Chargers vs Seahawks…How’d the Young Guys Do?

The most important thing about preseason is the development of the young players on each team. This is the first time rookies get a shot at seeing what the N.F.L. speed is like. You hear all the time that training camp is one speed, preseason is a notch higher, and of course the regular season is even faster and more intense, but how rookies and young guys do in preseason can make all the difference between practice squad, active roster, or cut.

I’m watching the entire game, but I’ll begin writing my intial, gut reactions through the first three quarters.

Let’s take a look at some of my very intial impressions of the Chargers and Seahawks players.

Let’s start with the Seahwks.

The Seahawks looked pretty terrible through the first half and it could be a long season for the Seahawks, that or the Chargers are just that much better than the Seahawks. The Seahawks had 25 total passing yards in the first half and zero points and Rivers and the first team Chargers offense ripped the Seahawks to shreds, but that doesn’t matter. Here is a quick recap/reaction about some individual performances.

1st half:

Yikes! Russel Okung leaves the game with an ankle injury (apparent). Xrays come back negative though. Okung was very impressive last year…when healthy. That could be the key to his career. He could be back for next preseason game.

James Carpenter and John Moffitt are part of the youth movement along the offensive line, but early on you could tell that they still have a lot to learn…which should come in time, especially the communication issues.

They had some miscommunication/missed assignments early as the Chargers linebackers were running through the line untouched on the right side where Carpenter and Moffitt were anchoring the line. Both are penciled in right now as starters.

James Carpenter looks powerful in the run game, sustains his blocks well and engulfs some players. However, he wasn’t as impressive in the pass game. Part of that could be the switch from LT to RT…irregardless through the fist half alone I think he gave up 2 sacks and a pressure. I’m positive at least one sack and one pressure.. The first drive in the second half he gave up another sack. This time to Daryl Gamble (more on him later).  He may have also had a holding penalty, I can’t remember for sure, if not I know he should have had at least one.

Moffitt didn’t seem to have as much trouble adjusting as Carpenter had in his first live action vs another N.F.LL. team. I’d like to see more of him, but other than some communications/assignments Moffitt looked solid.

Golden Tate,  a second round pick of last year, was on the field a lot, and in a lot of different situations. Sydney Rice was not playing so he got the start, but he was also back on kick returns and punt returns as well. The Seahawks seem determined to get him invovled. I liked him al ot coming out of Norte Dame last year, so it’ll be interesting to see what he can do this year.

I liked K.J. Wright as a 43 option, but he didn’t do much in the first half it seemed except have a horse collar tackle. But he was leading the team in tackles through the half way mark in the third quarter (4)

Two interesting names to watch for the Seahawks are Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman. Both are massive cornebacks (Browner is 6’4, Sherman is 6’3). Browner played in the C.F.L. last year. He had some nice pass deflections. Seems like he’ll make the team. Sherman as well is big and physical. He’s still raw. The Seahakws could look to play a lot of press coverage this year.

Kam Chancellor The second year safety out of VA Tech was flying around early vs the run game. This is an initial reaction, I’d have to watch the tape again, but it seemed like Chancellor and Thomas were out of a position a bit on passes though. Chancellor looked explosive in the run game though. Could be the makings of a very impressive secondary in two years for the Seahawks. Clearly, the talent level is high.

Wow. What a great catch by Pat Williams, bats the ball in the air with one hand and then comes down with the catch with the DB draped all over him.

Jaws and Gruden are mentioning this a lot, but they are right. The Seahawks have gotten bigger. They’re a bigger team. Bigger at cornerback and along the offensive line. Big at WR (Rice and Williams). I think Pete Carrol is trying to infuse some toughness into the Seahawks this year.

The San Diego Chargers

The early standout for the Chargers was clearly undrafted free agent rookie linebacker Daryl Gamble. He had constant pressure on Whitehurst and also was getting tackles. Like I’ve mentioned the Seahawks young offensive line looked out of sync so it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep up the same kind of play over the next three preseason games. The Chargers could find a roster spot for him if he can.

On offense the most impressive rookie was probably Jordan Todman. He’s just shifty. Looks even smaller in the N.F.L. than he did in college, but very shifty. All of the Chargers running backs can catch the ball well out of the backfield, and Todman is no exception.

Steve Schilling had a false start and a holding penalty and didn’t look great tonight overall. I expect him to come around though.

Marcus Gilchrist muffed a punt, but played all right in coverage and showcased his versatility. I thought the second round was a little early for Gilchrist, but he’ll probably see the field a lot.

Corey Liuget-A good hustle player. He had a defensive holding penalty, which is a rarity in the N.F.L. but also had some tackles and some quarterback pressures. I was also a bit skeptical of the Liuget pick, but it’s easy to see what the Chargers like about him. The holding penalty was when he was lined up as NT for the Chargers.. He has a lot of hustle in the run game, which is a great sign for the Chargers.

I believe Donald Butler was the starting middle linebacker next to Takeo Spikes. He had two tackles through the first three quarters.

 Brian Walters out of Cornell

He was on the practice squad last year. He had a kick return touchdown right at the end of the third quarter and actually looked pretty good in the return game the whole game. I thought he might have broken a punt return early in the game.

Overall

 Really dislike the kick off rule. Every kick is basically a touchback. Even though I’m a fan of a team that had terrible special teams last year, I’ll still miss the excitement kick off returns can bring.

well it got interesting at the end of the third quarter when both teams kicked the ball off and saw pretty big returns go the other way.

-So many presnap penalties. Hopefully that’s an aberration, or it gets cleaned up before the season starts.

-Wonder why the league goes so far out of the way to protect quarterbacks…watch the end of the third quarter and first part of the four quarter with Scott Tolzien and Josh Portis. Brutal. Not saying they can’t eventually play in the N.F.L., it’s just a reference for what bad quarterback play looks like.

There’ll be more happenings between now and the fourth quarter, and I’ll update the post if something interesting moves me, but I’ll rest on what I’ve seen so far.

Update:

There we go Josh Portis is starting to look pretty good now. Moving well in the pocket, he had a couple of nice play action fakes and is bringing the Seahawks right down the field and is in position for a touchdown.

What are  you guys thoughts?

What did you guys gather from the game?

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