Chargers Rookie Jamaree Caldwell Is An Offense Destroyer | Film Review

Chargers Rookie Jamaree Caldwell Is An Offense Destroyer | Film Review

All right, welcome back to another one of our film reviews. Today we are talking Los Angeles Chargers rookie defensive tackle. Jamari Caldwell. I love talking Caldwell. This guy is a beast and he showcased exactly why he’s a future star, a current star actually against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chargers most recent victory. We’ll break down everything he did so well as always in the comment section below. Give us any feedback you might have. If you’re a fan of these film reviews and want to continue to support us, become a member of our channel. It’s a big help to us. But without further ado, let’s jump right into the film. All right, let’s get started with some run defense. And there’s Jamari Caldwell right there lined up in a three technique on the outside shoulder of the Pittsburgh Steelers ran guard. It’s an odd front for the Los Angeles Chargers. By odd, we mean there’s an odd number of players on the defensive line. We got three guys down, two outside linebackers right there. So, it’s got a three four kind of structure right here for the Chargers. It’s going to be a toss action this way for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re going to bring their big tight end blocker Darnell Washington in motion and he’s going to lead at the point of attack. They’re going to try and reach everyone else across the board. Calwell does a great job working down the line of scrimmage and making the tackle. Great play from the rookie. Let’s check it out. There’s motion. There’s a snap. There’s a toss. Blown up. Calwell to finish. Really good job here. All right, let’s break this down. So, right here, he reads the block, uses his hands, works down the line of scrimmage, sheds the block, makes a tackle. I mean, this is textbook stuff. How about 52 on the edge, beats the block there, sets the edge of the defense. Man, this is good, guys. This is good team defense. Look at the physicality. The Steelers bet that number 80, their massive tight end was more physical than 52. Turns out they were wrong. Love the physical nature. Love the team defense. This is a Chargers front that’s playing together. They’re playing with nastiness. And we saw it in prime time. I tell you what, a lot of people look at Herbert, they look at Manki, they worried about the offensive line, but it’s this defense led by these guys up front that’s starting to dominate right now for the Chargers. Look at the technique here from Calwell. Stays parallel to line of scrimmage right there. shoulders, hips, knees, everything parallel to line of scrimmage. Working down the line of scrimmage, doesn’t go too far up the field. Doesn’t get too far down the field trying to getting, you know, too much depth. Allow the running back to cut back behind him. Maintains his gap responsibility the entire time and then fights off the block and makes a tackle. Great job by the rookie. All right, for the wide copy, watch Caldwell right there in the middle of the screen. Watch him use his hands. Look at that. That is so good. I mean, this is textbook stuff, guys. Watch this punch. Bang. Play down the line of scrimmage. shed make the tackle. I mean, you can’t do it better than this, guys. You cannot play three technique with an outside run coming at you better than Jamari Caldwell is playing it right here. He’s a rookie and he’s playing like an allp pro and plays like this. Now, listen, he’s not perfect. We’re going to showcase some things later in this film review of things I’d like to see him improve on. And obviously, he’s not a, you know, 100% elite player in every facet yet, but you see plays like this just quickly emerging as a force. I mean, this is a Steelers offensive front that likes to run the football and they’ve had a lot of success against some good teams so far this season. Jamari Calwell says though, right here, not going to do it against me. Physical, strong, great technique, low pad level. They say low man wins. He drops his hips there. See how he drops really low right there? his helmet basically at the chest plate of the offensive lineman allows him to be physical, come off, make the play. Great rep. All right, how about a little pass rush? And there’s Jamari Caldwell right there lined up in I’m going to call in a one technique on the outside shoulder of the center. You can make an argument maybe, maybe he’s a two eye on the inside eye of the guard, but regardless, he’s an A gap player in this alignment. And the Steelers here are going to run a standard pass protection concept. The play style, which is going to be these three guys on this particular play, they’re all going to take the gap to the right. So, right tackle is going to take this gap, right guard’s going to take this gap, and center’s going to take this gap, which means we’re going