The Defense

[Silversurfer]

Tillery needs to have a good year for us to be dominant. Having Joseph will help a lot and hopefully take some of the pressure of the D ends and LBs.

[sonorajim]

True, then we choked against the Oilers without Earl Cambel, their best WR and starting QB...... yet we still lost embarrassingly a game we were supposed top dominate in.....

Fouts 5 ints made it an uphill battle.

[blueman]

Many were expecting the LA Chargers to draft a cornerback in the 2020 NFL Draft. While it was not viewed as a massive need for the team, the team seemingly did need an outside cornerback to play alongside Casey Hayward.

New signing Chris Harris was slated to be the team’s primary slot corner and with Adrian Phillips signing with the New England Patriots, Desmond King is likely going to take on his old role in the defense.

It was surprising when the team opted not to draft a corner, with some wondering if the team is simply waiting for an undrafted free agent, a potential free-agent signing (such as Logan Ryan) or if they trust in the guys this have on the roster. They do. Michael Davis is the reason why the LA Chargers did not draft a cornerback.

Michael Davis has gotten a bit of a bad reputation among Charger fans. He and Brandon Facyson have seemingly been viewed as a below-average option to be a primary outside corner, and while Facyson has his holes, Davis is not as bad as you would think if you are scrolling through Twitter.

There are examples of him doing poorly. He was not good in his rookie year, had a bad showing against the Minnesota Vikings last season and has a tendency to hold and commit pass interferences.

Davis was tied for the second-most pass interference calls last season (four) to go along with two holding calls in 659 total snaps played. That definitely is an area of improvement, but Davis is heading into just his third season in the league and penalties are a thing that will be improved with experience.

And yes, he has had his bad showings, but overall, Davis is a lot more efficient than you think with a big enough sample size to take seriously. Davis averaged 0.70 yards of separation for every targeted pass thrown his way, the eighth-lowest in the NFL, per Player Profiler.

He also allowed the second-fewest yards per reception, 8.4, and the fifth-lowest yards per target, 5.5. Also according to Player Profiler, Davis had a +2.0 coverage rating, the 40th-best in the NFL.

Is he an elite lockdown corner? No. But he is a really fast (4.34 40-yard dash) cornerback option that has held his own even against one of the fastest receivers in the league, Tyreek Hill.

As the team’s third-best cornerback playing outside with good safeties behind him (having Derwin James healthy will help a lot), Davis is a great option. Plus, even though Harris is best used in the slot, it is not like he cannot help on the outside as well.

According to Sharp Football Stats, 54 percent of the plays that the Chargers had on defense came with two or fewer wide receivers. While in certain instances that could mean putting Harris on a tight end, in others, it will lead Harris to the outside, allowing the team’s coverage linebackers to work on the tight ends.

Now you could make the case that the LA Chargers should have drafted a cornerback because if Casey Hayward or Chris Harris gets hurt then the team is going to struggle with the depth, forcing the team to use Brandon Facyson in a bigger role.

That is absolutely true, the LA Chargers would struggle if Hayward and/or Harris got hurt, but isn’t that true of every franchise? No team is simply going to be okay if the best corner gets hurt and the need for cornerback really just seems like Charger fans are splitting hairs as it is the only thing you could really complain about in a rock-solid defense.

Plus, drafting a late-round cornerback (as they had no second or third-round picks after the Kenneth Murray trade-up) would not have brought anything new to the table that is not already on the roster aside from an extra body.

Michael Davis is not going to be a Pro Bowler, but as someone who is going to play around 70 percent of the snaps as a speedy outside cornerback, he won’t be too shabby. The advanced metrics from his 2019 season show that

You wanna build me a secondary where a player like David is the weakest link? Okay, cuz yeah he ain’t chopped liver. But last season was brutal at times, cuz we did not have our better DBs on the field. If we’re healthy we should be very good. But shit, when does that ever happen?

Upgrade every position, all the time, if at all possible. TT seems to be doing this, to the extent he reasonably can. Glad he brought in Harris.

[sonorajim]

Tillery needs to have a good year for us to be dominant. Having Joseph will help a lot and hopefully take some of the pressure of the D ends and LBs.

We need Tillery to get better, that's for sure. Our defensive season doesn't hinge on him but if he comes through more at his apparent one-gap penetrator ability, getting in the QBs face would sure help. It's always about Team but another quality tool would be a plus.

[cmplxgal]

I re watched the AFC championship against Oakland a few years back and Bob Horn just got owned by the Raider center.
Ray Preston, i believe was the other linebacker.

I remember Horn as being the prototypical lumbering MLB who was less than average probably. Ray Preston was the other OLB but for some reason I don't remember him at all. Maybe because, while he played his whole career with the Chargers, he was only a starter in 1979 and 1980:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PresRa20.htm

[Bolts4ever213]

On paper we look solid as fuck on defense. We can’t put Pro Bowlers at every position but we have a few, add some very good players, and players that can step it up, this might work to become a special defense. Adderley can also be a reason we didn’t draft a cb. If Jenkins can keep the free safety spot and Adderly with his ball skills needs to see playing time, I can see that at corner. White and Tranquil can step up. I really looking forward to White getting in there. I was up on him before he got injured last year.

