Chargers Training Camp is off and running ... and will be a hot ticket this summer for national NFL media members.
Chargers.com will catch up with pundits when they are in El Segundo at The Bolt.
Up first? The MMQB's Albert Breer, one of the most respected voices across the league.
Here's our 1-on-1 conversation with Breer:
You made sure that the Chargers were the very first stop of your training camp tour. Why is that?
"I wanted to see what it looked like after Jim was in college for nine years. Getting the chance to think about what I saw in San Francisco and remembering how creatively he worked that first year he was there in 2011 and how physical their practices were. You think about the success he had there and the success he had at Michigan, I was just really interested to see what it would look like with Jim as an NFL head coach again. I guess, in some ways, it's hard to see until a team is in pads. But I do think they are one of the most interesting teams in the league going into 2024."
Do you think there's any mystique about Harbaugh now that he's back in the NFL?
"I think at one point he was polarizing. Now everyone just knows who he is. There's no question about who he is or what he brings to the table or what he's built. His résumé is his résumé. You think back to the guys who played for him in San Francisco — Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman, Justin Smith — a lot of really high-level players loved playing for him. And while it didn't end great, a lot of people will tell you that we all make mistakes. At one point I think the public was trying to figure him out. But over time, we've all been able to see what he's built and it's something that is very identifiable and sticks with him wherever he goes."
What culture do you think he's going to establish here?
"The same thing that we've seen. One of the most remarkable things about what he's been able to do is that you know exactly what it looks like. As football has evolved and the game has changed, coaches can kind of go one way or another and switch what they are doing. I just think, while that has happened over the years with Jim Harbaugh, there's a real foundation of what it is and you know it when you see it. What you're going to see here is what you've seen other places he's been, which is a tough team that wears its opponents down and plays its [butt] off. A team that's really hard to play against and schematically — I think the best way to put it — is the illusion of complexity, where you're doing things that are really hard for the opponent but easy for your players to execute. That's the bones of what Jim and John [Harbaugh] have built over the years. They build systems that have a physical edge and have a toughness but are easy for their players to play fast and are difficult to deal with."
Name a player or position group that could swing how the 2024 season goes for the Bolts?
"The obvious one is the receiver because Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are gone. What happens with Quentin Johnston? What happens with Josh Palmer? How quickly can they get Ladd McConkey up and running? When you make the decision with the fifth overall pick to take Joe Alt rather than Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze, that's where the question will be. Otherwise, the question would have been on the offensive line but now it's at receiver. It's a matter of how some of those young guys come along. Palmer has been here and has some accomplishments but Johnston and McConkey, those are blank slates. That's one position I'll have my eye on."
Final question, what is your 2024 outlook for the Chargers?
"I think it will be around a .500 team. I don't think this is going to be a rebuild. Playoff contender? Yeah, I think they'll be a contender. There's so many good teams in the AFC and it's still early, I haven't really thought about who the seven are. But I expect them to be in the mix, absolutely."