to get man-to-man on the back side. Manto man here, and manto man here, which means Caldwell right here has a great opportunity one-on-one against number 74. Now, the reason the Steelers bet this in terms of the structure is that they figured a run stuffer like Caldwell would not be good enough in terms of getting a quick pass rush on Aaron Rogers. And listen, he’s not a pass rusher. Caldwell does some good things as a pass rusher, but that’s not his bread and butter. He’s a run stuffer. But I love the mentality 99 brings here. He doesn’t do anything silly or fancy. He just goes straight bull rush and walks 74 into the lap of Aaron Rogers. Let’s check it out. There’s a snap. Here comes the pressure. Rogers throws it downfield, threads the needle. Nice throw and catch. All right, before we get to Caldwell, let’s look at the right tackle here, guys. I tell you what, these are supreme athletes. These are the best of the best. But even they have funny plays sometimes. I mean, tripping over his teammate right there, that’s that’s that’s an ugly prime time performance for number 76. He’s a good young player though, though, so I won’t pick on him too much. All right, let’s look at Calwell right here. Again, you can see oneonone on the guard right into the hands. Walks him back to the lap. Perfect stuff. One concern right there is at the very end. Watch the hand. That’s 15 yards. Lucky they didn’t call it. It’s one of those things you got to be mindful of. It’s 2025 in today’s NFL. Got to be smart. You’re not going to bat the ball down at this point. Get your back hand, your outside hand up right there. Nowhere close. That was a chance for a dump penalty. They’re lucky the refs missed it. Something they’re going to have to clean up going forward. or Jamari Caldwell will when it comes to this kind of rush. But in terms of his mindset, his approach, I love it. Nothing fancy, nothing silly. Just fire off, get your hands into the offensive lineman’s breastplate, and walk him back with a bull rush. That’s perfect, right? Your job as a defensive tackle, I always feel like in pass rush situations is to collapse the pocket, make the quarterback uncomfortable, don’t allow him to step into the throw. Rogers is just special. He doesn’t need to step into the throw to fire a dart. I mean, this is just perfectly done by Aaron Rogers. But this is good work from Caldwell. This is the kind of pass rush that’ll lead to a lot of great defensive plays going forward. I think that’s one place that Caldwell has done really well this year. He’s really developed and gotten better and more consistent mainly as the year has gone on. We see the first five games of the season. The amount of games that he got pressures on the quarterback just two out of five. We look at the second half of the season though for Caldwell been extremely consistent in the next five games this season. weeks six through 10, Caldwell has gotten pressure on the quarterback in every single game and some games he’s gotten multiple pressures on the quarterback as well. So, he’s really growing as a pass rusher. All right, going back to some run defense and there’s Caldwell once again right there. Line up in a one technique on the outside shoulder of the center and we’re going to get a unique concept here from the Pittsburgh Steelers. We’re going to get a block out here, a down block here. They’re going to pull the guard and wrap him inside for linebacker. Center’s going to work up to linebacker here. Guards looking to cut off Caldwell. running back’s going to get kind of a funky handoff and then hit the hole this direction. Now, this is a situation here for number 99 where your job here as an interior defensive lineman is to create a wall to work down the line of scrimmage. Mirror the running back and just create a mass of humanity. Don’t allow the running back to run anywhere. Coldwell does it perfectly. I mean, this is textbook run defense, team run defense. Let’s check it out. There’s a snap. There’s a handoff. Looking for somewhere to run. Can’t find anywhere. Minimal gain. All right, let’s look at Caldwell at the point of attack. Again, he reads the offensive line coming to him, right? He sees the guard trying to reach him, works down the line of scrimmage, stays with him, stays in his gap, creates this mass of humanity. There’s a lot of defensive linemen that right here would be out of position, and there’d be a cutback lane potentially to work in between 99 and 92 right there. But because Caldwell works down the line of scrimmage because he forces this left guard’s butt to be in the hole the entire time, the running back has to keep it wide. Runs into 92 and they make the play. I mean, because the Steelers have a chance here, right? You can see the tight end on the edge. Decent job there. You can see a little crackback block coming inside on zero. Boom. He gets knocked out of there. You can see the center gets on number six. Forces