It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports Network. Hey, we talked about the NFL matchup kicking us off tonight. Out in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, we got the World Series. The World Series. Look at me.
I know Phillies fans will be happy about that. We got the. World Champion Eagles getting ready to host the Dallas Cowboys. That's in Philly. But then tomorrow we head on down to Brazil and then we have the runner up with the Kansas City Chiefs getting ready to take on a division rival In the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chiefs get a lot of attention. We know why. They got a guy marrying a superstar. They got one of the best quarterbacks and coaches of all time. And the Chargers are trying to catch up with their new head coach, Jim Harbaugh, one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in Justin Herbert.
They've made some adjustments to the offense and the defense to talk about what we can expect tomorrow and going forward. From the Chargers. Joining us right now is someone who's covered the team for years for the Sporting Tribune. Joining us right now is Fernando Ramirez. Fernando, how are you?
JR, how are you doing? I'm very well. Thank you for the time and joining us. Just to get straight to brass tacks. We know Jim Harbaugh from from day one coming in.
He wanted to build up the offensive line.
Now you got Rashawn Slater out. God only knows if Makai Bechten will ever be or stay healthy. What are your thoughts on one piece that Harbaugh wanted to be a strength that's now a little bit of a question mark?
Well, I mean, it was even a question mark when he decided to bring back Bradley Bozeman, and then they decided to keep Zion Johnson at left guard. I mean, Those two guys are a big piece of why the offensive line struggled last year. And Trey Pipkins, also, when they moved, he kicked him inside to play guard. That was also a little bit of a question, Mark, but Those two guys, just if you go back and look at the Baltimore game, you look back at the Tampa Bay game and the Houston game, those two guys were allowing a lot of pressure.
So I think. Fans, even some of us in the media, we thought Jim would do a lot more. To get those guys to bring in some competition for them. They brought in Andre James. The former uh Raider uh center.
And he does well in the scheme that that uh That Greg Roman tries to run, but from the beginning, Jim Harbaugh said it's Zion or it's. Bradley Boseman at center or guard. They tried interchanging him, it didn't work.
Now they decided, okay, we're going to leave Bradley at center, we're going to leave uh Zion at guard, but There was really no competition in training camp, which was very bizarre. They said from the beginning, it's going to be Zion and it's going to be Bradley Boseman.
So, yeah, the only non-question mark on this offensive line is Joe Walt. Everybody knows what they're going to get out of Joe Walt. Joe Walt could end up being an all-pro. Style of tackle, left tackle for the Chargers, which would leave obviously huge question marks about should they kick Rashawn back or should they bring him back to left tackle.
Next year or whatever, but that's for next year. This year, the only question mark on that offensive line or the only player that's not a question mark Is Joe Alt? Fernando Ramirez is joining us charged as reporter for the Sporting Tribune. Knowing that Justin Herbert, we've seen him uh lay some eggs. to end some seasons.
He had three interception games and you think about the offensive line. He's one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the game, over that fifty million dollar a year mark. What are you expecting from Justin Herbert now that he's spending another year with Harbaugh? I think finally, Justin's getting continuity when it comes to the head coach and the offensive coordinator and what the system's going to be. I mean, I was on a radio show from Kansas City, and I mean, they were basically going hard at Justin.
And I told them, I completely understand that, but we also have to look at it. as He's had the worst, uh, he's had the worst situation around him than the other quarterbacks. I'm like, Zach Taylor's been with Joe Burrows since the beginning. John Harbaugh's been with Lamar since the beginning. Andy Reid's been with Patrick since the beginning.
And even Sean McDermott's been with Josh Allen since the beginning. And that doesn't have anything to do with. That has nothing to do with the quarterbacks. That has to do with the organization. And when you have Brandon Seely in there with...
Hey, uh he's a defensive guru, but... His focus was too much on the defense, and the defense was one of the worst aspects and worst parts of this team. That's a huge red flag.
So there's been a lot of situations around Justin and And I get that, but at the same time, yes, he does need to show up. He should make big plays.
Now they feel like they've got weapons around them that can do that. I mean, if you go back and look at that Houston game, Latima Conkey was the only one that made any sort of play. And that was even double teamed at times. He was still making plays. Everybody else, I mean, he had 197 yards.
The next closest was Will Disley. With 18 receiving yards.
So, what do they do? They go out and draft Trey Harris. They draft Keondre Lambert Smith. They decide to bring back Mike Williams, but obviously, Mike Williams ends up retiring. Keenan Allen comes back in the fold.
