"IN TELESCO WE TRUST!"

     ( just saying)   NO GRADING THE DAY OF THE DRAFT

 This drives me fucking crazy. It takes three years to make a adequate opinion on a player coming out of college to the NFL. Trying to grade a player by "He's a bust or what a steal" is foolish and ignorant in April. You can not dislike a teams pick or love a pick until much later. We all love mocks but the truth is they offer nothing. In 2017 in Round 1 of the NFL Draft Mark McShey and Walter Football got 4 out of 32 picks correctly. Daniel Jeremiah had 1 pick correct. The GREAT Mr. Draft Mel Kiper had one pick correct. They are great for breaking down a players strengths and weaknesses but their mocks are for amusement mostly. I not even going to address Power Rankings. That is for elementary school fans not grown ass men. Please if you use to post these just stop!

             
    MEMORIES OF PAST CHARGER DRAFT

    Just to add insult to injury... The Head Coach and a teams General Manager don't always agree on certain selections. The General Manager buys the groceries and the Head Coach job is to prepare and cook them, (Bill Parcells voice). Chargers Head Coach Mike Riley was literally begging Bobby Beathard to take a certain QB in the draft. Beathard ignored his coach. Who did Mike Riley want? A QB out of Michigan that fell all the way to RD 6. His name is Tom Brady. Riley wanted Brady late in the 2000 draft. Brady went on to win 233 games with the Patriots. Played in a few Super Bowls too you might remember.

                                                               BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

Coming out of the era that saw the Chargers go from a Super Bowl contending team in 2007 to a team that missed the playoffs for 3 straight years that ended the tenure of Norv Turner and AJ Smith in San Diego.

The Chargers had completely lost their identity by the end of the 2012 season. Rivers had a completion of 64.1% and 25 TD. But he also had 15 INT in 2012. So in came the young guns of Mike McCoy as Head Coach and the new General Manager Tom Telesco. Telesco was a Bill Polian protege with Indy and served as a asst scout with the Carolina Panthers previously. Gone were the days where the Q was full of 90% Charger fans screaming "You can't run" from the west end zone!  Between the threats of moving and Fabiani tireless attacks on the city with frustration of the losses piling up under Norv Turner.

A lot of Chargers fans decided enough was enough at that point. They stopped going to games as the attendance dropped from an avg of 67,543 in 2009 to 59,964 per game for the 2012 season. Opposing team fans took advantage and bought tickets. The Chargers were losing home field advantage. The morale among charger fans at this time period was a mixture of depressed and angry. All fans could agree that it was nice to see some new faces in 2013.

We are going to examine Tom Telesco transactions and how it affected the team both positively and negatively. We'll break the moves of the GM down to 1.Drafted players, 2.Free agency additions- subtractions and resigned players. The Chargers use about $6.4 million for reserve for the draft. We'll monitor how he built the Chargers out of a hole from 2012 to the team in 2018.

                                                 
  TOM TELESCO RESUME
 1995-96, Scouting Assistant and Area Scout for the Panthers, Pro Scout, Colts 2004-05, Director of Pro Scouting, Colts 2006-11, Director of Player Personnel, Colts 2012, VP of Football Operations, Colts 2013-17, General Manager of the Chargers

ENTERING THE 2013 SEASON

Telesco has been in the NFL for 23 years in 2013 when he took over the Chargers. He started out as a asst in Carolina. That led him to Indy where he would work under Bill Polian. He was one of the main players putting together a deal for Andrew Luck to replace Peyton Manning. He also helped led the Colts to 2 Super Bowls. 

From 1998-2012, the Colts won 154 regular-season games, eight division titles and they appeared in the playoffs 12 times. Indianapolis set an NFL record with 12 or more wins in seven consecutive seasons and they won an NFL-record 23 straight regular-season games during the 2008-09 seasons. Their 115 regular-season wins from 2000-09 set an NFL record for wins in a decade.

In 2015, Booga and I was covering the annual practice at Miramar for BoltBlitz.com . We had a good 20 minute conversation with Telesco on the field about contracts and the recently approved new CBA along with the rules that went with it. Telesco is easy to approach and very likeable unlike A.J. Smith. I haven't heard of any complaints between him and the players agents. I think he has had a very tough task of rebuilding a roster that just years ago was Super Bowl worthy. Now It was like a bomb dropped on the 53 man roster. All that remained was the injured weak survivors. Or as we call them, The 2013 San Diego Chargers!!!

