Scouting the Browns’ Week 16 opponent: San Diego Chargers - Our Q&A with Bolts from the Blue

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This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns are on the road to take on the San Diego Chargers. To help preview the Week 16 contest, I reached out to Richard Wade from Bolts from the Blue and exchanged five questions with him. Enjoy!

Chris: “How has Travis Benjamin performed in his first season with the Chargers, both as a wide receiver and a punt returner?”

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Richard: “Benjamin's first season with the Chargers has been an unmitigated disaster. He has missed time due to injury. He lost his job returning punts. He has dropped passes, run poor routes, and avoided contact at all costs. He was brought in to stretch the field and breathe life into a poor special teams unit. He has failed to do either for the vast majority of this season.”

Chris: “It sounds like Melvin Gordon won't be able to go this week. Tell us about who should get the work at running back instead.”

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Richard: “Most of the carries will likely go to rookie Kenneth Farrow. Recent veteran signing Ronnie Hillman will also see work, though, and thanks to Farrow's fumbling and the coaching staff's general incompetence we will probably see more of Hillman than actually makes sense for a team in the Chargers' position.”

Chris: “Who is the Chargers' best offensive lineman, and who is the worst?”

Richard: “Matt Slauson is the only offensive lineman on the Chargers who has looked like he belongs in the league every week. The rest of the line has been varying levels of absolute garbage. Joe Barksdale and Orlando Franklin are arguably the worst offenders out of the bunch.”

Chris: “Which two starting positions would you label as liabilities on the Chargers' defense?”

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Richard: “Safeties Jahleel Addae and Dwight Lowery are both quite bad at their jobs. Neither reads and reacts in time to be effective and they lack the athleticism to make up for it. They don't contribute much against the run, but it's their pass coverage where they're really awful.”

Chris: “The Chargers will be traveling across the country to play on Christmas Eve in the midst of a disappointing season. How confident are you that the Chargers won't be the first team to fall to the Browns?”

Richard: “The only reason I have to believe that the Chargers will win is that it will ruin my day. There are a number of very talented players in San Diego, but they lack depth and have injuries up and down the roster. They also sport one of the worst coaching staffs ever assembled in the NFL. If anyone can pull off a loss to the Browns this year, it's the Chargers. But the Chargers will probably win because that's the worst case scenario and that's the kind of year we are having.”

Thanks again to Richard for taking the time to answer my questions.