Brandon Staley’s quest to destroy NFL secondaries in 2023 began with his love of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.
Their guard play was exceptional and, when considering their size for the era, most of them were outliers. Michael Jordan, Ron Harper and Scottie Pippen were all 6'6" or taller, allowing the entire offense to play a hybrid style of basketball—multiple players slashing, driving, shooting and playing inside—at a time when the game was more positionally rigid. The team could dictate their own matchups, placing players with advantageous traits on defenders ill-prepared to counter them (a faster guard drawing a slower forward, a bigger guard drawing a smaller guard, etc.).
His hypothesis—that this could be applicable to the Chargers—was solidified during a predraft visit with the Warriors before their Game 3, first-round matchup with the Kings in April (Staley and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr are friends). It’s about being large, handling the ball and spacing it all out efficiently. Size, he says, increases your margin for error.