 The one thing I do like about Telesco is his ability not to hold grudges against players agents. Tom Condon, Drew Rosenhaus or David Cantor all seem to be able to get business done with Telesco. (Bosa holdout was John Spanos butting his nose in where he was severely unqualified and not useful) Dean Spanos I can tell you has a very rough opinion of agents. AJ Smith approach was admired by Spanos but in the end how many players didn't come here cause of the stance the team would take? Observing a players agent is sometimes useful when deciding what a players going to do.

 Chargers lack of love for players agents go all the way back to the Sid Gillman days.However, seldom does a war take place like what happened in San Diego in 2004 with Eli Manning, AJ Smith and Tom Condon. That was an epic battle of egos. Eli contention that ownership wasn't committed to winning and once going to move the team proved in the end to be correct. "Hey AJ, Kiss the rings"!

                                                                

Now in 2018, Telesco entering his 5th year as the team's General Manager. The majority of the scouting department made the transition to LA. He entered into a shit storm of bad contracts and dead money with almost no cap space in 2013. Ed McGuire still works out the contracts and John Spanos is involved with the day to day operations. 

Although at the time the 2013 Chargers draft selection was graded high. As we look back at Tom Telesco first draft as GM of the Chargers. It was in fact his worse. We see the expensive extensions that were giving to Luiget, Cox, Flowers and Franklin and how it backfired on the team. Telesco quite good at adding undrafted free agents after the draft and finding a free agent here and there to fill a hole. He has never been a big spender in free agency. He avoids the big spending that can take place in this league at the beginning of free agency.

 In 2013, the Chargers cap space was around 7 million. You can't fix a roster like the one the Chargers had with 7 million dollars. In 2014, he had to cut some players and restructure other players contracts just to get a positive amount to spend. In 2015, it began to equal out more evenly and he got a cap space of $23.2 million. In 2016, they started out with $6 million. Today is March 1, 2018, as of now the Chargers are at $23 million to spend projections at overthecap.com. That number has been confirmed.

Telesco drafts are sometimes a weird trend to follow. He has never drafted a rd 1 pick back to back offense-defense. Last year RD 1 pick was Mike Williams. so bank on a defensive player in this years draft. It seems every year the mock drafts pick a OLineman or DT for the Chargers. Those two positions have largely been ignored in the first 3 rounds of Telesco drafts even though their the biggest needs on the team. You will see Telesco made some major mistakes in the 2013 and 2014 drafts. Lately he has come around and built a pretty damn good roster with minimal resources.

2013 CHARGERS DRAFT  
Needs OLINE, DT, ILB, S, G,WR and RB.

RD 1 OT DJ FLUKER
RD 2 LB MANTI TEO 
Great college players do not make great NFL players.
RD 3 WR KEENAN ALLEN
RD 4 TRADED AWAY
RD 5 CB STEVE WILLIAMS
RD 6 OLB TOUREK WILLIAMS
RD 7 QB BRAD SORENSEN

ADDITIONS FREE AGENCY

CB Derek Cox                       

DE Dwight Freeney               

TE John Phillips                                  

OT King Dunlap                       

RB Danny Woodhead   

CB Richard Marshall              

RB Chris Gronkowski               

LB Thomas Keiser
OT Max Starks
WR Deon Butler
G Rich Ohrnburger
G Chad Rinehart
DE Jarius Wynn

Resigned RB Ronnie Brown for 1 year and Richard Goodman

SUBTRACTIONS
G Louis Vasquez
LB Antuan Barnes
CB Antoine Cason
CB Quentin Jammer
LB Shaun Phillips
LB Takeo Spikes
LB DeMarion Williams
G Reggie Wells

UNDRAFTED Included are the ones that made the 53 and/or PS
S Jaheel Addae
G Craig Watts
T Jeremiah Sirlus
DE Brandon Moore
DT Kwame Geathers

PRACTICE SQUAD

T Nick Becton

WR Dan Depalma

CB Brandon Jones

OLB Terrell Manning

WR Tobias Palmer

DE Damik Scafe

RB Kerwynn Williams

TE Eric Otten

                                 

GRADING THE DRAFT 2013 DRAFT
The Chargers offensive line was a aging mess of injuries. At times Norv had to start a player he just signed right off the practice squad. Jared Gaither, Jeromy Clary, Nick Hardwick, Tyronne Green and Mike Harris were missing games regularly.  In Rd 1 Telesco first pick as the Chargers general manager was the tackle from Alabama DJ Fluker. Word is he was not their first choice. Fluker with the 11th pick was all that was the best of what was left of offensive lineman when Chance Warmack went to Tenn with their 10th pick. 3 tackles and 2 guards were already off the table. They were ready to trade up to 6th for Lane Johnson but he was grabbed by the Eagles at 4. The knock on Fluker was he was not a LT. They swore he could be and eventually they did move him to guard. He was even worse there. Fluker was released in 2017 with little production except for his rookie year.

