2021 is in the rearview and 2022's offseason is here.

With that being said, we thought this would be a good time to check in with some people we don't hear from often: the Chargers position coaches.

A Conversation with the Chargers Position Coaches

Evaluating the Quarterbacks with QBs Coach Shane Day

Evaluating the Wide Receivers with WRs Coach Chris Beatty

Evaluating the Running Backs with RBs Coach Derrick Foster

Evaluating the Defensive Backs with Secondary Coach Derrick Ansley

Next up is outside linebackers coach Jay Rodgers.

Rodgers details Nwosu's emergence in 2021, Joey Bosa's transition from DE to OLB, what he expects from Chris Rumph II in year two, and more.

For the group that you worked with, some of these guys moved from defensive end to outside linebacker.

Overall, what was your assessment of how they played in 2021?

Jay Rodgers: It was good. I thought a bunch of guys played at a high level; a lot of times, a really high level in certain games. I think we were able to keep them at a position where they're always moving forward with some caveats of being able to be in coverage. But obviously for guys who had their hand in the dirt for the majority of their career, [we transitioned them] to have a new role to where they'd be more versatile which would not only help themselves but also the team.

Joey Bosa is one of those guys. He was really candid about the transition but what was it like working with him through that process?

Rodgers: It's always a process. The guy had always moved with his hand in the dirt his entire career. He did it in college, he did it in the first five years in the pros. We challenged him to be a complete football player, not only be a great pass rusher, but also be a good run defender and have the ability to drop in coverage every once in a while.

I don't believe there were many balls that were completed on him when he was in coverage. He was able to take some of the things that we were teaching him and apply them to his game to help our defense.

He was a strip-sack machine this year!

Rodgers: He was. I think that was one of the things we preached and when we were here last offseason and we started installing the defense, we didn't even talk about the Xs-and-Os for the first part of what we were doing. We talked about the things that would help us win games: taking the ball away. What's our role in taking the ball away?

The guy who produces the most turnovers for an offense is the quarterback so how do we attack him? Our job is to rush the passer and if we do get close to him, [we need to] find a way to get the ball out. Joey was able to get the ball out of the quarterback's [hands] several times this year.

Joey said in his end-of-season presser that he feels he could get better in the two-point stance, but where do you see him growing and being more comfortable in this system?

Rodgers: I think the starting point going into OTAs, summer and training camp is a totally different level than it was a year ago. A year ago, he was trying to figure out, 'What is this they're asking me to do?' But now, he knows what it is. He knows the responsibilities, the expectations. The blocks he's getting, the sets he's getting, the different ways people chip him. He already knows right now after a year of doing this [in this system] how people are going to try and attack him. What he can do is grow from there. Your learning points start at a higher level than the ground level and so he's going to be able to continue to improve with what we're doing.

Virtually every position coach I've spoken with has had a player who blossomed in this new system and scheme. I think Uchenna Nwosu is the guy I think of when I talk about your group.

General manager Tom Telesco had said Uchenna's a playmaker regardless of what scheme he's in, but he really elevated his level of play this year.

What benefitted him so well in 2021?

Rodgers: There's a lot of things that benefitted him. First of all, his mentality, his approach to the game, his details – he asks a bunch of questions. But first and foremost, this kid is tough, rugged, and he's a fighter. He already has that mentality. But then you add the fact that this guy wants to know everything about the job he's doing. He asks the right questions, and even if he doesn't know the answer, he's gonna figure out the answer. He asks me questions, he asks Brandon [Staley] questions. He asks as many questions as he can because he wants to be a great football player.

The one thing about him is he was able to really master his role at a high level whether it was rushing the passer or dropping in coverage, and he did it with such discipline and respect for the game that he wound up having a lot of production. At least in my mind, he had a lot of production. And so, you at least got to see some of the things he was able to do after his first year as a starter. Chenna was given an opportunity to be the guy on the edge and he wanted to perform at a high level. He did everything he possibly could in practice and in the meeting rooms to put himself in that position.

How refreshing is it when you're trying to teach a player and that player, like Uchenna, does ask those questions to show he's putting in the work to tap in to reciprocate that?

Rodgers: I think it helps him as a player, but it helps me as a coach cause I know this, I have to be prepared every day as a coach! I have to have the answers for him if he asks me. It helps everybody. Any time you have football players who have a high football IQ and want to be great, they're gonna ask the tough questions. They don't ask the easy questions, they ask the tough ones. It forces everybody to play and think at a high level and what you get it are guys who execute at a high level and wind up producing at a high level.

Kyler Fackrell was a new addition this year, what did he bring to the room?

Rodgers: He brought great stability to the room. He brought experience to the room. He brought a lot of intangible things of a guy who's had experience playing outside linebacker in the NFL who had done it at a high level for a long time. He had two other organizations that he's worked with, this was his third organization, and I think that his veteran presence helped not only [veteran] guys who were learning something for the first time, but helping the young guys come along as well.

Last question, rookie OLB Chris Rumph II – what did you see out of him and where can he go in year two?

Rodgers: I think he has a very high ceiling in this league. I think you saw a rookie come into his own as the year progressed. I think he was put into several roles throughout the year on special teams as well as playing outside linebacker. I think he's just gonna keep on getting better and better and better.

Obviously as he gets older, his body is going to mature more and he's going to be able to get stronger and get bigger and get faster, smarter. He's got all those things. He's a coach's kid. He's got all the intangible things you can ask for because this guy wants to be great as well. I'm really anxious to see where he takes this thing because I think he can go far with it.