We’re just two days out from the Chargers’ 2023 preseason debut against the Rams at SoFi.
While several high-profile starters won’t play considering how Brandon Staley normally operates in the preseason, there are still plenty of storylines and players to follow on Saturday.
QB Max Duggan
The Chargers’ seventh-round pick will get to play at least a quarter or more of football in his first NFL action. Duggan will coincidentally return to SoFi Stadium for the first time since his former TCU side lost to Georgia in the 2023 CFP National Championship game.
As far as can be seen in camp, there’s no quarterback competition this year for the backup role. Easton Stick is firmly in the QB2 position. For Duggan, this is an opportunity to get reps to push for the backup job in future seasons. As a prospect, Duggan had all the athletic intangibles, as seen in his highlights. But his mechanics are still somewhat raw, and he’ll need to adjust to play speed in the pros.
TE Tre' McKitty
Brandon Staley wasn’t overly complimentary of McKitty after Sunday’s scrimmage.
Staley on TE Tre' McKitty: "He's improving. We're going to learn a lot more about him when it goes live here and preseason, but it's a big camp for Tre'. He has to prove himself. I think he's improving, but there's still a lot of work to do."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) August 7, 2023
In Kellen Moore’s new offensive scheme, McKitty will have a critical role to play. As a run blocker last season, McKitty was bottom five as graded by PFF amongst tight ends. In receiving, the former Georgia tight end was graded last of 73 eligible players at his position.
This preseason and training camp will be a critical period for McKitty to prove himself and earn the trust of both Moore and Staley for when the games do matter. Perhaps he’s only the third tight end on the roster from a depth chart perspective, but he’ll still play a significant amount of snaps. Keep in mind that TE2 Donald Parham has missed games in each of the last two seasons.
WR Derius Davis
Davis will presumably be the Chargers’ starting return specialist when the regular season begins. It’ll be interesting to see his speed and how he adjusts to the kicking game at the NFL level.
Another angle to consider for Davis and special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken will be the league’s new kickoff return rule. On a one-year trial basis, the NFL has installed a new rule that starts teams at the 25-yard line if the ball is fair caught anywhere inside the 25 on kickoffs.
Do the Chargers get aggressive in the preseason, or will they play it safe in adjusting to the new rule? Either way, Davis’ return abilities should provide juice to a unit that genuinely needs it.
LB Daiyan Henley
Unlike his other rookie classmates in Davis and Duggan, which were previously mentioned on this list, Henley is competing for more reps and playing time. Ficken has referred to Henley as a player that will be active in the special teams aspect from the get-go.
But it’ll be interesting to see if he can potentially push Kenneth Murray on defensive snaps—the duo of Eric Kendricks and Murray as the starters seem locked in to start the season. With potential injuries or Murray faltering, Henley could step into a more prominent role than expected. That all begins by proving himself in camp and the preseason games.
DT Scott Matlock
The Chargers’ injury situation on the defensive line is currently suboptimal. Austin Johnson and Otito Ogbonnia remain on the PUP list with about a month until the regular season. Sebastian Joseph-Day has been dealing with a quad contusion.
The upside of these high-profile absences is that it’s allowed more valuable first-team reps for a rookie like Scott Matlock. He’ll get in on his fair share of the action on Saturday.
Matlock has the RAS and athletic profile of someone who could also play some snaps on the edge, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Chargers experiment a little bit with that in the preseason.
RB Isaiah Spiller
This preseason could be the time that we figure out what Spiller’s true role is. Is Joshua Kelley the second running back, with Spiller as the third back? Is it closer to a “2A, 2B” situation?
Spiller put up 41 yards on 18 carries in limited action last season. He looked pretty raw, which was understandable for being the youngest running back in his draft class. Spiller just turned 22 this week.
While Kelley was decent enough when healthy last year, the Chargers have not had an RB2 capable of changing pace behind Austin Ekeler, if Spiller can show off some shifty running early on, he could win himself more regular season playing time.
Kicker Cameron Dicker
Dustin Hopkins is now back at practice after recovering from his injury, but Dicker has taken complete control of the kicking competition in the early going. For the last two weeks, he’s been hitting field goals at nearly a 90% clip in practice.
Dicker can establish that it’s his job to lose. Perhaps that’s already the case. But all three of these preseason games will allow him to put a declarative stamp on it.
OT Foster Sarell
Sarell enters this season as the current swing tackle for the Chargers. If anything does happen injury-wise, Rashawn Slater or Trey Pipkins, it’ll likely be Sarell coming into the game. Another option is kicking Jamaree Salyer out like last season, but the dynamics have changed with him entering the season as a starter on the line.
Sarell struggled when called upon last year. On 186 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed 18 pressures. His work in the run game was even less efficient. This offseason, Sarell spent considerable time working with offensive line guru Duke Mayweather and Pipkins and Slater. For the sake of the Chargers’ depth along the offensive line, they should hope there’s been some improvement.
