Chargers defensive line – Syndication Server

Chargers sign Tyeler Davison, place Christian Covington, Otito Ogbonnia on injured reserve

The Chargers made a few roster moves on Wednesday.

Los Angeles signed defensive tackle Tyeler Davison to the active roster from the Browns’ practice squad. In addition, the team signed David Moa to the practice squad.

These acquisitions came after the season-ending injuries to Christian Covington and Otito Ogbonnia, who were placed on the injured reserve.

Davison spent the last three seasons with the Falcons, starting 38 of the 44 games. He had 121 tackles, 1.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery in those appearances.

Moa, a former undrafted free agent out of Boise State, spent time with the Vikings and Falcons before landing in New York, where he played in four games and had three tackles in 2021.

Why DT Akiem Hicks should be top-priority, free agent for Chargers

Acquiring Akiem Hicks would go a long way to improving the Chargers’ defensive line.

The Chargers finished 30th in run defense, and the issues fell on the defensive line personnel and its inability to hold its own in that department on a consistent basis.

For that reason, the team will make the point to upgrade the unit this offseason. Slated to have $70 million after cuts are made, Los Angeles should be aggressive in free agency, and one of its targets should be Akiem Hicks.

Hicks, 31, has a previous connection with head coach Brandon Staley. The two spent time together with the Bears when Staley was the outside linebackers coach from 2017-18.

At 6-foot-5 and 324 pounds, Hicks is a solid all-around interior defender who plays with tremendous leverage, power, and lateral movements to get into the backfield and the strength to stand his own against double teams.

Hicks clears the guard with a two-hand swipe to rip move and shows excellent movement skills to turn the corner and flatten to the quarterback for the sack.

Hick starts with the long-arms and converts that to power to bull rush the guard all the way into Kirk Cousins.

Hicks gets extended, shows good lateral movement, controls his man while displaying eye discipline to find flow in the backfield. Once Dalvin Cook gets vertical, Hicks violently sheds the guard and makes the tackle for no gain.

While stopping the run is the primary focus, affecting the quarterback from the interior is just as crucial, and Hicks has over 50 pressures in three seasons, with his most recent coming in 2020.

Hicks has dealt with some injuries throughout his lengthy career, but it hasn’t hindered him enough to keep him from producing when he is on the field. He played over 800 snaps in each season in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020.

Hicks, the 10-year veteran, has 387 total tackles, 73 tackles for loss, 40.5 sacks, and six forced fumbles throughout his career.

Having a player who can rush the passer just as well as he defends the run and a veteran presence in the defensive line room, like Hicks, will go a long way to improving the group next season.

Chargers DT Justin Jones loves how new defense gets players in favorable matchups

Brandon Staley’s defense should allow Justin Jones to have more opportunities to make plays.

Chargers defensive tackle Justin Jones has flashed in glimpses since entering the league back in 2018, but he hasn’t put it all together.

That could change for Jones this upcoming season.

In head coach Brandon Staley’s defense, Jones will have a role that will get him in favorable matchups and give him and his teammates more opportunities to disrupt plays.

“This year, I feel like I’m gonna get a lot more one-on-ones and that’s gonna let me really showcase my abilities and talents,” Jones said.

Last season, the Rams led the league in sacks with 53 under Staley while the Chargers had only nearly half of that.

The reason why the Rams were consistently getting home was because Staley utilized multiple fronts/alignments and schemed twists/stunts, pressure packages and 1-on-1 matchups.

The past few seasons, Jones was primarily used as an interior defender to use his strength to hold his own at the point of attack against run, but he has shown the movement skills and baseline pass rush moves to win matchups.

Other members, Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery, Joey Bosa, Uchenna Nwosu, among others will be in ideal situations to dominate in the trenches.

“We’ve got a lot more space now which frees a lot of us up. That’s going to give us opportunities to get these one-on-ones and expose them.”

Here’s an example of how Staley puts his front in position to succeed.

Aaron Donald crashes the B-gap to draw the double team and Sebastian Joseph-Day twists to only have a wide opening en route to sacking Russell Wilson.

Here, the guards are threatened with Leonard Floyd and Justin Hollins applying pressure and Aaron Donald aligned outside to draw the tackle. Morgan Fox now only has the center blocking him. Wins with quickness + swipe/rip to bring down Kyler Murray.

Projecting the Chargers’ defensive line depth chart

The Los Angeles Chargers have a sneaky good defensive line heading into the 2020 season.