 Teo was a waste of 2 picks as the Telesco traded up in Rd 2 of the draft. No one was going to draft him before the original pick at 45. Trading up made little sense especially with so many holes on the roster to fill. Teo was just to slow for the NFL. He was more of a rotational guy instead of a starter. Teo would be awful in pass protection but better vs the run.

Telesco made maybe the pick of his career in Keenan Allen. The Wide receiver had a hurt leg and fell into their lap.

With Gilchrist and Jammer projected to be leaving soon. They selected Steve Williams as a hopeful replacement at corner. He mostly sat on the injury report week after week with Manti Teo. Tourek Williams would spend his share on the injury list as well. Brad Sorensen was a good pick who has worked well with Rivers in the film room. He would allow them to let Charlie Whitehurst go.

Only one player remain on the roster today from this draft. One player in six picks and another pick traded to the Cardinals. This draft was hailed at the time as a A. Grading the draft on the day of the draft is the dumbest thing in all of sports. We know now it did very little to address the woes of the team on the offensive line. The pick could have been DT Star Lotulelei. The same needs the team had in 2013 they would forward to 2014. This would be the worst draft in my opinion that Telesco would have. With very little money of cap space they needed production out of their draft picks. They didn't get much and because of that they get a bad draft grade for 2013.
2013 Chargers Draft D 

                                                   

                   
REVIEW OF THE 2013 SEASON   
Rivers and Whisenhunt worked miracles as Whisenhunt found the missing spark to the teams offense that was lacking. Only two coaches returned from Norv staff. Rivers went from being blasted with 49 sacks to 30 in 2013. Rivers would win Comeback player of the year and Allen broke many of the teams rookie records. The WR corp was Allen, Royal. Brown, Hawkins, and Tutu. TE Ladarius Green couldn't block if his life depended on it and it prevented him from playing a major part in the offense. The holes left over from Norv and AJ and injuries to the 2013 roster made this team over achievers to get to 9 wins and a playoff game. 9 players went on IR. The defense could not get a pass rush and the oline was beginning to fall apart again.DB Derek Cox signed a 4 year $20 million dollar contract before the season Telesco first big move. Right after they signed Cox a sports agent David Cantor tweeted "what a massive mistake it was". Cox just could not adjust to the new schemes in SD. Players swore he worked hard and on Xmas Eve he visited the inmates at the  SD Jail to brighten their spirits. He worked hard but it was a massive waste of money for his production. This still goes down as one of the top 5 worst FA contracts in given out in Charger history.

 The 2013 squad had impressive wins over Dallas, Phil and the Colts. A week one collapse at home to the Texans was an embarrassing start to the Mike McCoy era. They recovered as Mccoy began to let Rivers call his own plays at the line of scrimmage. 

The team needed a miracle going into week 17. The last Sunday of the season they needed the Ravens and Dolphins to lose and they had to beat KC at home. All the moons aligned and they made the Wildcard Round defeating the Bengals on the road.  It was about the only time the moons aligned for Mike McCoy.  The Chargers defeating the Chiefs to enter the Playoffs. In the video below you will see Tom Telesco entering the field while John and Dean Spanos were hugging members of the staff coming off the field. The video is compliments of Annie Heilbrunn. I was in Plaza right above Annie Heilbrunn and Marty Caswell for the videos.
                     2013 RESULT CHARGERS 9-7 3RD PLACE AND A WILDCARD WIN 

                                                               



                                                                     

                                                             Polian on Telesco 2013 draft

                                                                   

                                                                 

