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...
We'll start this edition of the Mailbag by focusing on a Chargers player who is red-hot on the field.
It's a good thing for the Bolts that player is Justin Herbert.
Herbert is heating up of late and has looked like his usual self the past few games.
There's likely a few reasons for this.
The first is that Herbert continues to get comfortable in Greg Roman's system and also keeps developing a rapport with his skill players on and off the field.
But the obvious answer here, as the question above alluded to, is that Herbert is healthy now. And when he's healthy, he's clearly one of the best players in the NFL.
Herbert posted a 95.3 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus on Sunday. That was the highest mark of any player in Week 8 and the fifth-best grade by an offensive player so far this season. It was also Herbert's top PFF grade of his career.
Herbert's running ability surely impacted that high grade as his 38-yard scamper kickstarted the offense after a sluggish start. That should continue going forward and could be an added element to the Bolts offense.
His mobility also showed up on non-running plays.
Go back and watch his second touchdown pass to Ladd McConkey. Herbert sprints to his left out of the pocket and contorts his body to make a pinpoint throw to the rookie in the back of the end zone.
It's safe to say Herbert would not have been able to make that throw, or escape the pocket like that, a few weeks ago.
Unsurprisingly, Herbert getting healthy has correlated with him regaining his place as one of the league's best quarterbacks.
Over the past two games, he leads the entire NFL with an overall PFF grade of 95.0.
And if we look at the entirety of the season, Herbert ranks fifth with a 78.8 PFF passing grade among quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts.
All of this is to say that Herbert, despite getting off to a slow start this season, is still elite.
But hopefully you already knew that.
This seems like a timely topic this week.
As we enter Week 9, the Chargers defense ranks second in EPA per play (-0.146) and are also second in success rate allowed (38.9 percent).
If defensive DVOA is your thing, the Bolts are eighth overall at -10.1 percent.
This hasn't been a one-off performance where the unit was great one week and then fell off after that.
No, the unit has been good to great for the entire season against every opponent they have faced.
Are there some things to clean up? Of course.
But even if you want to nitpick something such as say, the 366 total yards allowed to the Saints, the unit only gave up eight points. And it was really six points allowed due to a safety.
There's been a lot of chatter of late about the Chargers defense and whether or not the unit can keep this up all season.
Remember, this group is largely made up of the same players from the past few seasons that was near the bottom of the league in many defensive categories.
Perhaps games this year where the defense has played well would not have been the case a season or two ago?
The final point I'll make about the defense, and really the Chargers as a team in general, is this:
People love to gripe and complain during the season about pretty wins and how teams need to play better despite getting a victory.
You know what doesn't matter once the playoffs come around? Style points!
The Bolts still have plenty of work to do in order to get into the playoff dance, but their defense is a big reason why they are in a postseason spot right now.
What exactly do you mean by "Palmer szn?"
If you're looking for No. 5 to suddenly go off for 150 yards and two scores, that probably won't happen given the nature of the Bolts offense and how often Herbert spreads the ball around.
But if you're looking for Palmer to come up with multiple clutch catches per game and help get the passing game going, I'd argue that's exactly what he's done the past few weeks.
The fourth-year wide receiver was banged up a bit earlier in the season and didn't play in Pittsburgh.
Since then, he's gotten more into a groove and has flashed the rapport with Herbert we've come to know in recent years.
Time to talk trade deadline, which is just six days away.
A programming note that the 2024 NFL trade deadline ends at 1 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday.
Will the Bolts make a move? That remains to be seen. I don't have a crystal ball to predict anything definite.
But what I will say is this: don't be surprised if there's more action this year than there has been before around here.
Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz has shown a willingness to add to the roster via trade with both Elijah Molden and Taylor Heinicke.
If Hortiz and his staff feel there's a move out there that can bolster the roster in the second half of the season (and beyond), I wouldn't be shocked if they go for it.
Can the Chargers win the next four games? Sure!
If they can pull that off, the Bolts would be 8-3 and in a prime position for an AFC playoff spot.
But the most important numbers the Chargers are focused on right now are 1 and 0, as in getting to 1-0 in Week 9 against the Browns.
A previously one-win Cleveland team just beat Baltimore, another example that anything can happen on a given Sunday in the NFL.
And with Jamies Winston now leading the Browns offense, the vibes certainly feel different for that team.
You know that Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is going to have his team squarely locked in on the task at hand and not be looking too far ahead into the future.
A good question to close out here.
It's TBD on whether or not Samuel will start once he comes back from IR.
A timeline reminder: players on Injured Reserve must miss a minimum of four games. That fourth game for Samuel will be this Sunday, meaning he's eligible to return beginning in Week 10.
If Samuel is close to returning soon, it's likely that he uses his 21-day practice window to get back up to speed.
And while we'll see how the cornerback rotation shakes out going forward if/when Samuel returns, you can bet it's a good problem for the Bolts to have given the recent strong play of rookies Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart.