The Chargers boast a solid defensive front, which consists of arguably one of the league’s best pass-rushing tandems and an ascending crop of defensive tackles.

Below, I take a crack at projecting Los Angeles’ defensive line depth chart for the 2020 season:

DE: Joey Bosa

Bosa is entering the final year of his contract eager to become the league’s highest-paid defensive ends. The former Ohio State product earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl after finishing tied for second in the conference in sacks (11.5) while also tallying up the fifth-most tackles (67) of any defensive end in the NFL. As long as he stays healthy, he will be on the field wreaking havoc. In certain situations, his backup, Isaac Rochell, will be on. The 24-year old Rochell has been a key contributor as a rotational pass-rusher, playing in all 16 games the last two seasons and posting seven sacks and 46 tackles in his career. Undrafted free agent Joe Gaziano is a name to remember heading into training camp.

Backup: Isaac Rochell, Joe Gaziano

NT Linval Joseph

Brandon Mebane manned this spot the past few seasons, but the Chargers wanted a fresh new start after choosing to replace him earlier this offseason. Joseph joins the team with 10 years of professional football service under his belt. The 32-year old shines in the run defense department, showing the ability to take on doubles teams to allow other members to roam freely. However, Joseph possesses an athletic skillset to rush the passer, which he expects to do more. Behind him is Damion Square, who’s been a key rotational piece, especially the past three seasons, combining for 77 tackles, nine quarterback hits, eight passes defensed, five tackles for loss and three sacks.

Backup: Damion Square

DT: Justin Jones

After experiencing an up-and-down rookie season, Jones took a leap in Year 2 after using the offseason to shed weight and become more quicker and agile. Jones finished the season with 30 tackles, six quarterback pressures, two tackles for loss, one pass deflected and a forced fumble. Jerry Tillery, the 2019 first-round pick, didn’t have a great rookie season, but he did show glimpses of potentially becoming the dominant interior pass-rusher he was drafted to be. With an offseason under his belt to get stronger, bigger and work on his technique to make a jump in 2020.

Backup: Jerry Tillery

DE Melvin Ingram

Like Bosa, Ingram is chasing a big contract. Ingram failed to play a full season in 2019, but he still managed to tally 39 tackles, seven sacks, five passes defended and an interception in 13 games. Since making the conversion to a full-time defensive end, Ingram has been a consistent anchor. His backup – Uchenna Nwosu – has made noise in a limited capacity. In two seasons, the former USC product has totaled 59 tackles, 17 quarterback hits, eight tackle for loss and 5.5 sacks. If Ingram isn’t re-signed after this season, Nwosu should be the next man up.

Backup: Uchenna Nwosu, Joe Gaziano

Isaac Rochell pegs Chargers’ defensive line as best in NFL

The Los Angeles Chargers defensive line is loaded heading into the upcoming season.

Like many athletes worldwide, Chargers defensive end Isaac Rochell has been doing whatever he can to stay in shape during the global pandemic that has been going on for over the past month.

Rochell, the former Notre Dame product, has the luxury of training in Southern California where he calls it “the nicest part of the country,” according to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Enright.

Rochell is using the workouts that he can do on the beach to get him ready for his fourth season in the NFL. Since being drafted in 2017, the 24-year old has been a key contributor as a rotational pass-rusher, playing in all 16 games the last two seasons and posting seven sacks and 46 tackles in his career.

Rochell has been a part of a defensive line that features the dynamic duo of defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, along with an interior that boasts Jerry Tillery, Justin Jones and newly acquired Linval Joseph. They also have linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and defensive tackle Cortez Broughton.

Rochell believes the Bolts’ defensive line is the best in the NFL. He called Bosa the best pass rusher in the league and gives defensive coordinator Gus Bradley credit for being creative with the usage of the members.

“So, yeah, [defensive coordinator Gus Bradley] definitely moves me around, which I’m super thankful for because I like to be able to do different things. And, again, we have guys like Corey Liuget, used to play for us. I learned a lot from him on the inside.

And you got guys like Joey who I can learn a lot from on the outside. And I just mentioned Justin Jones, younger than me but I’ve learned a lot from him. Just talking about D-line, he’s a beast. I’m just so thankful that I can utilize the guys around me and also be able to play inside and outside,” Rochell said.

Last season, the Chargers finished No. 28 in the league with 30 sacks. While it was near the bottom in that given category, the defense, which was led by the men up front, held their opponents to 21.6 points per game. Bosa and Ingram combined for 29 tackles for loss, 43 quarterback hits, and 18.5 sacks last season.