This year can be a shocker for the Los Angeles Chargers. Jim Harbaugh won the CFP National Championship with the Wolverines and landed straight with the Bolts. The first thing he did was get rid of skilled players Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams, and Keenan Allen, and suddenly, their roster looks too thin. So, what difference does it make?

It just so happens that ESPN’s Bill Barnwell rated the Chargers as the worst playmakers in the league in 2024. However, it was a different story a year ago when the Chargers fluctuated between fifth and sixth positions in the league. So, what does Harbaugh aim to achieve by starting fresh? This could either sink the Chargers further or elevate them to a level where the NFL is compelled to emulate their structure.

Mark Schlereth talked about the maverick move in the latest episode of his podcast The Stinkin Truth with Mark Schlereth and dove deeper into what Brian Barnwell had to say about the Chargers’ position.

The burning question that needed to be answered was, “You want to talk about the great experiment that plays out in year one, Jim Harbaugh taking a team that was widely believed to have top 10 skill position guys the last two years to all of a sudden stripping it clean and having now maybe the worst group of skill position guys. Does it work? Does it not work?”

For what it’s worth, Schlereth couldn’t help pondering the possibility that this could be a blessing in disguise for the Chargers. One of the main reasons could be the significant cap space they would free up by parting ways with players like Ekeler. Schlereth elaborates on the other potential outcomes after the Chargers removed the top 10 skill position players from their roster.

The co-host pointed out how “This is a copycat league, it always has been and Harbaugh being the influential guy that he is coming from Michigan, if he comes in year one and changes and wins with a model like that where he’s basically saying build around the quarterback, build around the offensive line and I don’t need to invest as much in skill position guys, you watch how quickly the rest of the NFL copies that.”

Schlereth somewhat agrees with Harbaugh’s philosophy as he said, “There are a lot of things going on for you to touch a ball. So how all of a sudden did the receiver become the most important position in football? I have no clue. They have done their job of pulling the wool over all your eyes.”

So, what was the analysis that Bill Barnwell made?

Are Jim Harbaugh and the Bolts rooted to fail?

Firstly, parting with skill players may pose certain challenges. While it’s positive that young talents will soon shine, expecting everything to go smoothly from the outset isn’t realistic, right? So, what exactly is lacking in the Bolts’ skilled positions?

They have Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins at the running back position, both of whom have injury-riddled pasts and have never completed a season with 1,000+ yards. Among their veteran receivers, DJ Clark has only had one 1,000+ yard season in his career, while Joshua Palmer, who has played three seasons with the team, did not complete the last season, appearing in 11 games in 2023. Only time will tell what the rookies Brenden Rice, Ladd McConkey, and Cornelius Johnson can accomplish this season.

It won’t take long to see from the Chargers’ depth chart that they no longer have any veterans left on their roster. Harbaugh is aiming to construct the team around Justin Herbert, and according to Schlereth, the head coach is prioritizing strengthening the offensive line to provide protection for their quarterback. This strategy makes sense given Justin Herbert’s exceptional talent as a quarterback.

A cool thing about Herbert is that he’s the seventh player in the NFL who had 405 yards and three touchdowns without any interceptions in a single game. This record came in last season’s game against the Vikings where he completed 40 of his 47 passes. Harbaugh is taking a risk by getting rid of experienced players. Would his approach work out?