Most teams carry 4 safeties and many carry 5-6.
They have three and, according to reports, plan on drafting one. It is definitely an area the Chargers need to improve on (including holding onto the ball after an interception!! LOL!).
Also, I think you are underestimating how much of a loss Polk would be. As one Charger fan pointed out, Polk step up greatly and made the loss of Merriman to the suspension a lot more palatable. Polk is a damn good player and I think the Charger depth would really be hurting if they lost him.
Alot depends on how much he wants. The Chargers don't have that much left under the cap. He is also a special teams demon. I love the guy too, but of the LBs they have signed he had the least amount of defensive playing time. Cooper, Wihelm, and Harris all had more playing time than him. Wilhelm will play in place of Edwards (big shoes to fill, imo) and Cooper will replace Godfrey (even if he returns). We'll see, he may still sign with them.
See, there is another item that I think you are over-looking. And that is Chemistry. It will be intersting to see how the team responds to the change-over.
Good point about chemistry. It WILL be interesting to see how that goes with Turner and his staff vs. Marty and his.
I personally think there are too many prima donnas on that team. Particularly Merriman and Phillips. But that is just my opinion.
There are a few things I don't like about Merriman, his dance for one thing and his comments on TV during the Patriots/Chiefs playoff game is another. If he wasn't on the Chargers I would probably hate him (I will say this for him though, his teamates love him, for me that is the true litmus test). Phillips, imo, is not a prima donna. Don't know where you got that idea, would like to hear why you think that.
Honestly? I believe its stupid to try and predict a record this early.
Agreed.
What I do know is that teams rarely, if ever, do well when there is an entire staff change-over. It usually takes a season for teams to adjust.
I do agree with that. There are exceptions. Barry Switzer at Dallas and George Seifert at SF comes immediately to mind. Sean Payton this year is another not so similiar example.
And I think that there will be some animosity on the part of the players because of how Marty was treated. I think that it will hold them back from adjusting well.
You could be right, but there has been signings that took place after the firing of Marty that may be an indication that this won't happen. I agree that there is certainly the possibility of that type of dissension. Either way it will be fun going into the season for both of our teams.
pao