San Diego Chargers

We credit Pro Football Focus, STATS LLC and Football Outsiders with OL performance data

The Chargers have had a relatively poor offensive line last three seasons. At times, they’ve struggled badly with both run blocking and pass protection. The interior-line play has been of particular concern. San Diego played with four different centers last season.

The team did not draft any offensive lineman in the 2015 NFL Draft. They did, however, sign OG/OT Orlando Franklin, OT Joseph Barksdale, and OG Michael Huey in free agency. In the 2013 and 2014 drafts, San Diego drafted OT DJ Fluker (RD1) and OG/C Chris Watt (RD3) respectively.

Projected Starting Lineup

King Dunlap, LT 6’9″ 330 pounds– – Going on 30 years old, is still the centerpiece of this unit, a Top 15 LT who has flashed dominance in the run game at times in his career and has been respectable in pass protection, makes Danny Woodhead look like he’s three-feet tall

Orlando Franklin, LG 6’7″ 320 pounds– Played very well for Denver the last 3 seasons at RT in ’12/’13 and LG in ’14 grading positively in the run and pass games, San Diego covets his versatility, should provide a big upgrade to the interior

Chris Watt, C 6’3″ 310 pounds– RD3 2014 draft pick, graded respectably in 5 starts at center as a rookie, expected to provide much needed stability to the teams shakiest position

Joseph Barksdale, RG 6’5″ 326 pounds– RD3 pick by OAK in the 2011 draft, has primarily played OT, flashed upside the last two seasons, likely to play RG but could move to RT during the season if DJ Fluker continues to struggle at RT

DJ Fluker, RT 6’5″ 345 pounds– 2013 RD1 pick, a monster of a man Fluker has shed 10 pounds this offseason after his weight ballooned to over 350 last season, has struggled as a pass protector, the team likes his versatility and is confident he could become a dominant OG if he’s unable to improve at OT, however they are still committed to developing him as a RT w/potential to replace Dunlap at LT in the future, his presence alone is formidable

*** UPDATE 8/12- Fluker has officially been moved to RG, we love this decision

Notes-

The Chargers offensive line looks to be a much improved unit. It’s a group that has depth and positional versatility as well as the potential to be a formidable starting five. This is a B+ unit.

This is fantastic news for Phillip Rivers, and rookie running back Melvin Gordon. Rivers has been an undervalued fantasy gem in recent years, and continues to be so. He is one of our favorite QBs to mock draft. Between a hot start and an epic finish last year, Rivers’ midseason swoon can be contributed to the pressure he was under behind a leaky front line and the injury that resulted. That won’t be the case this year, behind this group.

We’d prefer it if we could draft Melvin Gordon in RD4, but for owners willing to take the leap of faith in RD3, it’s a well calculated gamble. He’s a terrific talent who is going to get a lot of snaps behind a good offensive line. At a beefy average of 326 pounds, this line is set up to road grade for Gordon.

Tied to Rivers’ value is that of all of his receivers. There’s a good chance Keenan Allen rebounds from his sophomore slump, but his RD4/5 ADP is WAAAAY too rich for us. The problem is that Rivers is going to spread it around. Stevie Johnson is the talk of training camp, and is a much better bet five rounds after Allen – or we’d be looking to double down on Malcom Floyd‘s performance last year at the very end of the draft.

The depth of this unit is serviceable:

Kenny Wiggins OT/OG- has never started an NFL game, UDFA 2011 – this is his 4th team
Chris Hairston OT/OG- some team insiders think he’s a sneaky option at 26 yr old, we say anybody BUF let walk concerns us, was a starter and backup OT for BUF since 2011, never graded very well, was a 2011 RD4 pick
Craig Watts OG- 24 yr old out of west texas A&M, no game experience
Trevor Robinson C- 25 yr old, 8 starts, 7 in CIN in 2012, 1 in SD in 2014, a nice backup C
Johnnie Troutman OG- 24 starts in his career in 2013 and 2014, after performing poorly he’s sliding to the bench as an experienced depth player, RD5 pick in 2012
Michael Huey OG- zero experience