https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/lists/chargers-rams-players-to-watch-preseason-week-1/

Alex Insdorf
August 10, 2023 4:26 pm PT

We’re just two days out from the Chargers’ 2023 preseason debut against
the Rams at SoFi.

While several high-profile starters won’t play considering how Brandon
Staley normally operates in the preseason, there are still plenty of
storylines and players to follow on Saturday.

QB Max Duggan

The Chargers’ seventh-round pick will get to play at least a quarter or
more of football in his first NFL action. Duggan will coincidentally
return to SoFi Stadium for the first time since his former TCU side lost
to Georgia in the 2023 CFP National Championship game.

As far as can be seen in camp, there’s no quarterback competition this
year for the backup role. Easton Stick is firmly in the QB2 position.
For Duggan, this is an opportunity to get reps to push for the backup
job in future seasons. As a prospect, Duggan had all the athletic
intangibles, as seen in his highlights. But his mechanics are still
somewhat raw, and he’ll need to adjust to play speed in the pros.

TE Tre' McKitty

Brandon Staley wasn’t overly complimentary of McKitty after Sunday’s
scrimmage.

In Kellen Moore’s new offensive scheme, McKitty will have a critical
role to play. As a run blocker last season, McKitty was bottom five as
graded by PFF amongst tight ends. In receiving, the former Georgia tight
end was graded last of 73 eligible players at his position.

This preseason and training camp will be a critical period for McKitty
to prove himself and earn the trust of both Moore and Staley for when
the games do matter. Perhaps he’s only the third tight end on the roster
from a depth chart perspective, but he’ll still play a significant
amount of snaps. Keep in mind that TE2 Donald Parham has missed games in
each of the last two seasons.

WR Derius Davis

Davis will presumably be the Chargers’ starting return specialist when
the regular season begins. It’ll be interesting to see his speed and how
he adjusts to the kicking game at the NFL level.

Another angle to consider for Davis and special teams coordinator Ryan
Ficken will be the league’s new kickoff return rule. On a one-year trial
basis, the NFL has installed a new rule that starts teams at the 25-yard
line if the ball is fair caught anywhere inside the 25 on kickoffs.

Do the Chargers get aggressive in the preseason, or will they play it
safe in adjusting to the new rule? Either way, Davis’ return abilities
should provide juice to a unit that genuinely needs it.

LB Daiyan Henley

Unlike his other rookie classmates in Davis and Duggan, which were
previously mentioned on this list, Henley is competing for more reps and
playing time. Ficken has referred to Henley as a player that will be
active in the special teams aspect from the get-go.

But it’ll be interesting to see if he can potentially push Kenneth
Murray on defensive snaps—the duo of Eric Kendricks and Murray as the
starters seem locked in to start the season. With potential injuries or
Murray faltering, Henley could step into a more prominent role than
expected. That all begins by proving himself in camp and the preseason
games.

DT Scott Matlock

The Chargers’ injury situation on the defensive line is currently
suboptimal. Austin Johnson and Otito Ogbonnia remain on the PUP list
with about a month until the regular season. Sebastian Joseph-Day has
been dealing with a quad contusion.

The upside of these high-profile absences is that it’s allowed more
valuable first-team reps for a rookie like Scott Matlock. He’ll get in
on his fair share of the action on Saturday.

Matlock has the RAS and athletic profile of someone who could also play
some snaps on the edge, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Chargers
experiment a little bit with that in the preseason.

RB Isaiah Spiller

This preseason could be the time that we figure out what Spiller’s true
role is. Is Joshua Kelley the second running back, with Spiller as the
third back? Is it closer to a “2A, 2B” situation?

Spiller put up 41 yards on 18 carries in limited action last season. He
looked pretty raw, which was understandable for being the youngest
running back in his draft class. Spiller just turned 22 this week.

While Kelley was decent enough when healthy last year, the Chargers have
not had an RB2 capable of changing pace behind Austin Ekeler, if Spiller
can show off some shifty running early on, he could win himself more
regular season playing time.

Kicker Cameron Dicker

Dustin Hopkins is now back at practice after recovering from his injury,
but Dicker has taken complete control of the kicking competition in the
early going. For the last two weeks, he’s been hitting field goals at
nearly a 90% clip in practice.

Dicker can establish that it’s his job to lose. Perhaps that’s already
the case. But all three of these preseason games will allow him to put a
declarative stamp on it.

OT Foster Sarell

Sarell enters this season as the current swing tackle for the Chargers.
If anything does happen injury-wise, Rashawn Slater or Trey Pipkins,
it’ll likely be Sarell coming into the game. Another option is kicking
Jamaree Salyer out like last season, but the dynamics have changed with
him entering the season as a starter on the line.

Sarell struggled when called upon last year. On 186 pass-blocking snaps,
he allowed 18 pressures. His work in the run game was even less
efficient. This offseason, Sarell spent considerable time working with
offensive line guru Duke Mayweather and Pipkins and Slater. For the sake
of the Chargers’ depth along the offensive line, they should hope
there’s been some improvement.