Tag: Drue Tranquill

Chargers’ Alohi Gilman could make some noise in rookie season

The Los Angeles Chargers’ sixth-round pick could be more than a special-teams ace in his rookie season.

The Chargers drafted safety Alohi Gilman in the sixth-round of the 2020 NFL Draft, adding another piece to an already stacked secondary.

Gilman reunites with linebacker Drue Tranquill, defensive tackle Jerry Tillery and defensive end Isaac Rochell, all of whom attended and played at the University of Notre Dame.

Gilman has been lost in the shuffle because much of the attention has been shifted to the other rookies selected, most notably quarterback Justin Herbert and linebacker Kenneth Murray.

But Gilman should not be forgotten, as he could carve up a major role in Year 1.

Los Angeles lost a few key special teamers this offseason, including Adrian Phillips and Derek Watt. Gilman should step in as a special teams ace because of his aggressiveness when coming downhill and high-volume as a tackler.

With Phillips gone to the Patriots, Gilman will be in contention not only for the backup strong safety spot to Derwin james, but for the team’s main dime linebacker role. Given his skillset and feel for the position, it wouldn’t be surprising if he wins the job this upcoming season.

“This guy reminds me a lot of A.P., just the way he carries himself, the way he goes about playing the football game,” coach Anthony Lynn said, per Los Angeles Times’ Jeff Miller. “With the versatility that he has shown on the field, we believe he can fill that role.”

Gilman does his best work closer to the line of scrimmage. There, he shows understanding of pursuit angles and great instincts against the run and in zone coverage. His combination of physicality and all out effort meshes well with defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s defensive philosophy.

If Gilman shows out at training camp and preseason, like Tranquill did a year ago, he could be a key piece in a defense that ranked No. 6 in the league in 2019.

“He’s super smart, tough and he hits,” general manager Tom Telesco said. “Those are some traits that are good to have in the secondary. We think between safety and some special teams, he has a real chance here.”

4 Chargers whose ‘Madden NFL 21’ ratings EA got wrong

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez lays out the four Chargers players whose ‘Madden 21’ ratings were too low.

Here are four Chargers players whose ratings seem off in “Madden NFL 21.”

WR Mike Williams – Rating: 81

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Keenan Allen was given a 91 overall rating, which seems just about right considering he is one of the best wide receivers in the game. But his partner in crime’s rating of 81 seems to be a bit off. He’s stacked up with wideouts like A.J. Brown and Michael Gallup when he should be in the same tier as Courtland Sutton, Jarvis Landry and D.J. Moore. His rookie season was riddled by an injury, but he has been the model of consistency since then. In 2018, the big-bodied target reeled in 10 touchdowns. He scored just twice in 2019, but he averaged 20.4 yards per reception, which was No. 1 in the league, and topped 1,000 yards for the first time. While Tyrod Taylor might not have the biggest arm, Justin Herbert does. If Herbert is under center, Williams will become a go-to target for the former Clemson product.

What it should have been: 85

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Which Charger is on the hot seat in 2020?

The former Miami product might be looking for a new home after this season.

Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman has been the man in the middle of the defense for the past few seasons. However, 2020 could mark his last in the blue and gold.

Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton named a member of each franchise in the league whose job could be in jeopardy this upcoming season, and Perryman was listed for Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Chargers have a deep linebacker unit with multiple players capable of handling decent workloads. While that’s a positive for the team, Denzel Perryman may lose significant snaps.

In 2019, Perryman lined up for just 358 defensive plays, partially because of a knee injury, which is a common theme throughout his five-year career. The veteran linebacker has missed 24 games since entering the league.

Last season, Drue Tranquill played 380 defensive snaps. Kyzir White, who has the versatility to line up in different spots across the second level of the defense, logged 372 snaps. The Chargers traded up to select linebacker Kenneth Murray with the No. 23 overall pick.

At 6’2″, 241 pounds, Murray can man the middle, as he did at Oklahoma, or line up on the outside.

With all the talent at linebacker and Perryman’s extensive injury history, his job security seems a bit shaky.

The Chargers took a huge leap in the 2020 NFL Draft, trading up 14 spots to select linebacker Kenneth Murray.

The selection of Murray all but signified that Los Angeles sees a bright future with the tandem between the rookie out of Oklahoma and former fourth-round pick Drue Tranquill.

