Let’s Agree or Argue: Chargers need to keep Melvin Ingram for another season

We took the most unpopular Chargers opinions and argued or agreed with them.

The Chargers’ 2020 season is winding down and the offseason is approaching. This is where the hottest team debates start to arise.

With that being said, we went to Twitter and Facebook to ask fans to list their hottest unpopular opinions about the current and future state of Los Angeles.

Let’s dive in!

Edge defender Melvin Ingram is slated to hit the free agency market after this season. While Ingram has been a key piece of the defense for years now, his time in the blue and gold should be coming to an end. 2020 will be the first season in Ingram’s career in which he did not record a sack. His season was cut short after being placed on the injured reserve twice. That is a bad combination for a player entering free agency: injured and unproductive. Given the 31-year old’s production throughout his career, he will have a market. Sure, the injuries might make the market limited and the Chargers could sign him cheap, but I believe he will get more money elsewhere. Plus, Los Angeles has other unrestricted free agents that have proven themselves as worth keeping. Looking ahead, L.A. can roll with Uchenna Nwosu as a full-time starter at weakside defensive end. Or, the team can draft someone in Round 1 like Gregory Rousseau or Kwity Paye to compliment Joey Bosa.

I wrote up why the Chargers could fire general manager Tom Telesco. However, I believe the chances of that are slim compared to them firing coach Anthony Lynn. I do like the idea of putting wide receiver Mike Williams on the trade block. Williams hasn’t shown to be consistently  healthy. But would there be much of a market for him? Williams is playing under his fifth-year rookie option in 2021 that is worth a whopping $15.6 million. It’s unlikely the compensation would be a lot, as well. If they decided to cut him before June 1, there is no dead cap hit. While Jalen Guyton and Tyron Johnson have shown flashes, I still wouldn’t past Los Angeles to consider taking a pass-catcher as early as the first round, with someone like Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith or even Kyle Pitts.

Man, the Chargers haven’t had a consistent positional group all season. They have a lot of bodies at the running back position, headlined by Austin Ekeler. It’s unfortunate that Justin Jackson has been injured and Joshua Kelley, the 2020 fourth-round pick, has barely flashed. Kalen Ballage has been a decent midseason pickup and Troymaine Pope has done a fine job in a limited capacity. They rank near the middle of the pack in yards per game with 111.4. However, they might benefit from better play up front in that department, as Los Angeles ranks near the bottom in team run block win rate (67%), per ESPN. L.A. is hopeful that Kelley can be more productive in Year 2 and Jackson can stay healthy. They might better success with more efficient blocking by potentially a couple of new hog mollies acquired either via free agency or the draft.