Chargers training camp preview: Jim Harbaugh returns to the NFL
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Chargers will open 2024 training camp with veterans reporting Tuesday to The Bolt, the team's new facility. Here's a closer look at a few storylines:
Biggest question: Will Jim Harbaugh make the Chargers contenders in Year 1?
The Chargers finished 5-12 last season. Then they got rid of their two best receivers in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, and lost running back Austin Ekeler and tight end Gerald Everett to free agency.
It seems improbable that a team with just five wins would be a contender after losing that kind of offensive talent, but Harbaugh brings high expectations with him. The last time he coached in the NFL he took a 6-10 San Francisco 49ers team to three straight NFC Championships and a Super Bowl appearance. And the players are believing in Harbaugh, too.
"Every year you feel like you're going to attack it, you feel like you're the team to beat, you feel like you're going to win the Super Bowl," safety Derwin James said, "but this year it just feels right."
The player with the most to prove: Wide receiver Quentin Johnston.
A first-round pick in last year's draft, Johnston struggled to live up to his high selection in year one. Johnston's rookie season was highlighted by drops, the most notable coming in a loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11. Johnston dropped a wide-open pass that would have put the Chargers in field goal range with 23 seconds left in the game.
It's a moment that Johnston said motivated him throughout the offseason. With Allen and Williams gone, the Chargers will need Johnston to become the player they anticipated when they selected him with their top pick last season.
"Even through the bad games I had last year, I was never like, 'Maybe I can't do it,'" Johnston said during minicamp. "At the end of the day, I still hold myself to a high standard and feel like I'm not here for no reason."
Most impactful offseason addition: Offensive tackle Joe Alt.
Defenses have pressured quarterbackJustin Herbert 828 times since the Chargers drafted him in 2020, the second-most in the NFL during that time. He suffered a season-ending fracture to his right index finger last season after a hit from Denver Broncos defensive end Zach Allen in a Week 14 loss.
Alt, who will play right tackle, not only will help protect Herbert but should help turn around a Chargers rushing attack that has struggled in recent years. Over his four seasons with the 49ers, Harbaugh's rushing offense ranked second in yards per game (139.6).
Fiercest fantasy-relevant battle: Running back.
Running the ball has long been a weakness of this team. Since Herbert was drafted in 2020, the highest the Chargers have ranked in rushing yards is 18th, in his first season. Last year they finished 24th. Since Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz took over in February, their emphasis has been on making this offense's weakness a strength.
That makes the Chargers running backs an intriguing fantasy option. The team signed Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins, who will likely compete for the starting spot and carries throughout the year. Rookie running back Kimani Vidal, who the Chargers took in the sixth round, could also be in the mix, as Dobbins has a lengthy injury history and Edwards missed minicamp with an undisclosed injury.