They draft a young running back in Omarion Hampton. They bring in Najee Harris. They feel like there's a lot better weapons this year around Justin Herbert than there have been in years past.
So that's the big positive for them: the weaponry has gotten a lot more improved. I think they're going to run the football a lot more because they feel like they have two backs that can actually complement each other and can actually do what Jim Harbaugh wants to do. No knock on JK Dobbins and and Gus Edwards, but these two are the style of running backs that Jim Harbaugh wants to have in his offensive system. Two guys that are gonna That are thick, that are going to tire out of defense and having to hit them in the fourth quarter. Defenses aren't going to wanna do that.
And when I tell you, Najee Harris is a big boy, like I've seen him a couple of times, and you're just like, wow, this guy's huge.
Well, y w what the heck is going on with Najee Harris? Have you seen his eyes? I know he's been wearing them visors. They said he had a a superficial eye injury. What did he burn an eyelid?
Like what what happened to this guy?
So during training camp, I have a funny story. He was walking the field. And in one of those, like, I kept on trying to look at him every time he'd passed by. And he goes, in one of those, he finally goes, if you don't stop trying to look at me, and I was like, oh, sorry. I was like, I dropped my pen.
He's like, uh-huh. just started laughing i was like i dropped my pen uh but uh no he looks it looks like he's fine there was one day where i stayed after practice a little bit because i had uh i was gonna do a one-on-one with somebody with a player and i saw naji catching passes from one of the coaches and they were doing it from his to his left side to his right side they were doing a lot of different things and it didn't see i know a lot of people thought he like he's a cyborg now and he only has one eye no he was catching passes from both sides he wasn't moving his head to adjust his eyes to make the catch he was able to do it without kind of turning his head so i i personally think he's fine it's probably something that happened that maybe he looks a little bit different but From everything that I've gathered, he's fine. He's ready to go. And they feel like he's going to be a big part of this offense this season. Chargers reporter Fernando Ramirez is here with us.
That's a lot on the offensive side of the ball. What about this defense? There's some elements where you you have some names, but do they have enough names and consistency uh to keep every game from being a shootout? You know, I feel like the defense is very underrated, especially because. The defense kept him in a lot of games last year.
I mean, there were times where the defense kept him into that Baltimore game in the first. Two quarters and a half, they kept him in that Tampa game. And then in that Texans game, they kept him in for most of it until. the uh the turnovers just became ridiculous so I really think that what the Chargers did is they went to go beef up their defensive line, and they got six guys. Who they believe they can heavily rotate in there and there won't be a drop off.
They're very excited about the defensive line. They feel like they have, yes, they may not have a sparkling name out there on that defensive line, but they're very happy about it. Secondary, they really like. Dante Jackson, who they got from the Pittsburgh Steelers, they love Tar Heap Still and Cam Hart. Two second-year players, our fifth round.
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Some pigs last year. It's funny. I spoke to Keenan Allen and I wrote about this and I tweeted out the story today. Keenan comes up to Tarheb. And Tarheep's like, hey, nice to meet you.
I'm keen. I'm Tarheb still. And he goes, yeah, I know who you are. I'm going to be all up in your ASS. Uh, so you better get ready, young buck.
And Tarheb's like, Oh crap, like, okay, I need to be ready. And he's like, I took it as a, he knows how talented I am, he's excited. And yeah, that's the way Keenan said it. Keenan's like, I want to challenge that young buck, and I'm going to show him how to get better and how to improve.
So they're excited about him, Derwin James, Elijah Molden. My question mark is the pass rush. The pass rush is where I have a question mark because they're really hoping that Tule Tui Pelotu, a third year player out of USC, ascends and takes that next step. He was very good during training camp, but obviously it'll be different here. And then Khalil Mack is getting older, but Khalil believes that he's in the best shape of his life.
And he feels like he could have a big season.
So they're really going to be counting on those front. on that front four, five play on the f Front five players to really get it going and get after, especially tomorrow against Mahomes.
So, yeah, there are some question marks even on the defense, to be honest. Best shape of my life from an older player or a younger player. How many times? I think I might have heard a Joel Embiid say that one time. One time.
Well, okay, I'm going to be honest. When you see Khalil, you're like, yeah, that dude wasn't, he wasn't made, he was chiseled. Like, the dude is just like, he's huge.
