Know Your Enemy: Catching up with the Los Angeles Chargers

Heading towards the 2020 NFL Season the Los Angeles Chargers are going to be a little different than the team we’ve seen for more than a decade. For starters, they have newly redesigned uniforms which won’t throw you completely, but will be something new to see on the field. The big change however, comes at quarterback, as Philip Rivers’ time with the franchise came to an end after 16 seasons.

In his place will be Tyrod Taylor or Justin Herbert. The team has publicly committed to Taylor, but the first-round selection of Herbert will give the former Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns quarterback a very short leash.

Recently, James Yarcho welcomed David Droegemeier of the Locked On Chargers Podcast onto the Locked On Bucs Podcast to share his insights and updates as to what fans of the Buccaneers should expect when the Chargers visit Tampa in Week 4 of the 2020 NFL Season.

First speaking about the loss of Rivers, Droegemeier said, “It’s been such a great time watching him on the field, how animated he is - he doesn’t cuss but he is one of the world’s renown trash talkers in the NFL.”

Droegemeier pointed to turnovers and the turnovers specifically attributed to Rivers’ subpar decision making from time-to-time which ultimately led to the departure of the team’s franchise quarterback.

“When he went into the year without a contract extension, you knew he was going to have to play some strong (and) clean football, and it just didn’t turn out to be that way.”

Of course, moving forward Tyrod Taylor and/or Justin Herbert are going to get their chance to show the franchise they can do what Rivers couldn’t. Publicly, the team has stated they’re comfortable with Taylor, but most expect Herbert to appear as the starting quarterback in Los Angeles sooner rather than later.

“I truly, firmly believe that Tyrod Taylor is definitely the starter going forward. I love the tools and physical gifts that Justin Herbert brings to the table, and he is the type of quarterback that Anthony Lynn wants to have in his offense. He wants a guy that can escape, that can get out of the pocket, that can do the run-pass options, that is just a little bit more mobile, Droegemeier said. “I think it’s definitely going to be a situation to where Tyrod Taylor is your starter, and he’s probably going to be the starter for the majority of the year. If the Chargers aren’t doing so well towards the end of the season they might see what they have in Justin Herbert at that time, but I think there’s a very slim chance that Justin Herbert is going to be the quarterback starting Week 1.”

While quarterback is a big point of discussion surrounding the Chargers team these days, there was plenty more to talk about as the two hosts exchanged ideas on how each franchise stacks up against the other at this point in the off-season.

To catch the entire conversation between Yarcho and Droegemeier pertaining to the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers, check out this episode of the Locked On Bucs Podcast!