Before the Chargers put diamonds in any Super Bowl rings, Jim Harbaugh is looking for diamonds on the practice field.
“Rare gems, they don’t just hop out of the ground and into your pocket,” the Chargers coach said as the team began rookie minicamp Friday. “You gotta dig.”
The Chargers are searching for their hidden gems through a unique rookie minicamp. Harbaugh is doing away with most 11-on-11 periods during the three-day tryout period. He will instead rely primarily on individual drills to evaluate which rookies would be best suited for a team hoping to end a six-year playoff win drought. The coaching staff will teach two drills that directly apply to the Chargers’ scheme on offense or defense and special teams and three drills by position, then evaluate each prospect compared to his counterparts.
The system, which Harbaugh admitted he has never tried before, is intended to provide a fair way for rookies to compete while also letting the staff see each player’s pure talent.
It’s the coach’s way of “mining for gold,” he said.
“Picture a 90-minute meeting to go over offense and defense, and then go out on the field. Then we’re judging who learned the system better,” Harbaugh said. “But we’re not seeing the capabilities, what they have talent wise.”
The Chargers already know what they have with their nine draft picks, including seven who signed rookie contracts Friday. Even before officially signing their deals, first-round pick Omarion Hampton and second-rounder Tre’ Harris still participated in Friday’s three-hour session. The three-day work weekend is primarily a show for the team’s 18 undrafted free agents and 23 tryout players.
Harbaugh said he would keep a close eye on undrafted free agent running back Raheim Sanders, whose 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine equaled Hampton’s despite the 230-pound Sanders being 10 pounds heavier. Kansas receiver Luke Grimm and tight end Stevo Klotz also stood out to Harbaugh on tape.
While unheralded players fight for opportunities, even the drafted players realize the importance of making a good first impression.
“A lot of the D-line guys, we were competing against each other,” said defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell, the Chargers’ third-round draft pick. “Not everybody gets a job at the end of the day. Nobody has secured a job, even me. That’s how I look at it.”
Caldwell, a 6-foot-1, 340-pound defensive tackle out of Oregon, worked individually with defensive line coach Mike Elston and assistant defensive line coach Will Tukuafu while the majority of the rookies were working on special teams drills. Nearby, outside linebacker Kyle Kennard honed his pass-rushing technique with defensive assistant Dylan Roney.
The transition to the NFL has already delivered several surreal moments for Kennard. The Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year heard his name called as a fourth-round pick, then soon got a text from Chargers star edge rusher Khalil Mack.
Mack, who Kennard praised as “one of the greatest to do it,” congratulated the 125th pick on his selection but advised Kennard to not celebrate for too long. The rookie listened.
“Khalil Mack told me not to celebrate, I’m going to stay in the house and go to sleep,” said Kennard, who met Mack briefly in the locker room Friday and shared a welcoming embrace.
The rookies who pass the three-day minicamp will join veterans during next week’s organized team activities. During the first portion of the voluntary workouts, the Chargers experimented on the offensive line with Zion Johnson at center. Harbaugh said the team has alternated between last year’s configuration that had Johnson at left guard next to center Bradley Bozeman and reversing the two offensive linemen to put Johnson at center for the first time in his NFL career. Bozeman hasn’t played guard in an NFL game since 2020.
Despite Johnson’s inexperience at the position, his technique is impeccable, Harbaugh gushed. The snaps are popping off his hand, and the 25-year-old is one of the team’s most athletic and intelligent offensive linemen.
The change comes at a critical time during Johnson’s career. The Chargers didn’t pick up the 2021 first-round pick’s fifth-year option, leaving him to potentially prove himself at a brand new position.
“He’s going to be starting at one of those two positions,” Harbaugh said. “It just adds versatility. … We’ll get our best five eventually, but I know he’s going to be one of them.”
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