Highlighting why Chargers LB Drue Tranquill is deserving of a contract extension.
The 2019 Chargers draft class has had a rough go of things in the league. Jerry Tillery never became the consistent starter Los Angeles envisioned when they drafted him 28th overall, and his fifth-year option ended up being declined. Nasir Adderley hasn’t found a way to refine his tackling angles. Trey Pipkins finally won a starting job this season, only to sprain and reaggravate his MCL. Easton Stick has played in one game, while Emeke Egbule and Cortez Broughton are no longer on the roster.
For a long time, this class has been considered a letdown largely. None of the players have yet earned a second contract with the Chargers. Pipkins is the most likely, considering he’s played well when healthy at right tackle, a pain point of LA’s offensive line over the past two seasons. But there’s one other draftee who deserves an extension, perhaps even more so than Pipkins.
Fourth-round pick Drue Tranquill.
Tranquill’s 2022 has been the best season of his career, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Notre Dame product, who’s in a contract year along with his draftmates. Against Atlanta on Sunday, he continued to perform, racking up ten tackles and his third sack of the season.
Let’s head to the film to see what’s made the fourth-year linebacker so good.
Tranquill has made a killing on these blitzes all season because LA does a great job disguising pressure with this six-man front. On any of these plays, Tranquill, Kenneth Murray Jr., or Kyle Van Noy can and will drop back into coverage, causing miscommunication along the offensive line if they guess wrong. On this particular occasion, there’s no glaring mistake from Atlanta. Tranquill simply bullies Matt Hennessy into Marcus Mariota’s lap.
Credit to Christian Covington here, who will play a bigger role with Austin Johnson out for the season. While Covington is the catalyst for blowing this play up, Tranquill is a key element. There isn’t another Charger consistently showing the quick diagnosis the linebacker does here. Not only that, but Tranquill is filling two gaps here: originally, it looks as though he and Cordarrelle Patterson will meet off the left shoulder of center Drew Dalman. As Covington continues to force Dalman into Patterson’s path, the vet cuts back inside, but Tranquill sees it coming and mirrors the back, coming up with the tackle for loss.
On this one, you can see Hennessy turn as Tranquill runs past him because Hennessy is supposed to climb off his double-team block on Morgan Fox to hit Tranquill next. Notre Dame’s finest is too quick to read the play, however, and he simply fills the wide-open hole. What I like most about this play is that Tranquill overruns it, forcing Patterson to cut back inside, where Tranquill has help because of the direction of the play. By turning Atlanta’s play call against them, Tranquill forces another stuff, even if he’s not the one to make the tackle.
Again, Hennessy is unable to reach Tranquill on this play. After being beaten lightning-quick a few times, the guard gets off his double team faster, expecting to meet Tranquill further upfield as he takes a linear path to the ball. Instead, Tranquill drifts slightly to the outside before hitting the hole, avoiding Hennessy and getting to Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier. Tranquill can’t finish the tackle, but occupying that gap as it’s drawn up gives his teammates enough time to rally.
Tranquill almost looks like he’s teleporting to the side of Drew Dalman here; that’s how fast he gets off this block. You can see the linebacker diagnose that he’s the only man going to get in the way of Patterson here, and to do so he needs to get off this block and get off it now. He does so, and Patterson knows he has nowhere to go, so he just lowers his shoulder to cut his losses and take the yards.
Brandon Staley’s defense asks its linebackers to diagnose plays quickly because they’re meant to be the cleanup crew. Staley likes to build his run defense – with a strong crew up front, the linebackers should have these wide-open gaps to fill. But with lighter fronts, sometimes that requires those linebackers to stack and shed blocks to make the plays they’re being asked to. This season, nobody is doing that better than Tranquill – in fact, hardly anyone else is doing it. Don’t believe me?
Murray immediately crashes into a gap that is not open, instead giving up outside contain and allowing Allgeier to gain 44 yards down the sideline. This play isn’t solely on Murray – nearly every player on the field gets beat here. But in an ideal world, a Brandon Staley linebacker sees that play coming and stays back until they see where it is going. Tranquill can do that, at least up the middle.
So, Tom Telesco, Brandon Staley, et al., if you’re reading this: get that man his money.
He’s earned it.