Either way, this is the most talented defense I’ve every seen as a Charger fan.

[ChargersPowderBlue]

I'm not buying into the hype. The roster looks good on paper, but it's just that; paper. I'm not sure how they addressed the other areas that are still lacking or are a weakness. In 2019 the defense was middle of the pack in run stopping, they didn't get that many turnovers, and they were the 4th worst team on third down defense.

- A linebacker who can stop the run other than Perryman. Murray could likely be. But then who else?
- CB1 to cover the opponents best receiver
- Pass rusher on the interior other than Tillery
- Edge rusher behind Bosa

CB is a big weakness. Nuff said. We're gonna have to do better than Michael Davis.

Linval Joseph can get to the QB, but he isn't like Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Deforest Buckner, or Geno Atkins. Justin Jones isn't much of a pass rusher, The defense needs another pass rusher on the interior at DT, it would also help Tillery to improve. We do have Broughton, who played only a little, and he isn't safe to make the 53 man roster.

We could use an edge rusher behind Bosa. We do have Nwosu, but another backup edge would be nice. Rochell is classified as a DE, but he doesn't have the speed to do well on the edge, and because of that it creates a problem regarding backup edge rushers.

Jenkins is too hit or miss (no pun intended) as a player. He has times where he steps up as a safety and then times when he's terrible. We'll need to do better than Jenkins at high safety or wherever he is assigned to. Hopefully Adderley stays healthy. If he doesn't, he'll be the Forrest Lamp of the defense.

[Formula 21]

With all this talent, the Bolts need to stop playing soft D. That’s for talent free teams. This team needs to step up and get aggressive.

[blueman]

I'm not buying into the hype. The roster looks good on paper, but it's just that; paper. I'm not sure how they addressed the other areas that are still lacking or are a weakness. In 2019 the defense was middle of the pack in run stopping, they didn't get that many turnovers, and they were the 4th worst team on third down defense.

- A linebacker who can stop the run other than Perryman. Murray could likely be. But then who else?
- CB1 to cover the opponents best receiver
- Pass rusher on the interior other than Tillery
- Edge rusher behind Bosa

CB is a big weakness. Nuff said. We're gonna have to do better than Michael Davis.

Linval Joseph can get to the QB, but he isn't like Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Deforest Buckner, or Geno Atkins. Justin Jones isn't much of a pass rusher, The defense needs another pass rusher on the interior at DT, it would also help Tillery to improve. We do have Broughton, who played only a little, and he isn't safe to make the 53 man roster.

We could use an edge rusher behind Bosa. We do have Nwosu, but another backup edge would be nice. Rochell is classified as a DE, but he doesn't have the speed to do well on the edge, and because of that it creates a problem regarding backup edge rushers.

Jenkins is too hit or miss (no pun intended) as a player. He has times where he steps up as a safety and then times when he's terrible. We'll need to do better than Jenkins at high safety or wherever he is assigned to. Hopefully Adderley stays healthy. If he doesn't, he'll be the Forrest Lamp of the defense.

Hard to argue any of this. Hope everyone named steps the fuck up!

[21&500]

Hype bought.
paid for.
In cash.
Superbowl.

[sonorajim]

Hype? We're entitled to "hype" our opinions, good, bad or indifferent. None of us have seen the 2020 LAC roster on the field together.
We jus' guessin'.
Stay healthy and everybody does what they're supposed to do, we'll be pretty damn good.
Go Bolts!

[Topcat]

I'm not buying into the hype. The roster looks good on paper, but it's just that; paper. I'm not sure how they addressed the other areas that are still lacking or are a weakness. In 2019 the defense was middle of the pack in run stopping, they didn't get that many turnovers, and they were the 4th worst team on third down defense.

- A linebacker who can stop the run other than Perryman. Murray could likely be. But then who else?
- CB1 to cover the opponents best receiver
- Pass rusher on the interior other than Tillery
- Edge rusher behind Bosa

CB is a big weakness. Nuff said. We're gonna have to do better than Michael Davis.

Linval Joseph can get to the QB, but he isn't like Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Deforest Buckner, or Geno Atkins. Justin Jones isn't much of a pass rusher, The defense needs another pass rusher on the interior at DT, it would also help Tillery to improve. We do have Broughton, who played only a little, and he isn't safe to make the 53 man roster.

We could use an edge rusher behind Bosa. We do have Nwosu, but another backup edge would be nice. Rochell is classified as a DE, but he doesn't have the speed to do well on the edge, and because of that it creates a problem regarding backup edge rushers.

Jenkins is too hit or miss (no pun intended) as a player. He has times where he steps up as a safety and then times when he's terrible. We'll need to do better than Jenkins at high safety or wherever he is assigned to. Hopefully Adderley stays healthy. If he doesn't, he'll be the Forrest Lamp of the defense.

A better comp for Rayshawn "Mr. Elite" Jenkins, would be Jaleel "Launchwhiffy" Addae...blows it up with a spectacular tackle one play, then totally whiffs another play...Lamp has been injured so much he hasn't made much of an impact at all...