Tag: Brandon Staley defense

Former Chargers HC Brandon Staley to interview with Packers and Dolphins

Brandon Staley is reportedly a hot defensive coordinator on the market.

Former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley has entered the pool of defensive coordinator candidates for teams with vacancies this offseason.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Staley will interview with Green Bay on Friday and then Miami on Saturday. The Rams are also reported to have interest in their former 2020 defensive coordinator following the departure of now Falcons head coach Raheem Morris.

Staley rose to prominence initially following his work with the Rams in 2020. Leading the No. 1 ranked defense in the league with his unique light box defensive style eventually earned him the gig with the Chargers. It would make some institutional sense for Staley to replace Morris with a decent comfort level in the franchise and opportunity to reunite with Sean McVay.

With Miami and Green Bay, Staley does have perhaps a unique perspective to spin on similar schemes. Former Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry worked under Staley’s defense in Los Angeles as linebackers coach. Ultimately, it seems like the Packers want a new play caller approach to the same Vic Fangio style scheme that Barry ran.

The same could be said for Staley’s Miami interview. He could bring a Fangio-inspired defensive approach to replacing his former mentor. Reportedly, Fangio and the Dolphins’ split was mutual as he pursued an opportunity to work closer to home with Philadelphia. If the Dolphins wanted to keep the same system in place with Jalen Ramsey, Staley would fit right in. The two obviously worked magic together with the 2020 Rams.

Staley is reportedly a hot defensive coordinator on the market, per Ian Rapoport. Lining up two interviews with another team interested does give credence to that. However, I’d be curious to see how Staley answers for  never having a single-season defense that ranked higher than 19th in EPA/play in his time with the Chargers. Or, the league-wide trend that the two high shell schemes that have not been run by Fangio himself have been taking a beating recently.

Chargers’ Brandon Staley to remain defensive play caller

Brandon Staley confirmed that he will continue calling defensive plays.

After another game where the Chargers gave up 475+ yards and a specific 40+ point outburst by Detroit on Sunday, Brandon Staley was asked at his press conference about potential changes on defense. However, the status quo is being maintained.

At his Wednesday media availability, Staley said he will still call plays on defense:

The Chargers currently rank 29th in defense and special teams EPA, per TruMedia Sports. In Staley’s tenure as the primary defensive play caller, the Chargers’ highest finish was 20th in the NFL in 2022. In 2021, the Bolts’ defense ranked 30th.

Coaches giving up playcalling has occurred in some situations. Nick Sirianni gave up offensive play calling during his first year in Philadelphia to Shane Steichen. This year, Panthers head coach Frank Reich gave up offensive play calling and took it back from Thomas Brown.

Interestingly, the Chargers did experiment with defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley partially calling the plays in the preseason. Staley and Ansley split responsibilities throughout the Chargers’ three games of their preseason campaign.

Staley has maintained full autonomy as the Chargers’ defensive playcaller since he was hired in 2021. With the Bolts fighting for their playoff lives, one has to wonder if this decision could change weekly as his seat becomes hotter.

Staley will need a better performance from his unit at Lambeau Field this week against the Packers. His defense will need some positive momentum before playing the explosive Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football the following week.

Brandon Staley talks Derwin James’ versatility in Chargers’ defense

Brandon Staley said that Derwin James’ versatility gives him an edge in defensive game planning.

High expectations have been placed on the Chargers heading into their 2023 campaign, and the team is hard at work honing their craft to live up to them at OTAs.

Head coach Brandon Staley faces a make-or-break season in his third year with the team and could be on the hot seat early if his defense underperforms.

But he isn’t sweating bullets just yet, despite the heat at the team’s practices this week. Instead, he talked about one crucial advantage he has in his secondary that could help keep Los Angeles on top when the regular season begins.

Star safety Derwin James, he said, will play a key role for the Chargers with his ability to play at multiple alignments in the team’s defense. When asked about the edge that James’ versatility provides him in game planning, Staley made his stance on the matter clear.

That’s one of the things that he does best, is play closer to the ball. He can play Star or Money. That gives us a lot of flexibility in how we want to play because has a lot of those hybrid characteristics of a defensive back or a linebacker. We feel like we have a good group that coach at that position, but certainly having his ability to play there is a weapon for us.

This isn’t a new development, as James has become one of the NFL’s top defenders by leveraging his positional flexibility since entering the league as a first-round pick in 2018.

James, the do-it-all defender, finished the 2022 regular season with 115 tackles, five for loss, four sacks, six passes defended, two forced fumbles and an interception in 14 games.

But Staley will lean on him more than ever in 2023 in his effort to bring the Chargers their first playoff win since his rookie season.

Chargers DB Derwin James key to erasing Chiefs TE Travis Kelce

Derwin James is one of the very few players who can cover Travis Kelce effectively on a snap to snap basis.

If the Chargers want to come out of Week 3 with a win, eliminating the passing attack of the Chiefs takes top priority.

Among quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ slew of big-play weapons capable of taking over the game is tight end Travis Kelce.

Through two games, Kelce is leading all players at his position in receiving yards (185) and is second in touchdowns (3).

While Los Angeles has been stout against opposing tight ends thus far in the season, Kelce is a different breed who will require plenty of attention.

Therefore, the team will be banking on safety Derwin James to blanket him, just like he did when the Chargers made that great comeback in 2018, in which he limited Kelce to two catches for a measly two yards.

The season after, James held Kelce to just one reception for six yards.

Since James was out the entire 2020 season with an injury, he didn’t get the opportunity to match-up against Kelce, but his presence was greatly missed after Los Angeles surrendered 90 yards and a score on nine catches.

Kelce is a huge body who can make big plays and extend drives, which is why someone who has the movement skills and cover awareness of James is key to slowing him down.

Having James shadow Kelce as opposed to double covering him will allow L.A. to bracket the speedy Tyreek Hill with multiple defenders to minimize him from taking command with his top-tier short-area quickness and long speed.

Expect the Chargers to play a great deal of dime defense (six defensive backs) to prevent explosive plays from occurring. If they can do so, Los Angeles will have a great chance of taking out Kansas City in front of their home crowd for the second week in a row.