SAN DIEGO -- According to the Dallas Morning News, the San Diego Chargers ranked last in special teams as a unit in the NFL last season, which led to the firing of special teams coordinator Kevin Spencer midway through the season. Chargers general manager Tom Telesco elevated assistant special teams coach Craig Aukerman to the head of special teams. Aukerman will be tasked with turning things around in 2016.
Locks: K Josh Lambo
Looking good: LS Mike Windt
On the bubble: P Mike Scifres, P Kasey Redfern, KR-PR Javontee Herndon
Free agents: None
The good: Replacing incumbent Nick Novak, undrafted rookie Lambo performed well in his first NFL season. Lambo was the top rookie kicker in the league last season with 106 points. He converted 26 of 32 field goals (81.3 percent) and 28 of 32 extra points (87.5). Lambo also was clutch, making seven of his eight field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, including a 54-yarder for a 20-17 lead against Pittsburgh with 2:56 left on Oct. 12. Herndon showed improvement returning punts down the backstretch last season.
The bad: Where do we begin? Telesco signed veteran returner Jacoby Jones to a two-year, $5.5 million deal in an attempt to add a playmaker to San Diego’s return game. However, Jones suffered a high-ankle sprain in the team’s opener against the Detroit Lions, which forced him to miss three games. When healthy, Jones struggled, averaging just 21.4 yards per kick return and finishing with minus-4 punt return yards in 2015. Telesco acknowledged he made a mistake, and the Chargers released Jones midway through the season. The Chargers finished last in the NFL in punt return yards, averaging 4.2 yards per return. San Diego was tied for worst in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in punts inside the 20-yard line with 15. And the Chargers allowed 27.5 yards a return in kickoff coverage, also worst in the NFL.
The money: Scifres, a 13-year veteran, is scheduled to make a little more than $3.5 million in base salary in the final year of his contract if he chooses not to retire. The Chargers signed Redfern to a reserve-futures contract at the end of the season, so there will likely be competition in training camp for Scifres. Redfern spent the final two weeks of the 2015 season on San Diego’s practice squad. Scifres, 35, had a down year in 2015. He averaged 45.3 yards per punt -- No. 22 in the NFL. His net punting average of 38 yards was No. 28 in the league. And Scifres averaged just 23 percent of punts inside the 20-yard line. Windt, San Diego’s long snapper, is scheduled to make $785,000 on the final year of a four-year deal. Lambo will make $525,000 in the second year of his rookie contract.
Draft priority: The Chargers need to add a return man via the draft or free agency. Cleveland Browns free agent receiver Travis Benjamin makes sense, along with Baylor’s Corey Coleman in the draft. Receiver Isaiah Burse, signed to a reserve-futures contract, also has return experience from his time at Fresno State.
