Freethinker
Hall of Famer
The first year in Jim Harbaugh's NFL return looks to be an improvement from their previous direction. However, will the Chargers now mimic a typical University of Michigan roster composition? Let's see:
Total White Athletes on Roster (Starters in bold)
17 Whites total, with 7 starters. Grade: D+
QB - Justin Herbert, Easton Stick, Taylor Heinicke
WR - Ladd McConkey
TE - Hayden Hurst, Will Dissly, Eric Tomlinson
T - Joe Alt, Foster Sarell
C - Bradley Bozeman, Brenden Jaimes
DE - Morgan Fox
DT - Scott Matlock
OLB - Joey Bosa
K - Cameron Dicker
P - JK Scott
LS - Josh Harris
IR - Nick Niemann (ILB), Tyler McLellan (T), Bucky Williams (C/G)
PS - Luke Benson (TE), Tucker Fisk (TE), Karsen Barnhart (T),
A bump in overall roster and starters thanks to a commitment to White tight ends, that previous iterations of the Chargers always shunned. Also, an outlier at starting WR gives another easy tick upward.
Justin Herbert is a top young quarterback that has thrown for 5,000 yards once and 4,000 yards twice already. Last year, he operated in a restrained offense and missed a few games. This year so far, the team has operated a Harbaugh inspired run-first offense. Expect Herbert to be efficient and have a successful year despite not hitting his lofty numbers from early in his NFL career. I'll take that tradeoff if the Chargers can actually make the playoffs and give Herbert that exposure. Next big development was the drafting of WR Ladd McConkey early in the 2nd round. Ladd was a star for the 2021 and 2022 National Champions Georgia Bulldogs. Ladd has a good blend of speed, size, route running and hands. Just a solid receiver who is a rare White athlete at the skill positions to eschew a racial apprentice. Joe Alt was the top offensive lineman in college last year and made the top of the draft a "touchdown" for the Chargers. Look for him to hold down one of the tackle positions for along time. Bradley Bozeman replaces the great Corey Linsley, who retired a bit early due to a medical condition. The tight end position went from entirely black (for many years) to 3/4ths White. Thank you Harbaugh for that. Hayden Hurst is the standout here and has a had a good career while bouncing from team to team in recent years. A former 1st round pick, that you could argue has disappointed by never becoming a star player. Dissly is a Plantation Pete refugee, who's had some good receiving totals with few targets.
The defense is pretty similar to last year. Bosa is great when healthy and already has a few sacks. Fox is underrated as a stout 3-4 DE. Expect him to get his usual tackles and 5 or 6 sacks. Matlock rotates in as a DT and has been doubling as the team's fullback when needed. Nick Niemann is always productive but seems destined for a reserve role and will return later in the year from his injury. The practice squad has zero White defensive players.
All in all, this is a decent team to support but has little depth beyond the fairly impressive 7 starters. If they weren't in the AFC West, where the Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs have good demographics too, they've be an easy team to pull for. I guess the good news is that whoever wins this division will be palatable for the playoffs.
Total White Athletes on Roster (Starters in bold)
17 Whites total, with 7 starters. Grade: D+
QB - Justin Herbert, Easton Stick, Taylor Heinicke
WR - Ladd McConkey
TE - Hayden Hurst, Will Dissly, Eric Tomlinson
T - Joe Alt, Foster Sarell
C - Bradley Bozeman, Brenden Jaimes
DE - Morgan Fox
DT - Scott Matlock
OLB - Joey Bosa
K - Cameron Dicker
P - JK Scott
LS - Josh Harris
IR - Nick Niemann (ILB), Tyler McLellan (T), Bucky Williams (C/G)
PS - Luke Benson (TE), Tucker Fisk (TE), Karsen Barnhart (T),
A bump in overall roster and starters thanks to a commitment to White tight ends, that previous iterations of the Chargers always shunned. Also, an outlier at starting WR gives another easy tick upward.
Justin Herbert is a top young quarterback that has thrown for 5,000 yards once and 4,000 yards twice already. Last year, he operated in a restrained offense and missed a few games. This year so far, the team has operated a Harbaugh inspired run-first offense. Expect Herbert to be efficient and have a successful year despite not hitting his lofty numbers from early in his NFL career. I'll take that tradeoff if the Chargers can actually make the playoffs and give Herbert that exposure. Next big development was the drafting of WR Ladd McConkey early in the 2nd round. Ladd was a star for the 2021 and 2022 National Champions Georgia Bulldogs. Ladd has a good blend of speed, size, route running and hands. Just a solid receiver who is a rare White athlete at the skill positions to eschew a racial apprentice. Joe Alt was the top offensive lineman in college last year and made the top of the draft a "touchdown" for the Chargers. Look for him to hold down one of the tackle positions for along time. Bradley Bozeman replaces the great Corey Linsley, who retired a bit early due to a medical condition. The tight end position went from entirely black (for many years) to 3/4ths White. Thank you Harbaugh for that. Hayden Hurst is the standout here and has a had a good career while bouncing from team to team in recent years. A former 1st round pick, that you could argue has disappointed by never becoming a star player. Dissly is a Plantation Pete refugee, who's had some good receiving totals with few targets.
The defense is pretty similar to last year. Bosa is great when healthy and already has a few sacks. Fox is underrated as a stout 3-4 DE. Expect him to get his usual tackles and 5 or 6 sacks. Matlock rotates in as a DT and has been doubling as the team's fullback when needed. Nick Niemann is always productive but seems destined for a reserve role and will return later in the year from his injury. The practice squad has zero White defensive players.
All in all, this is a decent team to support but has little depth beyond the fairly impressive 7 starters. If they weren't in the AFC West, where the Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs have good demographics too, they've be an easy team to pull for. I guess the good news is that whoever wins this division will be palatable for the playoffs.