2014 CHARGERS DRAFT  
Team needs 2 CB, G, OLB, C, RB DT, WR

RD 1 CB Jason Verrett 

RD 2 LB Jerry Attaochu 

RD 3 G CHRIS WATT 

RD 4 TRADING AWAY 

RD 5 DT RYAN CARRETHERS  

RD 6 RB MARION GRICE  

RD 7 WR TEVIN REESE
 This was the draft Telesco would later tell us that the scouts had high grades on QB Cardale Jones. They had a private workout with him in Columbus one day before the draft. Jones would be drafted in Rd 4 by the Bills. Telesco would trade for him as the Chargers general manager in 2017.  All the experts had DT Louis Nix to Chargers. Nix wound up being one of the biggest busts in this whole draft to the Texans in Rd 3. Nix was injured and never played 1 down for the Texans.   Verrett could be one of the top corners in the NFL. The problem is he is never on the field. He has played in 25 out of 64 games. That makes him a liability not an asset. 2018 is his last chance to prove he can play corner in this league with his size. He better start doing it or he will be replaced in 2019. Hell, at least Cason was on the field. That is more than we can say for Jason Verrett. Hope is still there but time is not. INCOMPLETE GRADE

LB Attaochu is who Telesco traded away another 4th rounder to move up in the 2nd round to draft. Telesco said "We are thrilled to get him!" Again drafting injured players. You can not develop a player when he is on the sidelines. The Chargers trading up to get the injured unproductive player out of Georgia Tech never proved fruitful.

C Chris Watt was projected to be a 5th or even a 6th rounder. Telesco choose the hopeful Hardwick replacement in the 3rd round with pick 89. Watt busted his ass to be the teams center but was overwhelmed quickly by the opposition. Watt only played 17 games with the Chargers. Guess where Chris Watt is today? He has retired. The teams used 5 centers in 2014. This was a bad pick then and a bad pick now. Just leaves you scratching your head.

DT Ryan Carrethers joined the Chargers never ending search for a DT. Carrethers had one really good game vs Raiders. He played in 24 games and only started 3 games with 0 sacks. There still seems to be no answer at DT as Carrethers and Lissemore would  both struggle.

RB Marion Grice from Arizona State was the Chargers pick in 2014. Grice never made it to week 1. He couldn't exert himself in camp and got lost among the multiple RB on the team and was sent to the Practice Squad. Telesco figured no one would claim him and he could develop into a productive player better there. But Arizona shockingly did claim him. He never produced for the Cardinals. 

WR Reese was 5'10 and 163 pounds. The man ran great routes and he had some speed. He shined at practice but couldn't get that over to the preseason games. Reese as well did not make it to week 1. He never played a down in the NFL. The last 2 draft picks of 2014 did not even make it to week 1 of the season. Reese was raved about by the experts. He never played a down in the NFL. Verrett could still be the player Telesco selected well see. No one else in this draft class ending up being the player Telesco saw. 
 This draft class as a group played only 46 snaps that year. That ranks Telesco 30th in the NFL for that stat Per Eric Williams ESPN.
GRADE C- 

2014 UNDRAFTED 

DT Tenny Palepoi

S Alden Darby

TE Michael Flacco

WRTorrence Allen

2014 Free Agents

CB Brandon Flowers

LB Kavell Conner

RB Donald Brown

QB Kelly Clemens

OT Max Starks
WR Deon Butler
G Rich Ohrnburger
G Chad Rinehart
DE Jarius Wynn

Resigned RB Ronnie Brown for 1 year and Richard Goodman

Subtractions

CB Derek Cox

CB Johnny Patrick

DT Cam Thomas

QB Charlie Whitehurst

FB Leron McClain

                                              The Chargers comeback vs 49ERS

                                                   

 2014 SEASON

The team finished 9-7 this time and 3rd in the AFC West. Frank Reich took over the offense from Whisenhunt. The Chargers went through 5 centers and lost Woodhead early in the season. Mathews would also miss 7 games. and Allen would rupture his kidney in the season finale. Telesco has largely ignored the oline and the pass rushing problems that could be better served with a high prospect DT through the early rounds of the draft or free agency. Fans had high hopes for McCoy 2nd year. McCoy letting Rivers have more control over the offense was paying dividends calling plays at the line. Keenan Allen saved Rivers career finally giving him a high quality receiver that he hadn't had since Vincent Jackson left. The problem is Malcolm Floyd was injured early in the season and the talent behind him was below average at best. The Chargers had 13 players on IR in 2014.Telesco also extended Donald Butler deal to 7 year and $51 million. Kevin Acee called it "the biggest money grab I've personally witnessed." He said Butler lost interest in football after signing the deal adding "there were games his uniform might have actually been cleaned." PFF had him ranked 51st out of 60 ILB.
RESULT 2014 CHARGERS 9-7 2ND PLACE

                                                        

