Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken broke down the state of the Chargers’ special teams at his Monday media availability.
First, Ficken was asked about the summer kicking competition between Cameron Dicker and Dustin Hopkins.
Buy Chargers TicketsDustin, first and foremost, is an elite kicker. Either way, however it shook out, we were going to lose a top kicker. We felt, as an organization, that the body of work with what Cameron has done — nothing that Hopkins hasn’t done — more of what Dicker has done, our faith and belief in him and his consistency with it. Moving forward, we thought he was the right guy for the opportunity.
Hopkins was traded to the Browns for a 2025 seventh-round draft pick prior to final roster cuts. While the coaching staff has consistently said that the two kickers were in “competition” for most of training camp, it never truly felt that way. Dicker hit about 90% of his field goal attempts throughout the summer while Hopkins had nagging injuries that caused him to sit for various periods of time. As somewhat evidenced by the Browns trade, Hopkins playing in the preseason was merely an audition for kicker-needy teams.
When asked about Dicker’s range on field goals this year, Ficken seemed very confident.
That’s something that depends on the situation. It depends on the game, the environment, the wind, indoor or outdoor and all of that. We’re very confident in his leg strength and where he can kick from, the distance. Especially with how many reps you’re going to get, those opportunities from the greater distances. I don’t think distance really plays a factor with him. He’s steady Eddie as it is.
Dicker went 21 for 22 on field goal attempts last season. From 40-49 yards, he went 6 for 6 on the year. However, range is an interesting discussion. Last year, the former Texas product missed his only attempt from 50+ yards against the Raiders. There’s not much of a sample size to go off of and one has to wonder how many 50+ yarders Dicker would actually attempt with Staley’s 4th down philosophy.
Ficken also noted the work that will have to be done to replace fullback Zander Horvath. The 2022 seventh-round pick officially signed with Pittsburgh’s practice squad yesterday.
It’s a tough replacement. I don’t think that you, necessarily, replace a Zander Horvath. It’s unfortunate — with the way that the roster is made up — to lose a really good player, in terms of special teams, as Zander. I’m very thankful for what he brought to this organization last year and how we were able to get a foundation built with him as a rookie. He’s going to do great things wherever he is at, so I’m very happy for him to have a situation. We wanted him back here, just a different situation. It just kind of works out that way. He’s going to be successful wherever he goes.
Ficken also noted that replacing Horvath will likely be done with a group of players by committee. Kickoff team and punt team coverages are the two responsibilities that the Chargers’ special teams coordinator will now be trying to fill.
On whether he’d name Derius Davis the starting returner, Ficken was a bit tepid in his response.
We have a pretty good idea of who is going to be the returner. Obviously, Derius did some good things in the preseason games. At the end of the day, we still have to make sure that we’re repping and we’re preparing the other guys, too, on this team that can handle the job because you never know what could happen, anything can happen. We’re going full throttle with the three returners that we have on this roster, to prepare them to be ready to go on Sunday, if their number gets called.
Ficken also noted that he views kick returner and punt returner as two separate positions in his philosophy. He said that he’s seen different special teams circumstances dictate the philosophy. On his previous teams, Ficken said that he’s seen one returner handle both roles and some setups where two different returners handle each job separately.
In his final remarks of the presser, Ficken stressed the importance of newly signed LB Tanner Muse on the 53-man roster.
“Yes. We expect him to be out there. That’s a big reason why we ended up bringing him here. We’re excited to have a guy such as Tanner, the way that he plays special teams, with his length and his speed and his strength. He does a great job. We expect him to be out there and be a major contributor for us.”
It’s worth noting that Muse could end up playing a lot of special teams with his experience there. Staley and Ficken have liked their “core four” special teams players to have significant roles on the roster. Daiyan Henley was dealing with a hamstring injury last week, so it’ll also be important to see if there’s any progress on his recovery when the injury reports are released. If Henley can’t go, Muse could play an even larger role than expected.
