This is a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2013. So what five players need to be better for the surging Los Angeles Chargers in 2018?
They become quite a tease at times. This past season, the artist formerly known as the San Diego Chargers returned to the city where the franchise made its debut way back in 1960. The Bolts played in the City of Angels for just one year before moving to San Diego.
This past season, the club returned to L.A. and got off to a rocky start. New head coach Anthony Lynn and his club dug itself a 0-4 hole. But before you knew it, the team got back into playoff contention. They would go on to win nine of their final 12 games and finish 9-7 – quite a reversal of fortune for a club that the previous two seasons was a combined 9-23. Still, it marked the fourth consecutive year that the Bolts missed out on the postseason.
Lynn’s Chargers hope to pick up where they left off in ’17. Which five performers need to kick it up a notch for the club to improve on its win total this fall?
5. Melvin Gordon
How can one of the NFL’s more productive running backs make this list? Keep in mind the idea here is to find five players who must improve this upcoming season. Los Angeles Chargers’ versatile performer Melvin Gordon has become one of the league’s better players at his position. But there what is one aspect of his game that needs to get much better.
This past season, the 15th overall pick in the 2015 draft put up tremendous numbers in his third season. Only four players in the league topped his 1,581 total yards from scrimmage. Gordon ran for 1,105 yards and eight scores and finished second on the team with 58 catches – good for 476 yards and four touchdowns. Yet, the fine folks at Pro Football Focus rank him as the NFL’s 12th-best running back but he is rated very low when it comes to pass blocking.
Just something for the talented performer to work on this summer.