The Chargers came out flat, disconnected, and overall sloppy on Sunday. We don’t need to rehash all of it, but we should highlight those who still found a way to standout despite the overall mess on the field.
Wideout Ladd McConley was ELITE before leaving the game with his rib injury. Offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt both looked good in their returns to the field. Surprisingly, it was tight end David Njoku who would up being a consistent weapon behind McConkey, as well.
Defensively, there
wasn’t much to write home about. Much more bad than good, but you’ll see that here in a second.
Let’s go ahead and dive in to this week’s best and worst grades from Pro Football Focus.
Offense
Best
WR Ladd McConkey – 90.7
OT Rashawn Slater – 76.3
TE David Njoku – 71.9
OG Kayode Awosika – 71.1
OT Joe Alt – 67.3
McConkey coming out of the gates and catching five passes for 82 yards and a score, including three for 60 on the opening drive, gave us a glimpse of just how good he could be in this new offense. However, that’s if he can return fairly soon from a rib injury that currently has him “day-to-day” per Jim Harbaugh.
Slater was the top offensive lineman in his first game back in over a year and a half. He was the top run blocker (87.4) on the team and third in pass pro (73.1).
In his first game with the Chargers, Awosika was solid in run blocking (63.4) and stellar in pass pro with a top grade of 85.1. Joe Alt was behind him in pass pro with an 82.8 in that area. He was also third in run blocking with a 62.9 grade.
Njoku caught all five of his passes and was overall the only other consistent offensive player next to McConkey.
Worst
OG/T Trey Pipkins – 37.1
OG Cole Strange – 41.0
C Jake Slaughter – 42.5
FB Alec Ingold – 47.0
WR Derius Davis – 53.0
The results are in for the “platoon” at left guard and Pipkins was very far-and-away the worse option of the two. He was abysmal in both run blocking (38.9) and pass pro (41.4.) Strange was almost just a road bump on the way to the quarterback. He finished with a 10.9 in pass blocking which is so bad it’s almost impressive.
Slaughter unfortunately failed his first real NFL test against a defensive line that did not feature any stars. His 39.0 run block was second worst to Pipkins among offensive lineman and his overall game grade actually made him the worst center in Week One among the 34 players who took at least one snap at the pivot.
Ingold, who was added because of his familiarity with the offense, had a rough game as his 36.6 was the worst run block grade on the team.
Defense
Best
S Tony Jefferson – 82.3
S Genesis Smith – 77.5
LB Troy Dye – 73.1
S Elijah Molden – 71.5
DT Teair Tart – 70.3
Jefferson led the defense with an 83.0 coverage grade and overall was their best defender. The rookie Smith was second in coverage with a 71.4 and second in tackling with an 82.1.
Dye played in a rotational role with Del’Shawn Phillips and finished with the third-best tackling grade (79.9). Molden topped the team in tackling with an 84.4.
Tart was stout with a 72.8 run defense grade, good for second on the team.
Worst
DT Nick Barrett – 27.5
CB Donte Jackson – 32.6
DT Justin Eboigbe – 50.4
EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu – 51.3
S Derwin James – 53.9
It was a bad day in coverage for two of the team’s best members of the secondary. Jackson earned a 29.7 coverage grade while allowing four of six passes his way to be completed. James ended with a better overall grade, even in coverage (53.7), but he allowed seven of nine targets to be completed in his area. He also struggled as a tackler, earning a grade of 47.0 in that area.
Tuipulotu’s grade was sunk by an uncharacteristic 28.1 tackling grade. He also had eight plays in coverage which was such a frustrating sight. His 42.5 in that area was second worst on the team.
