As the Chargers reflect what they need to accomplish this offseason, one of the things that the team needs to make sure they are confident they come away with is special teams competency.
A combination of poor coverage and return skills, bone-headed penalties, kicking woes and a coaching change led to Los Angeles having the worst special teams unit in the NFL last season and the third-worst special teams unit ever tracked by DVOA.
The first step to fixing the broken special teams department was head coach Brandon Staley hiring Derius Swinton II as the new coordinator.
Swinton has 13 years as a special teams coach under his belt. He previously served as the Cardinals’ assistant special teams coach. Swinton has worked as the 49ers’ special teams coordinator in addition to coaching with the Bears, Broncos, Chiefs and Rams.
Swinton is confident that he will be able fix what went wrong with the players that were a part of the disastrous product. But the team can’t solely rely on that. Instead, they must target experienced players via free agency and the draft to give Swinton to work with.
Among the acquisitions L.A. could make is another kicker to compete with Michael Badgley. Things were looking good for Badgley at the beginning of the 2020 season, but things got shaky as the year went on. He missed a combined 12 kicks between field goals and extra points.
Another thing is establishing consistent return specialists. Joe Reed, Tyron Johnson and Nasir Adderley each received reps as the team’s kick returner while Desmond King (before he was traded) and K.J. Hill served as the punt returners, where he only averaged 6.92 yards per return.
Finding quality depth players that are physical, aggressive and most importantly, proven tacklers is also another key part of the team’s evaluation process to help upgrade their coverage unit on kick and punt returns.
Improving this department can go a long way to having a successful season in 2021 and beyond.