2015 DRAFT

Entering the draft needs...RB, DT, OT, OLB, ILB, G, WR, QB 
RD 1 RB Melvin Gordon
Rd 2 LB Denzel Perryman 
RD 3 CB Craig Mager
RD 4 TRADED AWAY 
RD 5 OLB Kyle Emmnual
RD 6 DE Darius Philon
  
ADDITIONS
WR Stevie Johnson
T Joseph Barksdale
T Chris Hairston
G Orlando Franklin
CB Jimmy Wilson
CB Patrick Robinson
DE Mitch Unrein

Subtractions
RB Ryan Mathews
WR Eddie Royal
G Chad Rinehart
C Nick Hardwick
OLB Dwight Freeney
ILM Reggie Walker
ILB Andrew Gachkar
CB Shareece Wright
S Marcus Gilchrist


UNDRAFTED
CB Michael Davis
WR Artavis Scott
K Younghoe Koo

  REVIEW OF THE 2015 SEASON
 The Chargers just fell apart in 2015. The stadium saga was at a boiling point and anger at the team ownership was at a all time high. The opposing teams were taking over the stadium as fans stayed home instead of supporting the ownership. Rivers threw 29 INT but the downside is 13 were INT. It looked like the Rivers regression was back. The positions where games are won and loss had just been ignored for way to long. There was no pass rush and the offensive line was a turn style for defensive players to hit Rivers like it was a WWE event. The Chargers brought on Stevie Johnson with 3 year 10.5 million dollar deal. Fluker was graded the 2nd best lineman on the team but when the entire line is ranked 31st in the NFL that a really bad sign. Luiget 5 year deal for 51 million produced 0 sacks in 495 rushes. Flowers at 4 years 36 million wind up  retiring from concussions.

 The Chargers tradition of injuries continue to mount year after year. Antonio Gates is clearly getting older and struggling to get any type of separation between him and defenders. Gordon was getting mauled before he could even reach the LOS. Luiget and Reyes were worse than 2014 and that is saying something. The Chargers were a team but not playing like a team. Barksdale played 31 of 32 games for the team. Before regressing and getting injured in 2017. Franklin broke the bank at 16.5 million guaranteed off of a 5 year 36.5 million dollar deal. He would be the 3rd highest paid guard in the NFL. His production after the contract was at the bottom of the league for his position. Guy is a thief.
                                                 WEEK 16 vs Dolphins

                                                   

 GRADING 2015 DRAFT
 Gordon was a great pick by filling a need and BPA. The problem I have is the reckless disagreed to not value the effects each draft pick is to a football team.  Telesco traded away the 17th pick and a 5th rounder in 2016 to trade 2 up spots. The Oline was a disaster. The Chargers clearly hate DT in the NFL. The entire offensive line needed to be addressed along with the DLine and upgrades in the secondary. There is only so many picks in one draft and Telesco trading away players by giving up valuable picks was making the holes more glaring. Gordon and Perryman were two valuable picks that looked like it would pay off in the long run.  The Mager pick was a reach for sure. A 3rd round selection who was on almost all boards a projected 5th or 6th round selection. This was a depth pick as the Chargers already had 4 corners on the roster. Emmnual was a solid pick. He can play special teams and rotate on the defense when needed. Philon might be looked at as the most solid pick of the draft getting hum in the 6th round. Rivers should file a lawsuit for neglecting his offensive line in the draft for so many years. We saw again Telesco trade away a 4th round pick in the draft. Trading a 4th and a 5th round selection to move up in the 1st round to select Gordon. DRAFT GRADE B

The Chargers failure to add "impact" players from the draft in 2013 and 2014 on the roster was displayed on the defense in 2015.  The entire defense played the price. At times it seemed the only player on the field playing was Melvin Ingram. The defense fell to 23rd on yds giving up, 27th against the rush and 29th in passing plays. Verrett was an upgrade over Cox and Richard Marshall but can't stay on the field with his body frame. Too many players and not enough play makers hampered the Chargers from improving the way everyone thought they would. 

This was also the last season for S Eric Weddle. He would have a normal aging vet bad exit in a feud with Dean Spanos. 15 players were put on the IR list in 2015 as the team went 0-6 in the AFC West. They did not get a road win until week 12 vs Jacksonville. The week before at home against the Chiefs, the Chargers went without a touchdown for the first time since 2012 in a 33-3 defeat. Through the years of ownership threats to move to seasons after season now of losses piling up the stadium was token over that year by the Bears and Steeler fans as the diehard bolt faithful just began to lose faith in the ownership. In week 16 at home against the Miami Dolphins Eric Weddle played his last game as a Charger and what some expected might be the last game for the Chargers in San Diego. The following week the team came home from Denver as the season ended. Even feeling disappointed and angered over how the team played in 2015. Over 4,000 fans met the team home at the complex when the busses arrived from the airport to say thank you.

