The following feature is a free preview of our IDP content. If you like it, click here to sign up for access to our Footballguys Subscription, and you'll get all of our content. We're so confident you'll love it that we offer an industry-leading 30-day Money-Back Guarantee, ensuring zero risk.
RELATED: See More Like This here.
An Overview of the Los Angeles Chargers Defense
The Chargers cleaned house after a disappointing 2023, hiring Jim Harbaugh to lead the team and Jesse Minter to oversee the defense. What a difference it made. The 2024 Chargers were above average in nearly all important defensive categories. They were 7th versus the pass and 14th against the run. Los Angeles got after the passer with 46 sacks and created 21 turnovers. All of that paints the picture of a good defense, but it would not suggest that they were the best in the league at keeping opponents off the scoreboard. At 17.7 points per game, no one was better.
After such a successful season, most teams would try to keep the band together. In this situation, the team is making year two adjustments, bringing in players who better fit Minter's scheme. The team's losses include both starting outside tackles from last season, both week one starters at corner, and one of the week one starters on the edge. Thus, the Chargers are looking at five new faces. Three of them are expected to be promotions from within, moving up players who were brought in last year.
The team is likely to fill the other two openings with veteran additions. Corners Donte Jackson and Benjamin St-Juste will be in the mix for the two open spots in the secondary, with Da'Shawn Hand penciled in at tackle. The draft brought tackle Jamaree Caldwell in round three, Edge Kyle Kennard in the fourth, and a pair of safeties, R.J. Mickens and Trikweze Bridges, in rounds six and seven. Caldwell and Kennard should see some time as rookies, while the defensive backs will probably earn their keep on special teams for a while.
On paper, it seems unlikely that this unit will repeat as the best scoring defense. They could, however, bump many of their other stats up a bit. Ultimately, this unit should be playoff-caliber.
Los Angeles Chargers Defensive Linemen
With Joey Bosa off to Buffalo, the team lost a talented player from their edge rotation. The truth is, he will not be missed. Bosa missed a lot of time with injuries over the last three years, so the team was already prepared to succeed without him. All this essentially does is clear the way for Tuli Tuipulotu to wear the mantle of starter. In reality, the 2023 second-round pick was a starter last season. His 732 snaps were the most among the team's edge defenders.
Tuipulotu is a player I have been high on since he entered the league. He saw a lot of action as a rookie, starting several games when Bosa was out and having a significant rotational role when everyone was available. The result was a stat line of 37-16-4.5 with 3 turnovers, on 852 plays. The sack total was low, but he was way up on the list of pressures when the season ended.
History tells us that players with high pressure rates and modest sack totals often have greater success at getting to the passer the following season. Even with 120 fewer snaps, Tuipulotu followed the trend, going 26-16-8.5 with a forced fumble in 2024. The drop in tackle production is a bit concerning, but don't let it scare you off.
Bosa only missed three games last year, so most of the 120 snaps that Tuipulotu lost were on early downs. The Chargers also ran with a four-man rotation on the edge in 2024, with Tuipulotu, Bosa, Khalil Mack, and Bud Dupree all seeing at least 502 snaps. Unless the rookie impresses early, it should be more of a three-man rotation this year.
Call it a hunch, but the way I see it, the scheme is a positive, the supporting cast is a plus, the snap count should be there, and the player has shown plenty of signs that he is ready for a breakout. We might be able to pick him up as a priority backup. I'll be surprised if he is not at least a quality second starter for us.
Khalil Mack will have the title of starter. In reality, Bud Dupree will probably see nearly equal playing time. If this does indeed end up being a three-man rotation, all three of these players could put up useful numbers.
At age 34, Mack is nearing the end of a Hall of Fame career. His eleven seasons have produced 107 sacks, 31 forced fumbles, 13 recoveries, and a pair of interceptions. Mack put together an impressive string of three top-three finishes, including a couple of number ones at the start of his career, followed by a bunch of top-20s. He had a good first year with the Chargers in 2022. In 2023, Mack found the fountain of youth, exploding for 58 tackles, 17 assists, and career-bests of 17 sacks, 10 batted passes, and 6 forced fumbles. In most seasons, that production would have made him the fantasy game's top edge. In this situation, he was second to T.J. Watt.
For a few reasons, Mack's numbers came crashing down in 2024. Age, scheme adjustments, and lower snap counts due to a bigger rotation were all factors. The biggest issue, however, was a groin injury that cost him a game and had him playing at less than 100% for almost half of the season. His days of tier one production are probably over, but a healthy Mack should rebound enough to be a contributor for us.
Bud Dupree is no spring chicken either. The 32-year-old has one less season than Mack and a lot less career production. That said, he has a career best of 47-19-11 with 6 turnovers that came in 2019, and had 6 sacks in his first year with the Chargers in 2024. Dupree has only exceeded 30 solo stops that one time and had no more than three turnovers in any other year. The role of third man in the rotation fits him well. An injury or smaller rotation could be enough to make him roster-worthy as depth, but his upside is limited.
Mack is in the final year of his contract, and Dupree will be a free agent after the 2026 season. With both players well north of 30, there is a good chance that neither will be extended. That makes Kyle Kennard an interesting dynasty prospect. He needs some seasoning as a pass rusher and will need to hit the weight room to become better on early downs, but there is high potential here. Between his junior year at Georgis and his senior season with South Carolina, Kennard had 82 tackles, 17.5 sacks, and 10 turnovers. He will see some passing down snaps as a rookie while being groomed, but is unlikely to become a full member of the rotation early on. It might be a good idea to slip him onto your taxi squad if you have that option.
Poona Ford was the most productive of the Chargers' interior linemen last year. At 24-15-3, he was a marginal DT3. With both Ford and Morgan Fox gone, there will be an open competition for those jobs. Veteran Da'Shawn Hand, third-year pro Scott Matlock, and fourth-year man Otito Ogbonnia are the early favorites to make up the rotation, with journeyman Naquan Jones and 2024 fourth-round pick Justin Eboigbe looking over their shoulders.
Teair Tart projects as the starting nose tackle. Regardless of who holds that title, there should be a relatively equal rotation between him and rookie Jamaree Caldwell. Someone could emerge from this pack and provide a little fantasy value. At this stage, none of them are roster-worthy.
- DE Tuli Tuipulotu – Decent second starter with breakout potential
- DE Khalil Mack – Depth with second starter upside
- DE Bud Dupree – Injury sleeper with a limited ceiling
- DE Kyle Kennard - Potential dynasty prospect
- DT Da'Shawn Hand – No impact
- DT Otito Ogbonnia – No impact
- DT Teair Tart – No impact
- DT Justin Eboigbe – No impact
- DT Jamaree Caldwell – No impact
- DT Scott Matlock – No impact
_(1000_x_500_px)_png)