Pelissero also offered praise for Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley.
“Brandon is very smart, very cerebral. He looks at the game in a very analytical way, but he’s able to communicate it so that everybody can understand — his players, other coaches, fans,” Pelissero said. “I think in the modern NFL, there’s tremendous value in that. We have too much outcome-based analysis, and what Brandon tries to do is make the best decisions based on the data at hand.
“Sometimes it’s going to work and sometimes it’s not, and that comes down to execution, among other things,” Pelissero added. “But he has a plan, and he had a cultural plan coming in here. It’s a belief that he has a path to get everybody on the same page.”
And as for and Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco, Pelissero said there may not be a better GM in the league in terms of recent first-round picks.
From 2016 to 2022, Telesco and his staff added Joey Bosa, Mike Williams, Derwin James, Jr., Herbert and Rashawn Slater, among others, to the roster. Even 2022 first-rounder Zion Johnson has drawn the respect of his teammates with his stellar play through nine camp practices.
“You have to give a huge credit to the roster that Tom Telesco has built,” Pelissero said. “I don’t know that any GM, in the first round, has a better one [track] record than Tom. He’s hit in the later rounds, too.
“And to know your needs and go out and get Corey Linsley, to get JC [Jackson] and Khalil [Mack] this year,” Pelissero added. “He and Brandon work together, it’s a team that has star power all over the field.”