Tuli

Tuipulotu

ESPN’s Kris Rhim said earlier this week that James “almost certainly want[s] a new deal before training camp starts” in mid-to-late July. The Chargers’ organized team activities are scheduled to run May 26-27, May 29, June 2-4 and June 8-11. Mandatory minicamp will run from June 16-18. If extensions have not been agreed upon by the time mandatory minicamp rolls around, James and Tuipulotu could choose to hold out. That at least gives us a benchmark to check up on. Stay tuned.

Tuipulotu (6'3/266) may only be a three-star recruit by the rankings, but USC could use anybody they can get as of this point. The Trojans entered Wednesday lagging seriously behind in not only the national recruiting rankings but also the Pac-12 recruiting rankings for 2020 -- on the 247Sports team rankings board they came into the day ranked No. 84. Which, ouch. Now, USC tends to close strong and we could see them nicely elevated from that ranking come February, when everything’s sorted out. But for now, much work to do for HC Clay Helton and staff.