Welcome to the Chargers Mailbag! I'm Senior Writer Eric Smith, and I answer questions from the Bolt Fam each month during the offseason.
We're doing a special edition of the Mailbag today that focuses solely on new Chargers Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore.
Send in submissions for the Mailbag here on Twitter or by sending me an email.
Off we go…
Nicholas starts us off with a great inquiry.
Let me first say that no one person ever has complete and full control over a certain phase of the ball. Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley may call the defensive plays, but he gets help from his staff each and every day in terms of practice, schemes and player development.
The same can be said for every other NFL coach who focuses on one side of the ball. And the same will be true for Kellen Moore and the Chargers offense.
Will Moore have a voice on direction of the offense? Yes, and probably the loudest one.
But he won't be the sole decision-maker there, as I expected lots of collaboration within the Chargers offensive coaching staff.
That includes Staley, too, as Moore raved about the chance to work with him last week in his media availability.
"I really, really enjoyed my time with Brandon during those couple days," Moore said of August joint practices with the Bolts and Cowboys. "Naturally, we had a relationship that extended through the season, mostly through text messages, as you go through a season.
"The Chargers were going through their season, we were going through ours, and so we stayed in contact," Moore added.
That sounds like two 30-somethings that have an immense amount of respect for each other and who are excited about the chance to work together in building the Bolts offense.
We won't really know how the Chargers offense looks until training camp unfolds, so it's a bit of a guessing game util then.
But a more potent aerial attack seems to be what Moore has in mind based on his comments last week about how success on early downs can lead to deep shots.
"As we build this thing, certainly, the run game and the play-action pass and the movements on first- and second-down, when those two are in sync, and the presentations are similar, it puts defenses in conflict," Moore said. "I think that's something that we're really excited about building here and developing, certainly in the first- and second- down game.
"And, it will allow you to be more aggressive, to get the ball downfield," Moore added. "It certainly doesn't mean that you go crazy with it, but you can build those marriages."
Based on that response, I expect to see Justin Herbert unleash more downfield pass attempts in 2023.
Some of that is based on personnel and potentially adding more speed at that wide receiver position, but a more vertical offense might be on the way.
Now, I don't think that means Moore will go to 'Da Bomb' play call from the old NFL Blitz video game each play.
But the numbers show that Moore's offense did push the ball downfield in Dallas.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys had an explosive pass percentage of 13.8 in 2022. That ranked 13th in the league as 88 of Dallas' 636 dropbacks went for 20 plus yards.
By contrast, the Chargers were 19th in the same category, with 105 such plays on 807 dropbacks (13.0 percent).
If Moore can help the Chargers establish a competent run game — a big emphasis in 2023 — then we'll likely see a boost in explosive plays.
I'm a firm believer than the days of bell cow running backs are done with, as teams usually rely on multiple players to carry the load at that position.
Under Moore, Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard blossomed into one of the league's best backfield tandems.
The Chargers have a No. 1 back in Austin Ekeler, plus two other intriguing pieces in Joshua Kelley and Isaiah Spiller.
But who says it has to be a two-headed monster? Why not use all three?
Ekeler's value and role is clear — just look at those 38 combined touchdowns over two seasons — and I'm sure Moore will find new ways to use Ekeler, too.
When it comes to Kelley and Spiller, both offer different skillsets. Kelley evolved as the Chargers No. 2 running back last season with a hard-nosed running style as evident by his 4.2 yards per carry.
Spiller had a much smaller sample size in his rookie season so we still don't know what all he can offer at this level. Coming out in the draft a year ago, Spiller's all-around game was touted, and Moore could look for ways to unlock him in 2023.
My main point in this: by getting all three running backs involved in the offense, it keeps them fresh throughout the season and also gives opposing defenses even more to think about when defending the Bolts.
As for drafting a running back, I don't want to discount the notion entirely, but it's probably not the No. 1 priority given who is already on the roster.
This has always been a quirky stat to me.
According to PFF, the Chargers had the fifth-most batted passes in the league with 19. And you'd think that it would be less with a quarterback who is 6-foot-6.
But keep in mind that the Bengals had the second-most batted passes with 20, and that's with a 6-foot-4 quarterback in Joe Burrow.
On the whole, I think batted passes are a bit fluky. Sometimes a defender simply gets his hand up at the exact right moment to bat the ball down.
I certainly don't think Herbert needs fixing in this area (or really any other, for that matter). But there is potential for him to collaborate with Moore and take his game to another level.
If that happens, the Bolts offense could be one of the league's best in 2023.
These are two positions that have drawn some early buzz in mock drafts. Almost half of the pundits in our Chargers Mock Draft Tracker 2.0 had the Bolts going with a wide receiver or tight end.
And, as I've stated here before and will likely do it again, adding more playmakers around Herbert is never a bad thing.
But it's also a bit too early to make any bold predilections to what the Chargers will do with the 21st overall pick.
We still have to let the 2023 NFL Combine and the first few waves of free agency play out to get a sense of where the Chargers roster is at.
As for a trade back, so much of that depends on what happens on draft night. And since we're still two-plus months away from that, we'll save that conversation for another time.
Quarterbacks coach is currently the only vacancy on the Chargers offensive staff.
That could change in the coming weeks based on Moore's thoughts on the staff, but he spoke highly of the group last week.
"Brandon and I have been able to talk through this over the course of the last few days. I just love the way he really likes this offensive staff," Moore said. "Every interaction that I've had, I've really enjoyed. I'm really excited to work with these guys. I'm really excited to work with this group.
"It sounds like a fun, interactive, collaborative group. Certainly, we'll go through the process from a quarterbacks coach standpoint. That's the one that's available right now," Moore added. "We'll go through that process together and find what suits our team best and, certainly, what suits Justin best."
We'll see how this staff shakes out in the coming weeks. But in terms of the quarterbacks coach, my guess is that position is filled by the start of the combine so that the Bolts have their full staff available to go to Indianapolis.
That will do it for this edition of the Mailbag.
As always, you can find me on Twitter at @EricLSmith and submit your questions for the Chargers Mailbag.
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