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San Diego Chargers Telesco is making all the moves

By Keith Demolder

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San Diego Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco was hired on January 9, 2013 after long-time GM A.J. Smith had long since worn out his tenure. Along with new Head Coach Mike McCoy, Telesco made an impact early on in his time with the Chargers, drafting current starters OT D.J. Fluker, WR Keenan Allen and ILB Manti Te’o in the 2013 draft and CB Jason Verrett, OLB Jeremiah Attaochu, OG Chris Watt and DT Ryan Carrethers in the 2014 NFL Draft.

All of these players have produced mightily for the Bolts and should see long term success as long as they stay healthy and work hard.

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Some may look at Telesco’s age (42) and think that he’s not capable of being a GM quite yet. I believe the exact opposite is true of the wise-beyond-his-years Chargers GM who has been involved in football his entire life.

After playing college football with John Carroll University, Telesco then worked scouting jobs around the NFL for the Buffalo Bills (1991-94), Carolina Panthers (1995-97) and the Indianapolis Colts (1998-2005) before accepting the job to be the Colts’ Director of Player Personnel in 2005. From 2006-2012, the Colts made the playoffs a total six times (every year besides 2011), including two trips to the Super Bowl with a Super Bowl win in 2006 over the Chicago Bears. As well, Telesco was a part of the selections of both QBs Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck in the 1998 and 2012 NFL Drafts.

Two trips to the Super Bowl and two potential hall-of-fame quarterback picks? Sounds like experience enough for me.

Regardless of his past, this off-season has been where Telesco has made his mark.

For the Chargers, 2015 has been kind and unkind in so many different ways. It has been unkind in that CB Shareece Wright, WR Eddie Royal, ILB Andrew Gachkar, SS Marcus Gilchrist, OLB Jarrett Johnson, OLB Dwight Freeney, OG Chad Rhinehart and starting RB Ryan Mathews are all on new teams, retired or on free agency, waiting to be picked up by new teams.

Feb 18, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; San Diego Chargers general manager Tom Telesco speaks at a press conference during the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

But, on the other hand, Tom Telesco has been able to bring in some very important pieces on offense in OG Orlando Franklin (Denver Broncos) and WRs Stevie Johnson (San Francisco 49ers), Jacoby Jones (Baltimore Ravens) and Austin Pettis (St. Louis Rams) and on defense in DL Mitch Unrein (Denver) and DBs Jimmy Wilson (Miami Dolphins) and Patrick Robinson (New Orleans Saints).

The additions of Wilson and especially Robinson are huge for the Chargers secondary.

Wilson recorded 58 tackles, two passes defended and one interception while with the Dolphins. He’s a run stopper and adds needed depth at the safety position.

As for Robinson, after being a first round pick in 2010, Robinson had some great seasons with New Orleans, defending 15 (2011), 18 (2012), and 11 (2014) and intercepting four (2011), three (2012) and two (2014) passes during his three best seasons with the Saints. Robinson will be a great replacement for the departing CB Shareece Wright and should give the Chargers a shut-down-esque presence in the secondary.

In terms of the defense, Telesco really hasn’t thrown much money at the defensive front seven besides Unrein and the re-signing of DE Ricardo Mathews.

Perhaps he’s been waiting till after the draft, but Telesco needs to make some splashes or else there will be no good defensive presences left. There is a definite need at the ILB, OLB and SS positions that needs to be addressed this off-season. And while there are some good rookies out there, I believe that a veteran free agent would be the best fit for San Diego.

For example, Bernard Pollard (Tennessee Titans), Quintin Demps (New York Giants) and Danieal Manning (Houston Texans) are still on the board in terms of free agent strong safeties. Chase Blackburn (Carolina Panthers), Osi Umenyiora (Atlanta Falcons), Rolando McClain (Dallas Cowboys) and Brandon Spikes (Buffalo Bills) are all free agent linebackers that could easily make a difference for San Diego.

At the same time though, I think that the Bolts should let some of their players play. For example, DTs Sean Lissemore and Ryan Carrethers were adequate, but not outstanding in 2014. I think that Telesco should draft another DT, but let Lissemore and Carrethers improve and prove themselves in 2015 before making any game-changing moves.

And while the defense has some things that need to be worked out, Telesco has made the Bolts offense virtually unstoppable. If you look at the O-line and the receiving corps, it’s pretty stacked.

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers outside linebacker Dwight Freeney (93) and defensive end Corey Liuget (94) look at an iPad on the sideline as nose tackle Sean Lissemore (right) talks to defensive back Jahleel Addae (one from right) during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Malcom Floyd, Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates, Stevie Johnson, Jacoby Jones, Austin Pettis and Dontrelle Inman are more than enough receiving power to make this San Diego offense great. And when your offensive line is as good as the Chargers, it’s hard to not be excited.

The only real question mark on this offense past how long Philip Rivers will stay in San Diego is the running back position. Letting Ryan Mathews go was an unfortunate, but necessary bi-product of free agency. The problem is the Chargers have no one to replace Mathews in the future.

Perhaps the draft will signal a clearer picture of what Telesco’s plan is for 2015. Only time will tell.

Next: Should the Chargers take a chance on Knowshon Moreno?

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