San Diego Chargers: Offensive line ready to impress

The day is December 28th, 2014. The San Diego Chargers are 9-6 after an overtime win against the San Francisco 49ers and can make it to the playoffs if they simply defeat the Kansas City Chiefs.

By the end of the day, the Bolts offensive line had given up 7 sacks and 8 tackles for loss to the Chiefs and lost the game 7-19 and were consequently eliminated from playoff contention. The defense did its job (seven tackles for loss and four sacks). The special teams did its job (relatively). But because the offensive line did not do its job, the Chargers were once again eliminated from the playoffs.

It is no wonder that ProFootball Focus ranked the Chargers offensive line as the 29th-best offensive line in the league last season. The Chargers started five different centers and had to deal with a host of injuries to Nick Hardwick and Jeremy Clary.

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After going 8-4, the Chargers ended the season with a 9-7 record after poor play on both sides of the ball. In order to combat the embarrassment of losing three out of the last four games, Tom Telesco made it his mission to improve the Bolts offensive line and most definitely has done so.

Coming into the off-season, the Chargers had lost long-time center Nick Hardwick to retirement and were going to lost King Dunlap to free agency. What did Telesco do in response?

He re-signed King Dunlap to a four-year $28 million contract. He brought in former Denver Bronco guard Orlando Franklin from Denver for five years on $36.5 million as well as former Charger OG Michael Huey.

For those of you who don’t know who Huey is, he was actually on the squad in 2011 before going to the Arena Football League for three years, helping the Arizona Rattlers to three straight Arena Bowl Championships. Huey played his high school ball at Kilgore High School in Kilgore, Texas. He was named first-team 4A all-state by theAssociated Press and the Texas Sports Writers Association as well as all-district, all-region, and district 12-4A Lineman of the Year his senior year. Not to mention, Huey was a starter in the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Huey (number 69 in the video) was recruited and played college ball at the University of Texas and received recognition as an above average offensive lineman, but never a true NFL prospect.

Now, after trips to three different pro football franchises, Huey is a San Diego Charger.

And although the Bolts line won’t be complete until after the draft, they still have some great players for next season. Dunlap is a behemoth, Fluker is pretty solid and Franklin plays with the intensity of a bull. Not to mention, sophomore Chris Watt has been predicted to take over at center and should be an adequate replacement for Hardwick.

The only real question mark here for the Bolts is in terms of depth and at the right guard position. Huey has an impressive resume and Troutman showed some good play here and there so there could be potential for some success for the Chargers this season.

The bottom line: this Chargers O-line is ready to improve in 2015.

Not only have the signings of top free agents in Dunlap and Franklin helped immensely in terms of talent, they also help in the fact that the players are healthy and mentally/schematically prepared to start the season. The injuries and lack of depth hurt the Bolts in 2014 because the Chargers weren’t mentally prepared nor ready to deal with the losses of certain team members.

Talent and preparation should be the formula for another winning season in SD. Telesco has given and will continue to give the line depth through more free agent acquisitions and the draft: a true double edged sword. It gives the other offensive players a talented line to work with and also assurance that the top level play will continue.

And although there have been teams who have succeeded despite horrendous offensive lines, the majority of teams with bad offensive lines have gone on to fail. In 2014, of the top 10 sack-allowing teams, only one team (the Kansas City Chiefs) managed a winning record. In fact, the combined record of the 10 worst offensive-lined teams is 53-107 (.33 winning percentage) with five teams of a record of 4-12 or worse (Jacksonville, Washington, Tampa Bay, Tennessee and New York).

Thus, while football is a team game, there is a correlation between sacks allowed and overall team performance.

In closing, this line still needs a high-level college or free agent guard in order to make it truly complete. I have no doubts though that Telesco can deliver.

Next: Top San Diego Chargers Offensive Linemen Prospects

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