The San Diego Chargers are ringing in a new era as training camp begins for 2013 and after hiring Mike McCoy as the head coach the team has a new identity as they try to turn things around and Philip Rivers, Danario Alexander, Keenan Allen, Ryan Mathews, Dwight Freeney and DJ Fluker will be the key players that will lead the attack for McCoy.
Rivers had a down year last season, but after improving the offensive line and drafting Fluker and signing Max Starks, chances are that Rivers will be much better this season. The Chargers have a number of young receivers and it will be interesting to see who gets noticed in camp as Danario Alexander, Vincent Brown, Malcom Floyd and rookie Keenan Allen battle it out for attention from Rivers. The group is talented and McCoy likes what he has seen from Allen, but it will be tough for the rookie to start off quick in the NFL right away, as wideout is a tough spot to transition into.
The team went just 7-9 last season and the Chargers felt that McCoy was the man to turn things around after working with Tim Tebow in Denver and showing off some interesting things on offense last season as well. The team has a number of issues to get on before training camp starts and now the team will be looking for this time as a way to get any kinks out from last season as Rivers improves.
Rivers had solid stats in 2012, but a porous offensive line didn't give him enough time to set up for throws and that made him turnover the ball more, making the Chargers address the line in the offseason. Starks was brought in to play left tackle after getting rid of Jared Gaither and while he will compete with King Dunlap, chances are Starks will be starting after coming over from the Steelers. The team also has been looking at former Broncos DL Justin Bannan as a possible option on the defensive line, as he once worked with McCoy in Denver.
McCoy said that he is excited about using Dwight Freeney on defense and that cornerback Kenny Okoro and safety Jahleel Addae, undrafted free agents, have been looking sharp and could end up on the team when training camp ends. The team also has been excited about their rookies, including DJ Fluker and Manti Te'o. The defense had issues in the middle and the offensive line had a rough season in front of Rivers last year and McCoy is hoping to change that.
The team has thought about using Fluker at a different spot, but McCoy said that right tackle is where he will remain now as the team tries to reshape the offensive line. Max Starks was signed to play left tackle and the team should greatly improve stats wise on offense with the improved line play. Max Starks and Fluker could greatly help the play of Philip Rivers, who was constantly on the run last season and was sacked a ton of times for the Chargers under Norv Turner. Rivers ended up with solid number of 3,606 yards passing and 26 touchdowns, but he also had 15 touchdowns and 15 fumbles and part of that was due to the inconsistent play of the offensive line.
The team had issues all last season and after getting rid of Jared Gaither they signed free agent Max Starks from the Steelers to play left tackle and that should give Rivers more time in the pocket. He has been sacked too much over the past two seasons and adding Fluker will be a great boost to the line after dealing with issues in 2012 with coach Norv Turner. Oakland hasn't yet signed any draft picks and they are expected to start after getting rid of Michael Huff's contract and that leaves the Chargers a bit ahead of the curve, as the Chiefs and Broncos are still working on signing picks.
Last season the team went 7-9 and missed the playoffs again while ranking 24th and 27th in passing and rushing offense and now they have the chance to improve in both areas. The improvement on the line will help Rivers and it also should be a big boost for the rushing game. Starks was very successful while blocking for Ben Roethlisberger and he played every snap for the team last season, but coach Mike Tomlin wanted to get younger on the line, making him expendable.
