The Real Question: Can These Teams Win? : There’s Talent in Some Spots, but Too Many Empty Spaces : Chargers Preview

SAN DIEGO —  “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Chargers But Were Afraid To Ask” is not in service at this time.

Calls are now being taken by: “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Chargers But Were Afraid Of The Answer.”

Football experts from Foxboro to Tempe are predicting the Chargers will lose at least twice as many games as they win in 1988.

What do they know?

They know what they hear. Which is usually about fifth hand.

So hear this. What follows are 10 answers to 10 questions. Some of which you get here first.

Q: How bad are the Chargers?

A: Worse than they are willing to admit, especially since they are still trying to sell tickets for the 1988 season.

But the Chargers are better than doomsayers who insist the team will be 0-10 when it limps into Atlanta Nov. 13 for a game against the lowly Falcons, a game that will supposedly determine which team earns the draft rights to UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman.

Actually, Aikman could become the Archie Manning of the ‘90s if he winds up with the Chargers. Manning was the freckle-faced dart-thrower who became a Saint in 1971, before he became a martyr. By the time he escaped New Orleans in 1982, he was just a softshell of the quarterback he had once been.

Sure, Aikman would inherit as good a group of young wide receivers as you will find in the NFL if he came here. But it wouldn’t do him any good if he only had .0001 seconds to get rid of the ball.

If the Chargers get the No. 1 pick in the 1989 draft, they would be wiser to trade down and stock themselves in any number of other, needy areas.

Anyway, Charger Coach Al Saunders likes to ask: “Is the glass half empty or half full?”

He will tell you it’s half full. But this year, it’s half empty. And there’s a leak. In the offensive line.

Q: How good are the Chargers?

A: Not bad for a half-empty team with a leak.

Actually, the Chargers’ success this year will be in proportion to their opponents’ ability to underrate them.

The Chargers probably have the least overall talent in the AFC West. And teams might have a hard time getting up for them. That’s a mistake.

Babe Laufenberg is the perfect quarterback for new offensive coordinator Jerry Rhome’s dash-and-flash offense. And no team has three faster, more eager wide receivers than the Chargers do in rookies Anthony Miller, Quinn Early and second-year player Jamie Holland.

And as second-string quarterbacks go, Mark Malone is above average. And he’s durable, which counts for a lot these days.

Plus, the Chargers have an unheralded defensive coordinator in Ron Lynn, who would have made a great campfire cook on the Chisholm Trail. Lynn has the knack of making something tasty out of lots of nothing.

So here’s the warning, NFL: Look past the Chargers, and you are asking to get burned.

Q: Is it wise to invite Al Saunders and Steve Ortmayer to the same party?

A: Ahh, now you’re getting to the heart of the matter.

Charger owner Alex Spanos apparently has decided a little creative tension between his top lieutenants is healthy for an organization. It works in the business world. And Spanos has been wildly successful in that sector.

And it has worked on the field in the NFL, where many winning coaches have had to be mean-spirited at times.

But recent history in this league tells us that front-office harmony usually equates with winning.

The shining example is Washington, where General Manager Bobby Beathard and Coach Joe Gibbs go hand-and-glove. Two of the quickest-rising teams in the league are Indianapolis--where General Manager Jimmy Irsay and Coach Ron Meyer are closerthanthis, and Buffalo--where the GM, Bill Polian, and the coach, Marv Levy, worked and struggled together in the USFL.

Solid franchises on the decline include the Giants--where Coach Bill Parcells and GM George Young didn’t get along like they used to, and the Bears--where the only thing Coach Mike Ditka and team President Michael McCaskey have in common is a private disdain for each other.

San Francisco is another organization headed in the wrong direction if Coach Bill Walsh and owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. don’t get back on the same page soon.

Ortmayer, the Chargers’ director of football operations, and Saunders are not on the same page.

That does not mean they war openly. But there are fundamental differences in their opinions on the best route to the goal shared by all football people--winning.

And right now, Ortmayer has more power than Saunders within the Charger hierarchy.

If you believe the whispers, Ortmayer harbors a secret desire to take Saunders’ place on the field. Another scenario has Ortmayer replacing Saunders with player personnel director Chet Franklin.

This is all speculation. But it’s the speculation of more than one former Charger player and many people close to the organization.