him to run around. Right? There’s a chance here for the Steelers to hit it. But because you set a stone wall at the line of scrimmage led by Jamari Caldwell again, right here, if you’re the running back, you’re like, “Where do I run? I can’t run cuz I got two offensive linemen with their butt in the hole. I got number six back doing it. I got to keep it wide.” And that’s where 92 makes the play. Team defense wins. Run fits wins. Just like we see here from Jamar Caldwell. Great technique, great rep. All right, for the wide copy, looks really good. You can see Caldwell right there in the middle of your screen. Watch as he works down the line of scrimmage. Again, everything’s parallel, right? You can see knees, hip, shoulders in a good position. Uses his hands, great extension, doesn’t bury his face mask or anything into the blocker, works down the line of scrimmage, maintains his gap. You can see that stone wall that emerges as this play develops right here. Running back gets the hang off. Okay, where do I run? Where do you run, guys? There’s nothing but a mass of humanity. And then there’s number six. Maybe he can squeeze through there and then the hole collapses. This is team run defense. This is run fits. This is how you win. It starts with having guys inside doing their job and stopping the run at a high level. Does Caldwell make the tackle here? No, he doesn’t. Right? Other people make the play. But your job as an interior defensive lineman nine times out of 10 isn’t necessarily to make the play. It’s to make sure the running back goes to someone who will make the play. That’s exactly what 99 does here. Great work. All right. I see Jamari Cwell play some run defense as a nose tackle. He’s right there lined up head up nose on the center right there. but he’s going to be responsible for this gap. So, at the snap, he’s going to slant and take on this gap and position his body in that in that alignment right there to the left of that center. And the running back’s going to take the hand off and read this block. And Jamar Cwell does a great job pushing the center’s butt in the hole and maintaining his gap, forcing the running back to go wide once again, right into his teammate, right into the help. Great team defense once again from 99. Let’s check it out. There’s a snap. There’s the handoff. Running back bounces. There’s the cavalry. Minimal gain. Team defense, run defense. Guys, let’s look at Caldwell. Jumps into his gap. Look at his body position again. Head in his gap. Knees, hips, shoulders. Where are they, guys? Parallel. Is he giving up any ground? Is he getting moved at all? No, sir. Not at all. Look at the running back. He gets the handoff. Where’s he trying to go? Little button the hole action. That’s not ideal. Let’s look on the backside here. How about this defensive lineman doing a good job pushing 76 button the hole forces the running back to bounce. What does Caldwell do? He then fights off the block right there. Forces the running back wide right into his help. Big pile. Team defense, guys. This is what it’s all about. This is how you stop the run. This is how you win. Right? Everyone talks about the offense and Justin Herbert and of course they’re very good, especially when they get healthy. Obviously, we know the offensive tackle position is tough, but the defensive tackle position led by the young man Jamari Caldwell, they’re becoming a force. This is technically outstanding, guys. I mean, we knew Caldwell had talent and we showcased it a bunch of times earlier this season. I’ve been a big fan of Jamari Caldwell ever since the Chargers drafted him and they proven me right. And not because I’m so smart. It’s because obviously Caldwell is such a good player. But I tell you what, the more I watch of him, he looks like a vet now. He looks like a a refined veteran who’s played 10 years of football. And guess what? We just wrapped up week 10. Jamari Calwell is only going to get better and better, and he’s already, as you can see, a key part of this defense. I think one other thing Caldwell has done well this year is play very clean football. He hasn’t had hardly any penalties. Actually, only one penalty on the season. He hasn’t had a penalty in over five games for this Chargers team. So, you know, like I said, he’s growing, he’s learning, and when you’re doing that, sometimes mistakes happen, but not for Caldwell. Played a lot of clean football. Only one penalty all season for him throughout 10 weeks. That is very impressive. Very good job so far for Caldwell. All right, quick break in the film review. Look, I was taught to break down film by my college coaches at division one level. All the players are. It’s just a fact of playing football at that level. And I want to take this opportunity to give you guys, the average fan, more opportunities to get that insider knowledge of how the game is taught at that highest level call to a ball. I created a checklist, a step-by-step guide for you guys, 100% free that’s based on how I was taught to break down film by my coaches and that I use today to create these film reviews. There’s a link in description box below that’ll take you right to it. I really appreciate if you guys decide to get it. Again, 100% free, just trying to share information to you guys, stuff that was taught to me by my coaches. But without further ado, let’s get back into the film. All right, going back to the run defense. And there’s Caldwell right there. Line up in a three technique on the outside shoulder of the guard this time. And this is going to be a gap concept from the Steelers. There’s going to be a base block here. Left guard right there. 