SAN DIEGO -- Good morning and Happy Mother’s Day.
The Los Angeles Chargers rookies are finishing up minicamp on Sunday. Reporters were only allowed to watch the first day of installation on Friday. However, we should get an opportunity to watch the rookies compete with the veterans for the first time during the Chargers’ first organized team activities on Tuesday.
Chargers coach Anthony Lynn talked about making sure the first-year players were ready to make a transition.
“That’s very important because the veterans are so far ahead right now,” Lynn said. “All the meetings we’ve been having right now and the exposure on the field is only going to help them come Tuesday.
“You don’t want them to be like a fish out of water come Tuesday because they’re already going to be behind. So we have to be really efficient with the time that we have right now.”
While the coaching staff will try to put some stress on the rookies and test their learning, the offseason also provides an opportunity to slow things down on the field and focus on specific teaching points. When training camp starts at the end of July, it’s a race for the Chargers to get ready as quickly as possible for the regular season.
That said, let’s answer a couple questions from the week’s Chargers mailbag:
@eric_d_williams Where does Tre Boston fit into the current Safety situation?
— Spencer M (@free_yo_mind) May 13, 2017
@eric_d_williams: A couple things new addition Tre Boston provides are size and versatility.
Boston ran a 4.59-second 40-yard time at the NFL combine in 2014, so he’s not a burner. But at 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, Boston adds some toughness as a run defender and also has some time spent playing deep safety on his resume.
Pro Football Focus ranked Boston tied for No. 47 among safeties in their grading assessment for the 2016 season.
Boston played a career-high 812 defensive snaps with the Carolina Panthers last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information, finishing with 52 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions.
He played 555 snaps as a deep safety and 103 as a strong safety, so Boston could earn a role in sub packages as someone who can plays deep when free safety Dwight Lowery moves up to cover tight ends in passing situations.
But I think for now, the Chargers’ starting safeties remain Lowery and Jahleel Addae, with Boston competing for a role on defense with the likes of Adrian Phillips, Dexter McCoil and Adrian McDonald, along with rookies Rayshawn Jenkins and Desmond King.
@eric_d_williams Hi Eric! Where will we most likely see Kyle Emanuel more this year? 4-3 OLB in coverage or DE like he was in college?
— Allen (@chargerberrys) May 13, 2017
@eric_d_williams: Hey Allen, thanks for the question and nice meeting you in Atlanta last year. As it stands now, Kyle Emanuel is projected to start at outside linebacker on the strong side for defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
It’s a similar role to what Emanuel played in a 3-4 defensive alignment last season for departed defensive coordinator John Pagano.
Emanuel’s strength is holding the point on the edge of the defense in the run game. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Emanuel played 326 snaps at outside linebacker last season and 103 snaps at defensive end. He was even used as an inside linebacker on 71 defensive snaps because of injuries.
Bradley does a great job of figuring out what a player does well and implementing those skills into his defensive scheme. And Emanuel is an excellent run defender with some pass-rush skills. As you mentioned, pass coverage is not his strength, so he’ll probably be off the field in passing situations.
Here is a good breakdown of how Bradley will run his 4-3 under defense.