Backstory... Dean Spanos vs Eric Weddle. Eric wanted to see his daughter perform during the Halftime show. There is a clause in the CBA that states if a players is fined by the team or is suspended by the league then that team can't fight bonus money played to the player. HENCE.. Why Weddle was fined by Dean Spanos creating a war between his agent David Cantor and the front office. The team had a few injured players on the 53 for that final week vs Denver. The only one they added to the IR was Eric Weddle. They told the team no injured players can make the trip with the team to Denver because "of a lack of room". The players union wanted to appeal the fine imposed on Weddle. Dean Spanos garnished the $10,000.00 fine out of Eric Weddle last check. The Players Union filed a grievance with the league and the Spanos family continued the tradition of shitting on a veteran of loyal years to the team while exiting out the door.

 UPDATE: In 2018, the Ravens ( Weddle new team with Danny Woodhead) will travel to Carson to play the Chargers. The Chargers  put 15 players on IR throughout the 2015 season. It's hard to build anything when you have 28 pieces that can't finish the puzzle. That is how many players missed action and went on IR in 2 years.

                                    RESULT 2015 CHARGERS 4-12 4TH PLACE

2016 CHARGERS DRAFT AND SEASON
Rd 1 DE Joey Bosa

Rd 2 TE Hunter Henry
Rd 3 C Max Tuerk
Rd 4 ILB Joshua Perry
Rd 5 OLB Jatavis Brown
Rd 6 K Drew Kaser
Rd 6 FB Derek Watt
Rd 7 G Donavon Clark

ADDITIONS
WR Travis Benjamin
C Matt Slauson
DT Brandon Mebane
S Casey Heyward
TE Brett Boyko
OT Chris Hairston
C Trevor Robinson
DE Mitch Unrein
WR Stevie Johnson
CB Patrick Robinson 
SUBTRACTIONS

RB Donald Brown
TE Ladarius Green
DE Kendall Reyes
G Johnnie Troutman
ILB Donald Butler
S Eric Weddle
CB Patrick Robinson
ILB Kavell Connor
G Chad Rinehart
Undrafted 
CB Trevor Williams
C Spencer Pulley
RB Kenneth Farrow

 GRADING THE 2016 DRAFT
 Okay now Telesco getting this draft thing down. Build your team through the draft and fill holes in free agency. Bosa can be a franchise career Charger being picked in Rd 1 from Ohio State. Allen and Bosa will go down as the two best picks Telesco ever made. He hit gold with these two guys. Bosa is quick and stronger than you perceive him to be. Against the Raiders he got knocked down at the line of scrimmage. I saw him get up, hit a lineman to the ground run 10 yards down field and make the tackle. I remember jumping up in the air screaming "Holy Fuck"!, we haven't had a player like that since the 2006 Merriman. His motor just does not stop. Sadly, John Spanos was involved in the talks to sign Bosa and ill advised fought over the offset language and when certain money would be paid to Bosa. This caused Bosa to miss most of the offseason and be the longest holdout since the new CBA. The ceiling is unlimited for Bosa and hopefully they keep him long term. 

Hunter Henry was badly needed as Antonio Gates just is the TE he use to be. He struggles badly to create the separation from a defender that made him one of the best TE to ever play the game. The Chargers just had released John Phillips and they liked to play a 2 TE set in 2015. But that requires a TE who can block. Henry can block on running plays and catch something the team hasn't had in several years. 

Max Tuerx was the 3rd round pick. He could play guard and tackle which is something Telesco looks for when drafting a lineman. This was a bust pick however as he never played a snap for the Chargers. He had ACL surgery and then was suspended by the league for violating the substance abuse policy. He was released in October of 2017. 

Joshua Perry was the teams 4th round selection. The Chargers released Kavell Connor and Donald Butler in the offseason. They were projecting to let Teo walk in free agency the following year if Perry could fill his role. He never showed that even though Teo walked in free agency anyhow. Coach Lynn would release Joshua Perry on September 9 with a injury settlement. Lynn doesn't care who drafted you or when. Produce or you're gone. This was made clear to every charger with Orlando Franklin and Joshua Perry release in 2017. 
  
