Earlier than the Chargers put diamonds in any Tremendous Bowl rings, Jim Harbaugh is in search of diamonds on the apply area.
“Rare gems, they don’t just hop out of the ground and into your pocket,” the Chargers coach stated because the group started rookie minicamp Friday. “You gotta dig.”
The Chargers are looking for their hidden gems by a singular rookie minicamp. Harbaugh is removing most 11-on-11 durations through the three-day tryout interval. He’ll as a substitute rely totally on particular person drills to judge which rookies can be finest suited to a group hoping to finish a six-year playoff win drought. The teaching employees will train two drills that instantly apply to the Chargers’ scheme on offense or protection and particular groups and three drills by place, then consider every prospect in comparison with his counterparts.
The system, which Harbaugh admitted he has by no means tried earlier than, is meant to supply a good manner for rookies to compete whereas additionally letting the employees see every participant’s pure expertise.
It’s the coach’s manner of “mining for gold,” he stated.
“Picture a 90-minute meeting to go over offense and defense, and then go out on the field. Then we’re judging who learned the system better,” Harbaugh stated. “But we’re not seeing the capabilities, what they have talent wise.”
The Chargers already know what they’ve with their 9 draft picks, together with seven who signed rookie contracts Friday. Even earlier than formally signing their offers, first-round choose Omarion Hampton and second-rounder Tre’ Harris nonetheless participated in Friday’s three-hour session. The three-day work weekend is primarily a present for the group’s 18 undrafted free brokers and 23 tryout gamers.
Harbaugh stated he would hold a detailed eye on undrafted free agent working again Raheim Sanders, whose 4.46-second 40-yard sprint on the NFL scouting mix equaled Hampton’s regardless of the 230-pound Sanders being 10 kilos heavier. Kansas receiver Luke Grimm and tight finish Stevo Klotz additionally stood out to Harbaugh on tape.
Whereas unheralded gamers combat for alternatives, even the drafted gamers understand the significance of constructing a superb first impression.
“A lot of the D-line guys, we were competing against each other,” stated defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell, the Chargers’ third-round draft choose. “Not everybody gets a job at the end of the day. Nobody has secured a job, even me. That’s how I look at it.”
Caldwell, a 6-foot-1, 340-pound defensive deal with out of Oregon, labored individually with line of defense coach Mike Elston and assistant line of defense coach Will Tukuafu whereas the vast majority of the rookies had been engaged on particular groups drills. Close by, outdoors linebacker Kyle Kennard honed his pass-rushing method with defensive assistant Dylan Roney.
The transition to the NFL has already delivered a number of surreal moments for Kennard. The Southeastern Convention defensive participant of the yr heard his title referred to as as a fourth-round choose, then quickly obtained a textual content from Chargers star edge rusher Khalil Mack.
Mack, who Kennard praised as “one of the greatest to do it,” congratulated the a hundred and twenty fifth choose on his choice however suggested Kennard to not have a good time for too lengthy. The rookie listened.
“Khalil Mack told me not to celebrate, I’m going to stay in the house and go to sleep,” stated Kennard, who met Mack briefly within the locker room Friday and shared a welcoming embrace.
The rookies who move the three-day minicamp will be a part of veterans throughout subsequent week’s organized group actions. Throughout the first portion of the voluntary exercises, the Chargers experimented on the offensive line with Zion Johnson at middle. Harbaugh stated the group has alternated between final yr’s configuration that had Johnson at left guard subsequent to middle Bradley Bozeman and reversing the 2 offensive linemen to place Johnson at middle for the primary time in his NFL profession. Bozeman hasn’t performed guard in an NFL sport since 2020.
Regardless of Johnson’s inexperience on the place, his method is impeccable, Harbaugh gushed. The snaps are popping off his hand, and the 25-year-old is likely one of the group’s most athletic and clever offensive linemen.
The change comes at a crucial time throughout Johnson’s profession. The Chargers didn’t choose up the 2021 first-round choose’s fifth-year choice, leaving him to doubtlessly show himself at a model new place.
“He’s going to be starting at one of those two positions,” Harbaugh stated. “It just adds versatility. … We’ll get our best five eventually, but I know he’s going to be one of them.”
