We’re halfway through the final week of preseason and that much closer to the kickoff of the regular season. With the cut deadline to bring teams down to 53-man rosters, a lot of general managers have some hard decisions to make. That includes Tom Telesco of the Los Angeles Chargers. Their win against the San Francisco 49ers was the last chance for players fighting for a roster spot to show they belong. Here are some quick takeaways from last night’s preseason game.
To see my takeaways from preseason week 2, you can check them out here.
Chargers Takeaways: Preseason Week 3
Chargers QB Easton Stick (2) – Chargers Staff
Chargers In Trouble If Herbert Goes Down
Justin Herbert is already considered an elite quarterback in the league by most. The Chargers are fine with him under center. Behind him, though, is not as safe. Herbert’s backups are Easton Stick and Max Duggan. While both played their behinds off last night, neither of them really shined. Stick completed 9 of his 11 passes, which looks great on the surface. When you look deeper though, you see he only had 38 passing yards and wasn’t able to score. Duggan was 4 of 9 on his passes for only 15 yards, but he did have that nice TD pass while he was scrambling.
Both showed they are willing to do anything to win, both through the air and with their legs. They’ve both shown this throughout the preseason. As much as I admire that, I still wouldn’t feel good if any of the two had to start an actual game for us. Let’s hope it never comes to that. Knock on wood.
Chargers S JT Woods (22) – Elliott Teaford/The Orange County Register
JT Woods Looks Improved With His Tackling
JT Woods was the Charger’s 3rd round pick in the 2022 NFL draft. He was supposed to help with the safety spot so Brandon Staley could use Derwin James anywhere on the field, like the queen piece in chess. That never happened, though. While his coverage skills were good for a rookie, his tackling was just abysmal. Almost every time Woods was on the field last year, the Chargers allowed a 70+ yard run. It got to the point where he didn’t see any snaps over the second half of the season.
In last night’s game against the 49ers, he looked much better with his tackling. Take into account these are the backups. Still, he had seven total tackles, and six of them were solo. That shows me that he has gotten much better. Watching the game myself, there was only one tackle I saw that didn’t look good, and he was just lucky the 49ers player fell after his hit. Other than that one tackle, the others were great technique, with him actually wrapping the runner and going for the legs when necessary. Woods has looked good in the preseason, and I hope it’s a sign of things to come.
Chargers K Cameron Dicker (11) – Jacob Camenker/The Sporting News
Good Problem To Have At Kicker
As a Chargers fan since about 2008, I’ve seen some horrible kicking situations. There was a three-year span where each season we lost 3-5 games because our kicker missed field goals or extra points. We haven’t had a steady kicker since Nate Kaeding. Well, the Chargers now have two very reliable kickers in Dustin Hopkins and Cameron Dicker, both of whom I’d feel very comfortable kicking a game-winner. Both have done very well throughout training camp and preseason. The question is, who do the Chargers keep?
No one knows the answer yet. In Elliott Teaford’s own takeaways for The Orange County Register, he also mentioned the kicker battle as “one of the biggest camp battles unresolved”. Personally, I would go with Dicker because he is cheaper, and I feel he has slightly earned it more than Hopkins. I would be totally fine if the Chargers go with Hopkins, though. You can bet I will be on the lookout come Tuesday to see who they go with.
Chargers RB Joshua Kelly (25) – Bleacher Report
Running Game Gets The Win
Last year’s running game was horrid. As great as Ekeler was, we couldn’t consistently gain positive yards. It was just some great long-yard runs, which is what Ekeler is good at. Some wondered if it was the offensive line not getting enough push or opening lanes. Others wondered if it was former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi’s scheme. After last night’s game, it seems to be the latter. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore schemed up great runs, and it didn’t matter which back was out there; they were able to run it for positive yards.
The team ran for a total of 267 yards. In the first quarter, when the 49ers had some starters our there, the only good run was Joshua Kelley’s amazing 75-yard run for a touchdown. Throughout the second half, all players were able to run it. Elijah Dotson shined the most, in my opinion, but Tyler Hoosman and Duggan were able to run over the defense as well. If this is how it is in the preseason, I can’t wait to see what Moore is going to scheme up in the regular season.