 Jatavis Brown led the team in tackles in 2016. His speed was evident on the defense. In 2017 he just got beat out by the better player Adrian Phillips. Each week he saw less and less snaps. The coaching staff clearly lost any interest in Brown as Phillips just fills more of what they need from the position. He will have to prove he's worth in the preseason of 2018 or as we learned from coach Lynn you will be gone. Drew Kaser was selected in the 5th round to replace Mike Scifres. He has done a formidable job as the punter even almost tried to fill in on a Thanksgiving Day game against Dallas as a field goal kicker when Nick Novak injured his back. During kicking into a net on the sidelines he missed and badly. Lynn went for it on 4th down instead of having Kaser give a FG try on national television which I'm sure Kaser will be forever grateful. The 6th round selection reunited Derek Watt with Melvin Gordon who were teammates in college at Wisconsin. The last Puck of the 7th round was Donavon Clark. Clark can play guard, right tackle and left tackle. He was injured in August 2016 before the season and placed on IR. He was waived on injured reserve a year later.
2016 CHARGERS DRAFT GRADE B



 REVIEW THE 2016 CHARGERS SEASON
 Keenan Allen went down in week one and it kinda went down hill from there. The 2016 team had a lot of developmental players thrown into starting positions to early. Injuries formed on both sides of the ball. It led up to the Chargers losing to the worst team in the NFL(Browns) The Chargers went 1-5 in division and only had 3 wins at home. This would be the end to McCoy tenure as a Head Coach. He did not develop players nor and his play calling was a major issue. The Chargers were also distracted as this was the 47th year in the NFL and 46th in San Diego. It was also the last. The team is almost always leading the league in injuries. The loss of Eric Weddle leadership and presence was evident.  The Chargers traded away G Jeremiah Sirlus to Vikings for a 6th round pick. The 53 man roster is playoff caliber but certain holes are getting neglected and the injuries are mounting a otherwise pretty strong 53. Mike McCoy just could not develop players. The result was the team never improved the way people thought they would. Mike McCoy was fired as a result. RESULT CHARGERS SEASON 5-11 4TH PLACE

PREVIEW OF THE 2017 CHARGERS SEASON
Tom Telesco 2nd coaching hire was complete with former Bills RB Coach Anthony Lynn. Lynn mentor was Mike Shanahan the former Broncos coach who won two Super Bowls. Lynn was taking over a team with the right foundation but no direction. Poor play was not being held accountable to the players under McCoy. Excuses were made by everyone. Lynn seemed to put all the players on notice. This is a job interview. If you don't impress you don't have a job. He made players better. He developed the younger guys to be more productive. Something we didn't see under McCoy regime.

2017 DRAFT
 Needs Oline, DE, WR, DT
Rd 1 WR Mike Williams
Rd 2 G Forrest Lamp
Rd 3 G Dan Feeney
Rd 4 S Rayshawn Jenkind
Rd 5 S Desmond King
RD 6 T Sam Tevi
Rd 7 DE Issac Rochelle

ADDITIONS
S Tre Boston
QB Cardale Jones
T Russell Okung
SUBTRACTIONS
T King Dunlap
T DJ Fluker
CB Brandon Flowers
ILB Manti Teo
WR Stevie Johnson
ILB Donald Butler
CB Robert McClain
RB Danny Woodhead
DT Sean Lissemore
RB Ronnie Hillman
RB Dexter McCuster
PRACTICE SQUAD
TE Braedon Bowman
RB Jalen Simmons
WR Artavis Scott
DE Whitney Richardson
CB Jeff Richards
OLB James Ownualu
S AJ Hardy
WR Andre Patton
G Cole Tomer

2017 DRAFT GRADE
Although I disagreed with the Mike Williams pick I can't grade him because he missed most the of the season with an injury. When he did get snaps there was nothing much to like. He gets a incomplete grade to be fair until the end of the 2018 season. The following picks for Telesco are some real gems. Forrest Lamp can finally give some consistency they've so badly needed. He too was injured before the season but his projections are he can be a player like Allen and Bosa and fill a need for the next 10 years. Freeney was a 2nd round grade but fell right to the Chargers in the 3rd. Coupled with Lamp these two create a nastiness on the offensive line we haven't had since Hardwick and Dielman.
Jenkins fills depth on the roster and what a pick at round 5 for the chargers with Desmond King. He was mocked in several mock drafts at Rd 1. The man just knows how to play the game of football. 76 tackles, 5 passes defended , 4 sacks and a INT. Not bad for a rookie.He was used in 716 defensive snaps ( a coaches dream) according to Pro Football Reference. Tevi was the teams 6th round selection and plays both guard spots. He 6'5 and 311 pounds. Most would have preferred a defensive player here but Telesco choose depth on the oline in Rd 6. Rd 7 pick was Issac Rochelle who spent most of the season on the practice squad. He did get promoted up to the 53 in mid December to give the team more depth at DE.
2017 CHARGERS DRAFT GRADE B

