Bolts From The Blue
Mina Kimes and Ryan Clark gave their NFL team rankings, and the Los Angeles Chargers fell just outside the Top 10.
After free agency, the NFL Draft, and all team activities, the offseason has arrived. A lengthy break between now and training camp, and with it comes rankings, speculation, optimism and pessimism. Most recently, it’s a ranking of all 32 NFL teams from ESPN’s Mina Kimes and Ryan Clark on “The Mina Kimes Show.” The two discussed their ranking of each team, and the Los Angeles Chargers fell to No. 11, as Kimes and Clark debated between the Denver Broncos and Chargers for the spot.
“I went with the Chargers [over the Broncos], actually,” Clark said. “I am unapologetically a big Jim Harbaugh fan. I think in short spurts, I think he is incredibly, incredibly good at doing his job. And now, you look at Najee [Harris] and Omarion Hampton in the backfield – I think this puts Najee where he needs to be. You’re not going to ask him to be the lead guy. Omarion Hampton, I thought was just extremely explosive at North Carolina. He had vision, he had contact balance, he had the explosiveness to reel off the big run, which we know that’s not what Najee does. And you think about what they were able to do last year with Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins in the backfield.”
Last season, the Chargers ranked No. 17 in rushing, averaging 110.7 yards per game with former Baltimore Ravens duo J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. The struggles of the run game, according to the data, suggest some of the struggles were on the running backs. Last season, the Chargers were No. 13 in run-block win-rate but No. 27 in RBYBC/rush. The blocking is there but faults from the ballcarriers limited their production. With Harris and Hampton, expectations are they improve the ground game.
Clark also took into account wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who was just named to the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2025, entering his second season and anticipates he ascends to Pro Bowl worthy play.
“What I love was the amount of times [Ladd McConkey] beat man-to-man coverage in the intermediate to deep part of the field,” Clark said. “With route-running, with acceleration out of breaks; I know he takes that next step this year. And this is a dude that is going to play Pro Bowl caliber ball.”
