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Thursday, August 31
Chargers lacking electricity on offense

By Jay Posner
Pro Football Weekly

The day before his team reported to training camp in July, San Diego coach Mike Riley said he wasn't sure where the Chargers fit in with the rest of the AFC West.

This could be a down season for the Chargers. San Diego has an outstanding defense, but you can only ride that so far.

Quarterback Ryan Leaf has given Chargers fans some reason for cautious optimism. But remember, this is the preseaon, when teams don't face a lot of sophisticated looks on defense. The Chargers say Leaf's shoulder is fine, but any quarterback who has had a couple of surgeries on his throwing arm should give an organization pause regarding future expectations.

"We could finish first," Riley said, "or we could finish last."

OK, so maybe his prognosticating skills need some refining. But no one can doubt Riley's coaching skills, not after last year, when he led a team most people had picked for five or six victories -- a team that should have had five or six victories -- to an 8-8 record. Riley didn't get the attention that went to Dick Vermeil or Jim Mora or Jeff Fisher, but it's hard to believe anyone did a better job than San Diego's rookie coach.

The question now is: Can Riley do it again? He'll have to, if the Chargers are to contend for first rather than worst in the AFC West.

San Diego remains a team with several glaring weaknesses, the primary one being its lack of offense. And since everyone knows the goal of football is to score more points than your opponent, that can be a rather large problem.

How bad has it been? During the last three seasons -- or ever since Bobby Ross (the only coach to take San Diego to a Super Bowl) resigned from the Chargers -- the club has scored one offensive touchdown or less in 32 of its 48 games.

During that time, San Diego's offense has scored a total of 61 TDs (17 in '97 and 22 each of the last two years). By comparison, the St. Louis Rams offense scored 55 TDs last season alone.

The offense actually has only two problems: It can't run, and it can't pass. Last year the running game produced 3.0 yards per carry, the worst average in the league, and quarterback Jim Harbaugh ranked 15th in efficiency among the 17 qualifying AFC passers, although he was better when the Chargers went to the no-huddle offense at midseason.

The Chargers signed wide receiver Curtis Conway during the offseason, hoping his speed would open up both the passing and running games. But Conway was hurt throughout training camp, and as recently as two weeks before the season opener, the team still didn't know who it's No. 1 running back or No. 1 quarterback would be.

The situation, as usual, is better on the defensive side of the ball. The Chargers slipped from first in the league overall in 1998 to 12th last year, but the addition of cornerback DeRon Jenkins and the return from injury of Pro Bowl safety Rodney Harrison should help repair an injury-ravaged secondary. The run defense, first in '98 and third last year, must overcome the losses of defensive tackle Norman Hand and linebackers Lewis Bush and Eric Hill.

Special teams actually should be better with the addition of speedy kick returner Ronney Jenkins, but unless the rookie can run back a kick a week for a touchdown, the Chargers will struggle to score -- and therefore to win more than half their games. Again.

Offense


	It looks like Ryan Leaf will be the Chargers' starting quarterback on opening day.

Quarterbacks: Remember Ryan Leaf? In the past two years, the former No. 2 overall pick went from potential franchise quarterback to potentially the biggest bust in the history of the NFL draft. But he reported to camp this summer with a new (surgically repaired) shoulder and (more positive) attitude, and the results were mostly good. Assuming he remains healthy and focused, he will be the starter, if not at the beginning of the season, then sometime soon.

Leaf is the one quarterback in the division capable of being a great player. Harbaugh can't stretch the field the way the Chargers would like, and Moses Moreno is even more inexperienced than Leaf.
Grade: C-

Running backs: Jermaine Fazande and Robert Chancey weigh more than 500 pounds combined, but can either rush for 500 yards in a season? Will either get the chance? Riley has said the Chargers will have to use the committee approach at this position, which is a nice way of saying no one deserves to be No. 1. Fazande made an impact in the season finale last year with 183 yards against Denver, but only two weeks earlier he had been inactive despite being healthy.

Kenny Bynum also figures into the group because of his speed, and the Chargers were working with the rookie Jenkins to get him more touches. Terrell Fletcher contributes as a third-down back, and fullback Fred McCrary is a good blocker and receiver.
Grade: C-

Wide receivers: All you need to know about this position is that no Charger caught more than two -- count 'em, 1-2 -- touchdown passes last year. Conway can help immeasurably, if he's healthy. Without him, the Chargers lack a game-breaker, since Jeff Graham, Mikhael Ricks and Charlie Jones are all possession receivers.

Rookie Trevor Gaylor showed promise during camp. Tight end Freddie Jones should produce better numbers than he has, but consistency has been a problem. Steve Heiden and Reggie Davis provide good depth.
Grade: C+

Offensive linemen: The lack of a running game wasn't all the backs' fault. The line didn't perform well last year, and now it welcomes three new starters -- left tackle Ben Coleman, left guard Raleigh Roundtree and right guard Kevin Gogan -- along with holdovers, center Roman Fortin and right tackle Vaughn Parker. The summer was a bit shaky, especially on run blocking, but it's too early to write them off.
Grade: B-

Defense
Defensive linemen: Losing Hand to New Orleans hurts the Chargers' depth more than anything. He was part of a three-man rotation that made it almost impossible for any opponent to run up the middle. John Parrella and Jamal Williams will be the starters.

The Chargers hope Darren Mickell, who will play inside in passing situations, converted defensive end Michael Mohring or rookie Leonardo Carson can be an adequate third tackle. On the outside, Raylee Johnson had a breakthrough year at right end with 10½ sacks, but he suffered a possible torn anterior cruciate ligament late in camp. Al Fontenot and Mickell are serviceable on the left side.
Grade: C+

Linebackers: Any unit that starts with Junior Seau can't be too bad, and that's the case with the Chargers. Even at 31, entering his 11th season, Seau doesn't seem to have lost anything. In fact, he might be getting better, and this year he has the added motivation of not getting voted to the Pro Bowl team last year. (He was added at the last minute.)

The Chargers lost middle linebacker Hill to a neck injury, and while his experience will be missed, the club is hoping the combination of young Orlando Ruff and veteran Steve Tovar will be OK. On the strong side, Bush left for Kansas City in a salary-cap move, but veterans Gerald Dixon and Richard Harvey are adequate replacements.
Grade: B-

Defensive backs: Rodney Harrison finally got his due in 1998 with his first Pro Bowl appearance, but then he missed 10 games last year with a shoulder injury. Healthy again this year, he should be back at a Pro Bowl level. Harrison and free safety Michael Dumas are both strong against the run, and Dumas also is excellent at blocking kicks.

On the corners, the Chargers were hoping Fakhir Brown would win the job on the left side, but he spent the summer recovering from a shoulder injury. That leaves Darryll Lewis as the starter and Scott Turner as the nickel back, at least until Brown returns. The right side will be manned by DeRon Jenkins, who had an excellent camp after coming over from Baltimore.
Grade: C+

Special teams
John Carney is the most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history, and Darren Bennett was named the punter on the All-Decade team. No worries there. Jenkins will add life to a moribund return game.
Grade: B+

Material from Pro Football Weekly. Visit their website at http://www.profootballweekly.com

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