If the Chargers get off to a fast start--a difficult task because 3 of their first 4 games are on the road and 2 of their first 5 are against Denver, the defending AFC champion--Saunders and Ortmayer will both be happy.

If the Chargers get off to a slow start, it probably won’t be a good idea to invite them to the same party.

Q: Will Saunders last the year?

A: “He’s gone,” said one player agent the other day after hearing Ortmayer had suspended tight end Kellen Winslow.

“I thought Darryl Rogers (Detroit) would be the first to go this year,” said the agent. “But I think Saunders may be now.”

Part of the point the agent was trying to make is that Saunders is being asked to play stud poker without any hole cards. Makes it pretty hard to bluff anybody.

If Saunders doesn’t last the season, it won’t be because he was a bad coach. It will be because he was the coach of the Chargers--a team with a small quiver and precious few arrows.

If they gave out an award for “Coach of the Half Year” in 1987, it would have been Saunders by a landslide. Nothing that Saunders has done in his brief tenure as coach here has shown that he can’t coach in the NFL.

Q: What about the rest of the division and the Chargers’ schedule?

A: The AFC West is in decline. The Broncos are the favorites to repeat mostly because of quarterback John Elway and, to a lesser extent, by default.

A lot of people like the Seahawks. But quarterback Dave Krieg has never been consistent enough. Linebacker Brian Bosworth doesn’t fit the mold there. And reports of infighting trickle down from the Pacific Northwest almost daily.

The Raiders are just plain overrated. And teams with new head coaches generally don’t do diddly. Worse for the Raiders, starting quarterback Steve Beuerlein has never thrown an NFL regular season pass.

The Chiefs are weakened by injuries, most notably to running back Christian Okoye. And they haven’t had a playoff caliber quarterback since Len Dawson.

The Chargers’ eight-game schedule outside the division includes San Francisco, Indianapolis and New Orleans, all teams likely to make the playoffs. Then there’s Miami and Cincinnati--both high octane passing offenses--on the road. The Chargers must also play the Rams, a team whose starters dominated them twice in the preseason, on the road.

The light at the end of this tunnel is Atlanta (Week 10) and the Steelers at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Dec. 18.

Says here the Chargers will finish 4-12, with one legitimate upset. Let’s say 21-20 over New Orleans Oct. 9 at home.

Q: What is the weightiest matter on Steve Ortmayer’s desk?

A: No, it is not that freeze-dried packet of eggplant au gratin supplied by his friendly, neighborhood Nutra-Systems dietitian. Although at last report, Ortmayer had lost 16 pounds.

Ortmayer’s biggest immediate challenge will be smoothing the transition from the Dan Fouts era to whatever era the Chargers are going to give us next.

Fouts’ retirement wasn’t handled in terrific taste. The Jim Lachey trade was a debacle. The Winslow suspension made a lot of people scratch their heads. And Chip Banks is reportedly on vacation.

Ortmayer knows football, and he knows personnel. You don’t rise in Al Davis’ ranks any other way. But there’s more to his job than just that. He realizes that a little more each day.

Q: What or who will be the biggest Charger surprise this year?

A: The biggest surprise will be their record if they win more than six games.

The biggest surprise among the players will be Laufenberg, if he stays healthy, and rookie wide receiver Darren Flutie. Flutie will succeed by mining gold working underneath the zones stretched by the three fast wideouts.

Another potential surprise is running back Barry Redden, currently on injured reserve with a bad wrist.

Despite all his problems, Redden is probably the second-best pure running back the Chargers have. Gary Anderson, who will get most of the work early, is not historically durable. Redden could turn out to be the best back to run behind this particular Charger line.

Q: What or who will be the biggest Charger disappointment?

A: If the Chargers have another bad year, it will be disappointing but not surprising if the rest of the league fails to recognize that outside linebacker Billy Ray Smith belongs in the Pro Bowl.

If the Chargers have another bad year, their attendance will disappoint, too.

Q: What’s the real story with Chip Banks?

A: It was a mistake to take him off Cleveland’s hands. He’s a great player. But his prolonged contract holdout is just more evidence that he’s more trouble than he’s worth.

The real story on Chip Banks is one that even his agent, Harold Daniels, doesn’t appear to know for sure.

Q: Will the Chargers miss Dan Fouts?

