Welcome back to the Chargers Mailbag!
We'll be running one of these every week during the regular season, so send in submissions for the Mailbag here on Twitter or by sending me an email.
Off we go...
A great question here from Garrett to kick us off!
The defensive and special teams MVPs from Week 1 are easy picks here.
I'll go with defensive tackle Poona Ford, who was all over the place in the trenches in the Week 1 win over the Raiders.
His fourth-down stop on Las Vegas' second possession helped set the tone and likely even played a part in the Raiders decision to punt on fourth-and-1 in Chargers territory midway through the fourth quarter.
Ford earned an overall defensive grade of 89.2 from Pro Football Focus (PFF), which was the second-best overall grade on the team behind Joey Bosa's 91.4 mark. And Ford tallied a PFF run defense grade of 72.2, which trailed only Bosa and Khalil Mack.
Many pundits outside the building had questions about the Bolts defensive line entering the season. But if Ford keeps playing like he did Sunday, that unit is quickly going to be a strength of the team.
Special teams is up and I'll take Cameron Dicker for Week 1 MVP here. The man is essentially a machine at this point.
He drilled all three field goals with a long of 53 yards for a perfect start to the season.
Offensively, with Dobbins not an option, I'm picking Rashawn Slater.
Call me crazy, but I don't think the rest of the NFL actually knows how elite of a player he is.
Slater posted a PFF pass-block grade of 89.3 on Sunday, good for the second-best grade of any tackle across the entire NFL.
He simply shut down whomever was in his side to help give Justin Herbert ample time in the pocket.
Slater was a Pro Bowler and a Second-Team All-Pro as a rookie but injuries have hampered him the past two seasons. If he's fully health, good luck to opposing edge rushers.
I promise you this is not me asking myself a Mailbag question here.
But the other Eric Smith displayed a sharp eye to note the physical approach the Chargers wide receivers brought to the field in Week 1.
A perfect example? Watch Simi Fehoko bully his opponent to help spring J.K. Dobbins' 61-yard run below.
Of course, then there was Joshua Palmer blocking a defender out of the end zone on the Bolts 2-point play. The Raiders didn't like getting pushed around and decided extracurricular activities were needed.
After one game, it's clear that Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has helped established a gritty and tough on-field approach.
That mantra extends to the wide receiver group, especially when they don't have the ball in their hands.
Way, way too early to even think about the trade deadline.
Besides, your second point is spot on as the Bolts want to see how this group develops in the first chunk of the season.
It was one game, and the first game, in a brand new offense. There are going to be growing pains that come with that.
Plus, the Bolts don't care if they win ugly. If the Chargers get a victory by having more success running the ball than passing it, nobody will bat an eye if the scoreboard is in their favor.
I thought the group was solid overall.
The play that stood out to me was early in the third quarter when Gardner Minshew II scrambled to his left toward the sideline.
Daiyan Henley was out in space and fought off a blocker long enough to contain Minshew on the outside, which led to Bosa coming in for a tackle on a 1-yard gain.
Henley will get a shared tackle on the play, but the awareness and compete level on third-and-3 was awesome and helped force a Raiders punt.
As for the rotation, the snap counts were fairly even between Henley (40 snaps), Junior Colson (35) and Denzel Perryman (30).
They each got on the field with the other linebacker to bring a different dimension to the Chargers defense. Harbaugh said Monday he expects that rotation to continue.
As for Colson, I'd argue he's already taking on a bigger role than some initially thought. But I expect playing time to be pretty evenly split going forward.
Yeah, that's probably going to be a point of emphasis this week in practice.
Maxx Crosby's lone sack on Herbert came when the edge rusher started on the outside but looped inside and had a clear rush at the quarterback.
Harbaugh said Monday that the offensive line's pad level was a bit too high in the first half but that the group made necessary adjustments at the break.
That showed as Herbert seemed under pressure more in the opening 30 minutes than in the second half. A more consistent and explosive run game likely helped mitigate that, too.
Yes!
The team is flying to Carolina on Friday to get adjusted to Eastern time before Week 2 against the Panthers.
Harbaugh has elected to have the team stay in Charlotte for the week rather than do multiple cross-country flights.
Personally, I'm excited to see how the team bonds for the 10-day trip, even if I will really miss my wife and two girls.
But check back next week for a behind-the-scenes look at how the Chargers are pulling off such an operation.