74 is working up to the linebacker. Base block here. Double team right here working up to the next level. Tight end working out. Receiver inserting. We’re going to get motion pre- snap to try and get some flow from the linebackers and safeties that direction. And the running back’s going to take the hand off this direction, but he’s going to work to cut back this way. basically how the defense operates and how the offensive line blocks it. I want you guys to watch Caldwell. He fights through the double team. Doesn’t do a great job initially, but because he keeps working, ends up drawing the penalty, which is a huge win, of course, for the Chargers. D. Let’s check it out. There’s a motion. There’s a snap. There’s the inside run. Big crease there, but there’s flags. It’s coming back, guys. Holding. Jamar Caldwell draws the hold. All right, look at the double team between the right guard and right tackle. Hip to hip. They get some movement initially. Not great for 99, but he’s a good job fighting. Keeps fighting, keeps fighting, keeps working, ends up drawing the hold. You can see right there. Point of attack. It’s what it’s all about. Sometimes it’s about effort. It’s about one two. And when you play hard and plays physical, the refs will help you out sometimes. We saw earlier in this film review. Listen, the refs miss the call that would have gone against Caldwell. But when you work hard and do the little things, I think the football gods reward you. And the 99 proves that right here. Again, he’s double teamed off the rip. Gets moved off the football a little bit, but he doesn’t quit. He keeps working and draws a penalty. And you can see initially as he gets double team, he’s trying to get skinny. You can see drop his hips, try and get low, drop that knee to the ground. So he’s fighting to split the double team and ends up splitting it at the very end. And because he fights through and because he plays with effort and low pad level, he gets the call again. Winning play here from Jamar Caldwell. Sometimes it’s not about making the tackle, sometimes about drawing the penalty, especially in today’s NFL. And 99 steps up in a big way here. All right, for the wide cop, you can see Caldwell right there in the middle of your screen. There’s a double team. gives up some ground but fights through and there’s the penalty. It’s what it’s all about guys. Do whatever it takes to win. You got to be physical, got to be nasty. And again, it’s not great technique from Caldwell, but he tries to get low. He tries to get skinny in the hole and does end up splitting the double team. I like to talk about the three parts of a play. There’s the surge, which is the first step or two. There’s the counter, the reaction to the first step or two, and then there’s the finish. So, the surge right there, advantage Steelers, right? They’re getting movement. The counter right there, Cwell, it’s close right there. The counter’s okay, but not perfect. But how about finish right there? Draws the penalty. It’s what it’s all about. The finish is the most important part of the play. Calwell shows that right here. Nice job by 99. All right, let’s talk about something Caldwell I think needs to work on. And there he is right there. Line up in a one technique on the outside shoulder of the center. So what’s going to happen here is Caldwell’s going to slant this way and 92 is going to slant this way. And they’re going to run into each other. 98’s going to crash down this way as well. And it’s going to be handoff this way for a pretty big play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I think right here Caldwell messed up. I can see 92 slant. I can see 98 slant. So, I’d imagine he’s probably slanting into that gap. That’s my guess. Normally, all the defensive linemen slant in the same direction. Maybe I’m wrong, but maybe it’s 92’s fault. Maybe it’s a linebacker’s fault for communication. I’m not sure. But regardless, there’s some issue on this defense that needs to be cleared up cuz right now you got two guys running into each other. That’s not ideal. Let’s check it out. There’s a snap. There’s the handoff. There’s the hole. Decent little run. I tell you what, the the Steelers thought they had a big play, but