REVIEW OF THE 2017 SEASON 9-7 3RD PLACE
The 2017 season was a year of transition. The team was focused on moving the complex to Costa Mesa and upgrading the Stubhub center to make it NFL official. The team spent about 13 million in property and upgrades and Rivers was commuting with Kelly Clemens from Rancho Santa Fe to Carson. The players were looking for homes up in the area and some rooming with other players until they could get settled. This did prove to be a distraction as the team struggled early in the season. The Chargers only beat two teams with a winning record in 2017. Trying to gouge exactly where the team really is difficult giving that. Coach Lynn wife lives on the east coast so this year was a real struggle for all in involved. They missed the playoffs because the offense started very slowly all season. I think they only scored 3 times in the 1st quarter all year. They lost some games on missed field goals and in the other the opposing team just ran the ball down their throat controlling the game. They went 9-3 in their last 12 games. If they draft well and maybe just a player or two in free agency this team one on right track for 2018. I would expect Telesco to spend his 23 million in cap space very wisely. They will not be players for the big names in free agency. For once they may not need to be. the ship on the right course they keep the captains of the ship aboard (Rivers, Allen, Gordon, Bosa, Ingram and King and the puzzle might just get put together just in time to crash Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII! Telesco himself improved in 2017. He was ranked 30th by the Sporting News for General Managers and now has improved to 23rd.

 IR Players
2013 10 Players
2014 13 Players
2015 15 Players
2016 23 Players
2017 14 Players

TRADES
2013 The Chargers traded their second round (No. 45 overall) and fourth round (No. 110 overall) selections to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for the Cardinals' second round selection (No. 38 overall).

2014  The Chargers traded their second- (No. 57 overall) and fourth- (No. 125 overall) round selections to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the Dolphins' second-round selection (No. 50 overall).

2015  The Chargers traded their fourth-round selection (No. 117 overall) and 2016 fifth-round selection to the San Francisco 49ers to move up in the first round to select Melvin Gordon.

The Chargers traded their seventh-round selection (No. 236 overall) to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for defensive tackle Sean Lissemore.

2016 The Chargers traded their 2016 fifth-round selection, along with their 2015 first- and fourth-round selections to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the 49ers' 2015 first-round selection.

 The Chargers acquired an additional sixth-round selection in a trade that sent guard Jeremiah Sirlus to the Minnesota Vikings.

As the result of a negative differential of free agent signings and departures that the Chargers experienced during the 2015 free agency period, the team received one compensatory selections for the 2016 draft in the fifth round.  Free agent transactions that occurred after May 12, 2015 did not impact the team's formula for determining compensatory selections for the 2016 draft. 

2017 The Chargers traded the 2018 7th round pick to Buffalo Bills for QB Cardale Jones.

OVERVIEW
Telesco career might come down to this years draft. How we replaces Philip Rivers will be how fans look back on Telesco career as general manager of the Chargers. Rivers contracts ends at the end of the 2019 season. Rivers and the team both seem to be on the same page that 2019 would be Rivers last year. Rivers wants to go back to Alabama and coach high school football. It is better for a player to retire 1 year to early then a year to late. Telesco started out very poorly in 2013 and 2014 in the draft but has built a pretty damn good football team since. telesco has the coach he wants and soon Lynn will have the QB he wants ( he prefers mobile QB over pocket passers). Soon everyone will have the stadium they want. The future looks good for the Chargers. In the end when all is said and done. Only one thing matters. A general manager legacy depends on 1 thing. WINSS!!!!!

 Telesco is 36 wins and 44 losses with 1 wild card victory. Some fans are happy6 with that. They only remember the most recent good picks by Telesco. example  ("He got Allen, Bosa, Henry, Verrett and King.") Yes but he also got Teo, Tuerk, Perry, Watt, Reese, Grice, and his trades were very questionable in what he gave up to the return on the teams investment.
 The contract handed out to Barksdale, Cox, Donald Butler and Brandon Flowers must be weighed in with everything else.

 36-44 4 years since the team made the playoffs. In the end that is all that matters. But he has restored hope.