Take a look at the entire Bolts roster leading into 2018 Preseason.
1 WR Justice Liggins
2 P Shane Tripucka
3 QB Geno Smith
4 K Roberto Aguayo
5 WR Nelson Spruce
6 K Caleb Sturgis
7 QB Cardale Jones
8 P Drew Kaser
9 QB Nic Shimonek
10 WR Artavis Scott
11 WR Geremy Davis
12 WR Travis Benjamin
13 WR Keenan Allen
15 WR Andre Patton
16 WR Tyrell Williams
17 QB Philip Rivers
20 CB Desmond King
24 CB Trevor Williams
25 S Rayshawn Jenkins
26 CB Casey Hayward
28 RB Melvin Gordon III
29 CB Craig Mager
30 RB Austin Ekeler
31 S Adrian Phillips
32 RB Justin Jackson
33 S Derwin James
34 FB Derek Watt
35 DB Micah Hannemann
35 RB Russell Hansbrough
36 CB Brandon Facyson
37 S Jahleel Addae
38 CB B.J. Clay
38 RB Detrez Newsome
39 DB Tony Brown
40 FB Anthony Manzo-Lewis
41 CB Marcus Edmond
41 WR Je'Ron Hamm
42 RB Terrell Watson
42 CB Channing Stribling
43 CB Michael Davis
44 LB Kyzir White
45 S A.J. Hendy
46 DE Chris Landrum
47 LS Mike Windt
48 LB Nick Dzubnar
50 ILB Hayes Pullard
51 OLB Kyle Emanuel
52 LB Denzel Perryman
53 C Mike Pouncey
54 DE Melvin Ingram III
57 OLB Jatavis Brown
58 LB Uchenna Nwosu
59 LB D'Juan Hines
61 C-G Scott Quessenberry
62 OL Chris Durant
64 C-G Cole Toner
65 OL Zack Golditch
66 G Dan Feeney
67 G Brett Boyko
68 T Trent Scott
69 T Sam Tevi
70 DL Steven Richardson
71 NT Damion Square
72 T Joe Barksdale
73 C-G Spencer Pulley
74 G Erick Wren
75 G Michael Schofield III
76 T Russell Okung
77 G Forrest Lamp
78 DT Marcus Hardison
80 TE Sean Culkin
81 WR Mike Williams
82 TE Cole Hunt
83 TE Braedon Bowman
84 WR Dylan Cantrell
87 TE Ben Johnson
88 TE Virgil Green
89 WR J.J. Jones
90 DE Whitney Richardson
91 DL Justin Jones
92 NT Brandon Mebane
93 DE Darius Philon
94 DT Corey Liuget
95 DL Bijhon Jackson
96 LB Kyle Coleman
97 DE Patrick Afriyie
98 DE Isaac Rochell
99 DE Joey Bosa
With training camp on the horizon, we'll preview 10 of the most intriguing storylines to watch for when the Bolts kick things off on July 28.
"Obviously our kicking game was not NFL quality this year. One of my biggest regrets this year (is) I did not do a good enough job addressing that position. I kind of put our head coach, Anthony (Lynn), in a tough position as far as managing the football game. So, it happens. I'm not really happy about it. We'll assess where we were and we'll get it fixed. I'm very confident we'll be able to get that fixed, but obviously that just has to get better this year. I did not do a good enough job there. But we'll get that addressed."
That is what General Manager Tom Telesco said on January 4 following the end of the 2017 season, vowing to improve a kicking game that proved to be the Bolts' Achilles Heel a year ago.
Fast forward seven months and Caleb Sturgis and Roberto Aguayo are the two kickers the Chargers brought in to stabilize the position.
Sturgis is a former fifth-round pick who signed with the Bolts early in free agency. The 28-year old, who suffered a season-ending hip injury in Week 1 a year ago, has appeared in 62 career games over five seasons with the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles. He's converted 111-of-137 attempts (81.0-percent) with a career-long of 55, including a field goal of at least 50 yards in every season.
Meanwhile, Aguayo joined the Chargers in early January, inking a Reserve/Future contract after spending most of 2017 on the Carolina Panthers' practice squad. The most accurate kicker in NCAA history (96.7 percent) Aguayo entered the NFL as a second-round pick (59th overall) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016. He connected on 22-of-31 field goal attempts his rookie season while going 32-for-34 on extra points. Aguayo finished the season making 16 of his final 20 field goal attempts.
Preseason action and training camp will determine whether Sturgis or Aguayo wins out. The good news is that Lynn was encouraged by what he saw out of both men during the offseason program. It whet his appetite for what he thinks will be a competitive battle.
"We have some talented kickers," he said. "Both of those guys have kicked at a high level, and so we'll see when the time comes, but I try not to get too excited right now. But when the time comes when those guys compete in training camp and real games, I'm looking forward to it."
While Sturgis has more NFL experience, Special Teams Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach George Stewart maintained that the competition is a dead heat entering camp.
"It's always even," Stewart said. "They both were high draft picks in terms of specialists. We're just looking forward to the opportunity to get to camp and see these guys kick. Hopefully, one of those guys will come through, and I'm quite sure one of them will. But we're excited about both of them."
MORE THINGS TO WATCH
The Chargers' 2018 training camp schedule is official, so mark your calendars to watch the Bolts prepare for the upcoming season! The team will hold 14 practices open to the public between July 28 and August 23. For more information, please visit **www.chargers.com/camp**.