A: Not this year. A hang-in quarterback like Fouts would have been murdered behind this young offensive line. Which is why Fouts won’t miss the Chargers this year, either.

CHARGER ROSTER

NFL No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Exp. 2 Ralf Mojsiejenko P 6-3 213 1/28/63 4 10 Vince Abbott K 5-11 208 5/31/58 2 12 Babe Laufenberg QB 6-2 205 12/5/59 3 13 Mark Vlasic QB 6-3 203 10/25/63 2 16 Mark Malone QB 6-4 222 11/22/58 8 22 Gill Byrd CB-S 5-11 198 2/20/61 6 23 Roy Bennett CB 6-2 195 7/5/61 1 25 Vencie Glenn FS 6-0 192 10/26/64 3 26 Lionel James RB 5-6 170 5/25/62 5 31 Leonard Coleman CB 6-2 202 1/30/62 4 34 Elvis Patterson CB 5-11 198 10/21/60 5 37 Jeff Dale SS 6-3 207 10/6/62 3 40 Gary Anderson RB 6-0 184 4/18/61 4 42 Curtis Adams RB 5-11 207 4/30/62 3 43 Tim Spencer RB 6-1 223 12/10/60 4 44 Martin Bayless SS 6-2 212 11/11/62 5 48 Pat Miller SS 6-1 206 6/24/64 1 50 Gary Plummer ILB 6-2 240 1/26/60 3 52 Jeffery Jackson ILB 6-1 242 10/9/61 4 53 Chuck Faucette ILB 6-3 242 10/7/63 1 54 Billy Ray Smith OLB 6-3 236 8/10/61 6 57 Keith Browner OLB 6-6 266 1/24/62 4 58 David Brandon OLB 6-4 230 2/9/65 2 60 Dennis McKnight C-G 6-3 280 9/12/59 7 62 Don Macek C 6-2 278 7/2/54 13 65 David Richards T 6-4 310 4/11/66 R 66 Dan Rosado C-G 6-3 280 7/6/59 2 68 Gary Kowalski G-T 6-6 288 7/2/60 5 69 Les Miller DE 6-7 293 3/1/65 2 71 Mike Charles NT 6-4 296 9/23/62 6 72 Karl Wilson DE 6-4 275 9/10/64 2 75 Joe Phillips DE 6-5 275 7/15/63 3 76 Broderick Thompson T-G 6-4 294 8/14/60 3 77 John Clay T 6-5 295 5/1/64 2 73 Darrick Brilz T-G 6-3 270 2/14/64 2 82 Rod Bernstine TE 6-3 238 2/8/65 2 83 Anthony Miller WR 5-11 185 4/5/65 R 81 Albert Reese TE 6-4 245 2/15/65 1 85 Eric Sievers TE 6-4 238 11/9/58 8 86 Jamie Holland WR 6-1 195 2/1/64 2 87 Quinn Early WR 6-0 188 4/15/65 R 88 Arthur Cox TE 6-2 277 2/5/61 6 89 Darren Flutie WR 5-10 184 11/18/66 R 93 Tyrone Keys DE 6-7 291 10/24/60 6 94 Randy Kirk OLB 6-2 227 12/27/64 2 95 Joe Campbell OLB 6-3 245 12/28/66 R 96 Keith Baldwin DE 6-4 267 10/13/60 6 99 Lee Williams DE 6-5 271 10/15/62 5

No. College 2 Michigan State 10 Fullerton State 12 Indiana 13 Iowa 16 Arizona State 22 San Jose State 23 Jackson State 25 Indiana State 26 Auburn 31 Vanderbilt 34 Kansas 37 Louisiana State 40 Arkansas 42 Central Michigan 43 Ohio State 44 Bowling Green 48 Florida 50 California 52 Auburn 53 Maryland 54 Arkansas 57 USC 58 Memphis State 60 Drake 62 Boston College 65 UCLA 66 N. Illionis 68 Boston College 69 Fort Hays State 71 Syracuse 72 Louisiana State 75 Southern Methodist 76 Kansas 77 Missouri 73 Oregon 82 Texas A&M; 83 Tennessee 81 Southern Methodist 85 Maryland 86 Ohio State 87 Iowa 88 Texas Southern 89 Boston College 93 Mississippi State 94 San Diego State 95 New Mexico State 96 Texas A&M; 99 Bethune-Cookman