB at Old Dominion before he switched to wide receiver. Smartt is 6-foot-4, 226 pounds and has already shown impressive athleticism and good hands. The Chargers kept four tight ends on the roster last season, and there could be a competition for that fourth spot if the team opts to keep that number in 2022.
Smartt made a few fine plays in seven-on-seven during minicamp. On Tuesday, he had two catches in the red zone period — one on the sideline, and one diving catch over the middle for a touchdown, both from Daniel. And he followed that up with four more catches Wednesday, including an acrobatic toe-tap catch on the right sideline from Easton Stick and a touchdown on a slant in the red zone period.
4. Wide receiver Joe Reed is back and healthy, and he made a strong catch on a wheel route on a Stick throw in the final seven-on-seven period. Reed used his big body to shield the defender and come down with the 50-50 ball. Reed has a long way to go before he even puts himself in the conversation to make the roster. But his athleticism and build have always been tantalizing.
5. J.C. Jackson matched up with Mike Williams during the opening period of seven-on-seven. Justin Herbert tried to fit a tight throw in to Williams on a 10-yard dig, and Jackson knocked the ball away for a pass breakup. There is going to be fierce competition between the DBs and WRs during training camp. This was just a taste.
6. I have written a lot about how important continuity — in the offensive coaching staff, scheme and personnel — is going to be to Herbert’s development as he enters Year 3. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said earlier this spring that he and the offensive staff have been able to move onto “Football 202” level concepts and discussions with Herbert this offseason thanks to that familiarity. I asked Herbert if he could provide examples of some of those “Football 202” things.
“An example would be using your cadence more,” Herbert said. “It’s one thing when you’re going into a new playbook and you’re trying to memorize all the calls and go out there to the huddle and get it right. And so the easy thing is to just say, ‘On one,’ clap and get out. But now it’s, all right, I know the play, I know all these kills and alerts, now I’m going to start using my cadence to maybe get the defense to jump offsides. It’s a weapon you can use. And if you can kind of start getting better in areas like that, little by little, I think that’s really helpful, too.”
This is what I am talking about when I refer to Herbert mastering Lombardi’s system. If Herbert can throw for 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns when he is still just trying to grasp the system, what will it look like when he becomes proficient in the finer details? We are going to find out.
7. Austin Ekeler spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time this offseason. He spent OTAs away from the team working out on his own and diving into some of his off-field interests, like the app he is building. Ekeler joined the team for the start of mandatory minicamp Tuesday.
Ekeler is incredibly thoughtful in his responses, and he gave a really interesting answer when asked why he did not participate in OTAs. Ekeler was the only player on the roster not to attend a single OTA.
“I think it’s really important to understand that during the NFL season, the NFL is getting the most out of you as it can,” Ekeler said. “It’s getting your time. It’s getting your mental, it’s getting your physical body. It’s getting everything out of you. And so when the offseason comes for me, my mindset is like I’m flipping the switch. Now I’m trying to get everything out of the NFL by using the connections, by using my status on the team, using my connection to fantasy football, using all this hype that was built up. And now I’m out meeting people, I’m out starting new things, trying to impact the community and really use the NFL platform. So for me to be here from 8 to 2 o’clock for some meetings and workouts and things like that, I’m almost like losing opportunities that I could have during the offseason. And it’s not that I’m not taking care of my business because I’m in shape, I came in here flying and been doing all the football stuff. But it’s more isolated (when I work out on my own). I can put it into a two-hour window in the beginning of my day and the rest of my day is for myself and all the stuff I’ve been trying to grow.”
8. One of the most important training camp battles set to commence next month is for RB2 behind Ekeler. Isaiah Spiller, Joshua Kelley and Larry Rountree III will be vying for the spot. Ekeler spoke often last season about how badly he wanted someone to take that role and run with it. That never materialized. He is hoping that changes in 2022.
“Look, I’m in the No. 1 spot right now,” Ekeler said. “I want these guys to come challenge me. Like, let’s go. Bring it. Come on. Come earn some reps, and that’s what I want to be. That’s what I hope their mindset is. My mindset is no one is going to be able to outdo me out here. I’m going to be the most efficient on the field. They are going to want me on the field all the time. But I want you to come and earn because that’s the same as it was for me.
“I understand that, hey, this game is going to break you down — all of us, regardless of what position you play,” Ekeler added. “Life is going to break you down as we get older. I understand that, and I want to play a long time. So I want guys to come in and earn some reps — and I say earn that because I don’t want it to be where it’s like, ‘Oh, we need to give Austin a blow because he’s tired.’ I want someone to be like, ‘No, we want to get this guy in there because he’s shown he can play.’”
9. The Chargers ended minicamp with three competitions. They started with a throwing competition. They placed a blocking dummy on top of a cart, and an equipment manager drove the cart back and forth across the field. Khalil Mack represented the defense. Corey Linsley represented the offense. They each got six throws, and both players hit the target on one of their throws.
Next came a closest-to-the-pin golf competition. Stick ran into the locker room to grab his 58-degree wedge. Matt Feiler represented the offense. Breiden Fehoko represented the defense. Both players got two shots, hitting at a thin stick set up in the middle of the field about 50 yards away. Feiler sliced both of his shots to the right. Fehoko chunked his first shot before making solid contact on the second. It flew about 20 yards past the makeshift pin. Fehoko was deemed the winner.
“Fehoko had some finesse,” Staley said.
It was not clear in the moment what the competition was exactly, so I asked Herbert if it was a closest-to-the-pin situation.
“It was supposed to be,” Herbert quipped.
Finally, the Chargers had a Jugs competition — five offensive players versus five defensive players. Throughout the spring, the Chargers defensive backs had been practicing catching fastballs off the Jugs machine after practices.
“I want our secondary to catch more passes than anybody in pro sports because that’s where the money is on defense, is in the deep part of the field,” Staley said. “And we’ve been shooting these Jugs at them pretty hard at a bunch of different angles, so I kind of wanted to create a best five on defense versus the best five on offense and have that thing going.”
Staley said they had the Jugs machine firing footballs at 80 mph. Derwin James, Asante Samuel Jr., Kyle Van Noy, Drue Tranquill and Nasir Adderley represented the defense. Ekeler, Williams, Keenan Allen, Gerald Everett and Donald Parham Jr. represented the offense.
By my count, the offense caught more balls.
“Had some fun out there today,” Staley said.
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