Chargers Training Camp is on the horizon.
The team will host 14 open practices as they welcome fans to The Bolt in El Segundo for the first time.
The Bolts are looking to have an instant impact in Year 1 of the Jim Harbaugh era and have a new-look coaching staff and roster that relentlessly attacked the offseason program.
Chargers.com will take a look at each position group leading up to training camp. Next up, special teams.
Who's on the roster?
Cameron Dicker, JK Scott, Josh Harris, Derius Davis
Camp outlook
The Chargers special teams unit brings back continuity under a new regime with Special Teams Coordinator Ryan Ficken and assistant special teams coach Chris Gould back in the mix for 2024.
The group managed to one-up themselves after an impressive first season under Ficken.
After placing sixth in special teams DVOA during 2022, the Bolts finished second in the NFL last season despite a number of key contributors missing games.
And a big part of it — besides elite coaching —was the continued consistency the trio of kicker Cameron Dicker, punter JK Scott and long snapper Josh Harris.
Dicker had an all-time season in Chargers franchise history in just his second year. The kicker knocked in 31 of 33 field goals and remained perfect on 35 extra point tries during 2023.
Scott, meanwhile, had an impressive season in his own right landing a career-high 40 percent of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
The veteran punter has been a valuable asset to the unit since his arrival as the Bolts have become one of the better teams in the league in the punt game.
And in the middle of the operations continues to be Harris, who returns for a third year with the Bolts.
As a team captain and one of the leaders of the special teams unit, Harris continues to be a calming presence on and off the field.
The new addition to the group a year ago was returner Derius Davis, who wasted no time making his name known in his rookie season.
Davis earned AP Second-Team All-Pro honors and was an All-Pro Punt Returner in the NFLPA's Players' All-Pro Team after returning 24 punts for 385 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown return against the Jets on Monday Night Football.
Davis' yardage total was good for second-most in the NFL and he also ranked first among qualified leaders with an average of 16.0 yards per punt return.
The 2023 fourth-round pick continued to improve even as a rookie and had an instant impact in the return game.
"He improved so much coming here. We thought he was very explosive with the ball in his hands and that's why we end up drafting him," Ficken said about Davis. "But way he went in and learned how to kind of track the ball on the fly and correct proper mechanics in terms of the ball hitting the ground a lot.
"He really made it a point to learn all that stuff," Ficken added. "He's a fast learner when it comes to special teams. Just a dynamic, dynamic weapon for our team."
Quick quote
"Last year was last year and let's start from scratch. We're starting from Day 1. It's gonna be all about fundamentals. And if this is your third year in this system, you just got to find a way to still learn something new because we can always improve. We're going to start back at the basics because nothing is given to us and it's a clean slate for everyone. These previous two years don't matter and it's about what is in front of us." – Ficken on his message to the team when players returned in April.
Player to watch: Cameron Dicker
The Bolts kicker hasn't just been good since joining during the 2022 season — he's been historic.
Dicker has made 52-of-55 field goals (94.5 percent) over his first two pro seasons, good for the best career field goal percentage in NFL history by any player with at least 50 attempts. And in 2023, his 31 makes last season was the most in a single season by a Chargers kicker in a decade.
Dicker didn't just continue his high-level play last year however, but he also improved in other areas of his game not seen as much during his rookie year.
After only attempting one field goal of at least 50 yards in his first year, Dicker showed off his range last year setting the franchise record for most makes of at least 50 yards (seven) in a season.
"He's had success that rivals any Chargers specialist out there in terms of kicking and maybe throughout the NFL history," Ficken said about Dicker. "A true pro, he approaches and attacks this game with the mindset to be the best."
"I love his demeanor and the way he approaches the game, too, because he doesn't live and die on one kick," Ficken added. "Even if there's a great kick, he just finds a way to try to know how he can improve it and then he moves on to the next one, miss or make."
Having the consistency in the kicking game the last two years has helped out the Bolts tremendously, and another stellar season for Dicker could be the difference that pushes the team to some extra wins in close games.
Key question: How will the new kickoff rule impact the Chargers special teams unit?
The is the question on everybody's minds this year after a major offseason rule change to the kickoff format.
The process of the big change has already begun, as the Bolts have worked through it during the offseason program and will get a chance to put it into action a lot more with camp and preseason around the corner.
One thing that players noticed right away? Everything on kickoff will move a lot faster now.
"It's crazy. I think it's really fast," outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu said about the rule. "I think my very first rep on kickoff, I ran straight and D.D. [Davis] was already past me on the left.
"I was like, 'Damn, I didn't even get a chance to do a move yet'," Tuipulotu added with a laugh. "We're going to have to adjust."
The Bolts returned just 18 kickoffs last season but the number is expected to increase with the change this year.
Like with every new rule, it will be a work in progress from now until the season rolls around and even when the games start.
But getting a chance to find an upper hand from the beginning of the year could pay big dividends for the unit and team as a whole.
"I definitely think there is going to be a big learning curve," linebacker Troy Dye said. "Not a big learning curve, but how coordinators attack different schemes, if they go two returners or one returner or running reverses or different set up different blocks.
Dye later added: "I think copycat league once one guy figures it out, 'Oh this is the best and it works,' and be the return of the year, you'll kind of go off of that. Then next year kind of go off of that and trickle-down effect like it has been in that past."
Expect Ficken and the Chargers to constantly rep kickoff coverage and returns in camp, and keep an eye on the play as a teaching tool in preseason games, too.
"Ultimately what it's going to do is give an opportunity to keep some plays in for special teams, make that kickoff return a viable play," Ficken said in April. "I think it'll be an exciting play for the fans and for the players, I think they wanted it too.
"I think it's a great opportunity for them to go out and continue to make a big impact on the game," Ficken added.