six does a great job limiting the damage, but they could have gotten creased here. I mean, they got a chance if they don’t fly and make the tackle. You can see number six scraping across right here, beating the offensive lineman that’s trying to block him. Otherwise, this could be a big play because what happens inside with Calwell 92, bang, that’s not good. And the fact that you see 98 right there on the left side of your screen slant to the right, you can see 92 slant to the right. You can see the defensive end over there, right? He slants not to the left. Looks like he’s going to the right. I think right here Caldwell messed up. I think he’s supposed to go to the right. And the result could have been disastrous. When you have two defensive linemen inside run into each other in the same gap, that usually leads to big issues. That leads to a lot of gap integrity problems. The right here, this the Chargers are lucky the Steelers didn’t just run a basic handoff right up the middle here with a guy leading at the point of attack. Then it would have been one-on-one for a touchdown because there’s no one in that gap. This is something that they survived, of course, this game. Got to clean it up for the future. these kind of mistakes can happen if you want to be a championship team. One place where I think Caldwell has some room for growth is something that he was pretty good at the beginning part of this season, that is the tackling department as far as missing tackles. Codwell very consistent through the first seven weeks of the season, but in the last three and specifically this week vers Pittsburgh, two weeks ago vers inconsistent as far as the amount of tackles that he has missed. didn’t miss any up to this point, but in the last three weeks, he has missed three tackles. So, inconsistency. He needs to get back to form. Can’t be missing these tackles, especially as an interior of lineman. Got to be able to make those plays. So, that’s one thing I think he can work on. He’s doing really well. I think he’s a nice player for this Chargers team, but I think he can work on consistency in his tackling throughout the end of this season. All right, let’s end on an effort play. And there’s Jamari Caldwell right there. line up in a three technique on the outside shoulder of the Steelers left guard. And you can see the Steelers, they got a lot of meat on the field. You you would think by this alignment, most likely an inside run, maybe an off tackle run just to get a few yards, see if you can break the Chargers defense, but they get a little tricky here. It’s actually a toss. And right here, this guard takes advantage of the situation and he reaches Caldwell initially, but 99 showcases his effort. Keeps working, keeps working, keeps hustling. I love the effort that 99 Caldwell shows here. Let’s check it out. There’s a snap. There’s a toss. hits the hole. Decent little run. 99’s there to help clean it up. Good to see it from Jamar Caldwell. Take it all the way back to the beginning off the rip. He slants inside which allows him to get reached. That’s by the structure of the defense, I believe. Maybe went inside was he when he wasn’t supposed to. Could have been a mental mistake, but regardless, he gets reached. So, right there doesn’t look good. Right there doesn’t look good. But he keeps working, keeps fighting, fights through the trash, avoids people, and is part of the pile. The effort, the hustle, the little things, that’s what matters. Listen, we know he’s good at stopping the run. We’ve showcased that numerous times. The inside runs, making tackles, drawing penalties, holding his ground, creating the stone wall. He’s really good as a pass rusher. He can collapse the pocket by pushing offensive linemen, mainly guards, into the lap of the quarterback. We also know he has a high motor, high effort for such a big player. I tell you what, guys, I’ve been a big Jamari Caldwell fan for a very long time, and every game he plays, I become more and more impressed. This isn’t a good player. This is an emerging star for the Chargers defense.

This Los Angeles Chargers have to be always proud of Jamaree Caldwell. The LA Chargers have themselves a defense that is getting better in better because of the emergence Jamaree Caldwell. This young Chargers playmaker is starting to dominate and set the tone.

If you like the film reviews and breakdowns please consider becoming a member under the “Support the Film Reviews” tier. It helps us out a lot and will allow us to make many, many more of these types of videos. Link to join: https://www.youtube.com/@saturdaymorninginspection/join

Want to learn how to break down film like I was taught at the D-1 level? Sign up to get my FREE step by step guide I use to these breakdowns at the link: https://all-22-with-nick-rudman.kit.com/checklist

For business inquiries contact us at: saturdaymorninginspection@gmail.com

#losangeleschargers #chargers #lachargers