So I do believe it when it comes from him. Joel and Biet. I mean, we all know what that means. If Kyler Murray says, yeah, I've been setting all offseason. You're like, yeah, you've been setting that Call of Duty map, but no, I'm just kidding, by the way.
But yeah, when it comes from Khalil, I do believe it, because you can tell Khalil, Khalil's kind of out of that LeBron James book where they spend a lot of money. on their uh on their body. We've seen him wreck some guys over the years. Can't believe he's what 34, 35.
So. We'll see what Khalil Mack can do with Obosa out.
Well, we know this division is going to be ridiculously competitive. We talked about the opening matchup. You just mentioned it tomorrow night in Brazil against the Kansas City Chiefs, Chargers Chiefs. The Broncos are not going to get any worse. You expect the Raiders to go out there and be competent.
I mean, just to open up the next couple of games, all division opponents, they got the Broncos after that. Where are the Chargers going to sit? Is this another. Wild card in and wild card out type of team. Where do you envision this squad?
Well, I said that I think they need to look every year under Jim Harbaugh, year two, the team takes an ascension. The team makes a jump. Part of me, just because it's like the Chargers, and I've seen it before. I'm like, I don't know if this is going to happen, but then you think, well, Jim Harbaugh did a lot last year with a little bit. I don't think people understand what little talent they had on that team last year, and Jim was able to make it work.
So that's why part of me believes that him and his coaching staff are going to be able to get these guys going in that. they'll be able to take that next step. I still have them as a wild card team. Fifth, six seed? Again, like you said, the division is going to be very tough.
I really think that a lot is going to fall on the shoulders. Or the legs of Najee Harris and Amarion Hampton. If those two guys can get going and some of these young guys like Trey Harris and and KLS become something, then I really feel like the Chargers are having a good season and and uh They're gonna be competing with teams.
Now, again, somebody asked me yesterday. Is this a must-win game? I personally think it is. I know it's only week one, but coming out of these three games, you need to be two and one at least in these first divisional games. You do not want to be three and three in the division.
You want to win as many division games as you can.
Now, if you're serious about competing with Kansas City, You need to punch, go in there and punch them in the mouth and be like, Look, we're ready. This is our time. We're ready to get it going. I personally think that they need to go in there and make a statement. And the stat that kind of works against them is that in the last six games against the Chiefs at SoFi Stadium or at home, technically.
The Chargers and the Chiefs, the games have come down to seven points or less. The Chargers are 0-6 in those games.
So they haven't beat Kansas City since Since Brandon Saley's first year, his first time playing Kansas City, you need to make a statement, and it starts on Friday night. I really think that. They need to start off the season on the right foot. And a win against Kansas City is a huge benchmark for them that would definitely show, hey, yeah, we're ready to run. Because nobody's giving them, everybody's talking about the Broncos, the Raiders, the Chiefs.
Nobody really is talking about the Chargers. And part of me thinks that it's because of the Rashawn Slater injury, but. I really feel like a lot of people are really buying the Broncos hype and they're really. behind the Broncos, which is uh bre kinda surprising to me, to be honest.
Well, we'll see what happens. That Broncos had a hell of a defense last year, and also given now. Bonito, a giant contract.
So we'll see. Not going to be easy here for the Chargers playing the Chiefs, the Raiders, and the Broncos. Pretty much right out of the gate. We'll see how they fit in. Hey, Fernando, always a pleasure.
Tell everybody where they can follow you and all your work with the Sporting Tribune. I appreciate it. It's at RealF Ramirez on Twitter on X. On Instagram and on TikTok. I'm trying to get better at that TikTok game.
It's just a little tough. I'm not good with all the Filters and the this and the that and all that crap. I just know how to put a video on there and put a song on it.
So trying to get better when it comes to the TikTok game. But I always appreciate jumping on with you, JR. You're good people.
Well, thank you, Fernando. For the TikTok stuff, all you gotta do is get to dancing and the views will get to coming in, okay? Yeah. Nobody wants to see this dance, and I can tell you that, right? It'd be more waddling than dancing.
So, no, nobody nobody wants to see any of that. Hey, there's there's something for everybody on the internet, Fernando.
Okay. There's something for everybody. And that's the dangerous part. Shout outs to you, Fernando. We'll catch you soon, okay?
Appreciate it. All right. Yep, you have a good one. And hey, the NFL season starts off. Let's have fun with this.
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Mm-hmm.
