Three Questions 1. Who gains more yards from scrimmage: Mathews, Woodhead or Brown? Wouldn’t be surprised if Mathews got 300 handoffs this year and established yet another career-best rushing season (would need 1,255 to top last season), which in turn would make him the main Charger YFS back. Brown was a good get for San Diego—thrice gaining 700-plus YFS for Indy’s Peyton Manning/Curtis Painter/Andrew Luck teams— but Woodhead seemed to find his own niche in Woodhead’s offense, balancing out 76 receptions against 106 rushing attempts. Look for him to maintain No. 2 dog status. 2. Which area of defense is most ripe for improvement? The secondary. Not only because Weddle and Flowers have established Pro Bowl credentials, but also because Richard Marshall is an experienced NFL starter and Jason Verrett is a first-round rookie with big expectations. Verrett may start slow (he’s missed reps with the team being cautious with his March shoulder surgery), but in time, this secondary may go from 2013 weakness to 2014 strength. 3. How much gas does 34-year-old converted linebacker Dwight Freeney have left in the tank? Freeney always plays well, but those close to the team wonder how many snaps the converted linebacker gets in during the 2014 season. He’s 34, a future Hall of Famer and coming off a torn quad in September 29, 2013. Because quads typically take 12 months to heal—and the Chargers linebacker injured his 11 months ago—it’s safe to say the Freeney should have a stronger second half of 2014 than first half. If San Diego can play him on a limited basis in September, we just might see the former Colts defensive end great squeeze an eighth Pro Bowl season out this season. Denver showed the world you can get to the Super Bowl with a No. 1 offense and a mediocre defense, ranked 15th by Football Outsiders. But we also saw in 2013, a No. 2 offense combined with a No. 32 defense, according to Football Outsiders, will only get you 9-7, as the Chargers painfully found out. This D has to go from horrible to mediocre for the San Diego team to become great again. Defensive Player to Watch The underrated Weddle is no longer unsung, with the Madden 15 video game people rating the 29-year-old as the tied for third-best free safety in football (for what it’s worth, Madden uses Pro Football Focus for its ratings). The game gets right all of his characteristics too, as the NFL’s best tracking free safeties, who is known to lead his peers in tackles at his position. It’s a nice measure of respect for Weddle, in an otherwise frustrating season, which saw the Chargers grade out as the NFL’s worst defense in the advanced analytics forums. The Chargers have added ex- Chief Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Flowers and first-round corner (25th pick overall) Jason Verrett to the secondary, which should allow Weddle’s teammates to take advantage of his good defensive quarterback skills as a communicative field general. TEAM ROSTER CHARGERS DEPTH CHART OFFENSE QB Philip Rivers Kellen Clemens RB Ryan Mathews Danny Woodhead FB David Johnson Zach Boren WR Vincent Brown, Keenan Allen Eddie Royal, Malcom Floyd TE Antonio Gates Ladarius Green T King Dunlap, D.J. Fluker Kenny Wiggins, Mike Harris G Chad Rinehart, Jeromey Clary Johnnie Troutman, Chris Watt C Nick Hardwick, Rich Ohrnberger DEFENSE DE Kendall Reyes, Corey Liuget Lawrence Guy, Damik Scafe NT Sean Lissemore Kwame Geathers OLB Jarrett Johnson, Dwight Freeney Melvin Ingram, Jeremiah Attaochu ILB Manti Te’O, Donald Butler Bront Bird, Andrew Gachkar CB Richard Marshall, Brandon Flowers Shareece Wright, Jason Verrett S Marcus Gilchrist, Eric Weddle Alden Darby, Darrell Stuckey SPECIAL TEAMS K Nick Novak P Mike Scifres KR Eddie Royal PR Danny Woodhead
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