With the emergence of Tranquill last season, Perryman’s playing time decreased as the weeks went on even after managing to stay healthy for nearly the full 16-game slate.

However, the early draft pick used on Murray solidified how the coaching staff feels about the position group moving forward.

This season, Perryman may start, but Tranquill will come onto the field in passing situations. Eventually, the team’s goal could be to make Tranquill and Murray the permanent starters.

2020 also marks the final year of Perryman’s contract, and knowing L.A. will have some notable free agents like defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, wide receiver Keenan Allen and tight end Hunter Henry, the former Miami product may be the odd man out.

Former Notre Dame Star Poised for NFL Breakout?

Drue Tranquill was a star at Notre Dame despite dealing with multiple injuries. Now he’s on the rise for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

Drue Tranquill was a star at Notre Dame.  After entering school as a safety he transitioned to linebacker where he thrived, starring on the College Football Playoff participant in 2018.

Tranquill was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019 and began the year starring on special teams before getting more playing time on defense as the year continued and him ultimately finishing with the second most tackles on the team.

Tranquill caught the attention of Josh Edwards at CBS Sports, as Edwards calls for a breakout 2020.

Tranquill is a more mobile linebacker used primarily in sub packages. Our breakout defensive team is going to be smaller, but no less impactful in our approach to combat more spread style offenses. Tranquill was all over the field last season. He should have more opportunities to make an impact with an improved defensive unit around him this season. – Josh Edwards of CBS Sports

Tranquill will have competition for playing time with what should be a healthier Chargers defense but certainly looks like he’s a solid NFL player in the making.

Chargers LB Drue Tranquill named potential breakout star by CBS Sports

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill is ready to take a step forward.

The Chargers could have a star in the making.

After emerging in his rookie season, linebacker Drue Tranquill has high expectations set for him heading into Year 2.

CBS Sport’s Josh Edwards believes that Tranquill is bound for a breakout season in 2020.

Here is what he had to say about the former Notre Dame product:

Tranquill is a more mobile linebacker used primarily in sub packages. Our breakout defensive team is going to be smaller, but no less impactful in our approach to combat more spread style offenses. Tranquill was all over the field last season. He should have more opportunities to make an impact with an improved defensive unit around him this season.

After serving as a special teamer, Tranquill’s hard work led to more playing time. Week in and out, the 2019 fourth-round pick was consistently making plays in the middle of the defense, finishing as the second-leading tackler with 75 total tackles.

Going into his sophomore season, it remains to be seen if Tranquill will be the starter at MIKE because of Denzel Perryman’s presence, which happens to still be highly coveted by the coaching staff.

Tranquill will likely see the field for 60% of the defensive snaps with the majority of them coming on passing downs while Perryman is on the field for rushing downs. They could experiment with him at WILL, but that would take snaps away from first-round pick Kenneth Murray.

After finishing the 2019 season tied for eighth in the NFL in special teams tackles with 11, Tranquill will continue to be a special teams ace as well, especially after losing key assets on kick and punt coverage defenders, including Adrian Phillips, Derek Watt and Nick Dzubnar.

4 Chargers players that fans are most excited to see in 2020

The Los Angeles Chargers boast an enticing roster of players.

Things in the sports world have been crazy as the coronavirus pandemic has put the action to a halt. Minicamp should be going on right now, but it’s not. However, great news keep on coming as training camp, preseason and the regular season should start as scheduled.

With that being said, we wanted to get an idea of which members of the Chargers fans are most excited to see this year as the team looks to turn things around after a dud of a season in 2019.

I went to our official Twitter and Facebook accounts to ask fans who they’re looking forward to the most. Below is a look at what the majority of the bunch said:

LB Kenneth Murray

Murray was the team’s second first-round pick after trading up 14 spots to snag him. The aggressiveness to ensure the former Oklahoma product was in the blue and gold goes to show that the coaching staff believes he could give the defense a huge boost immediately. Slated to start as the Will linebacker, Murray has rare instincts, combined with closing speed quickness and ability to cover a large amount of ground, which should contribute in coverage, stopping the run and rushing the quarterback. The combination of his skillset and intangibles could earn him the responsibility of calling out the plays on defense as early as Year 1.

S Derwin James

Fans were eager to see James in his sophomore season, but that was put a halt after he sustained a foot injury in training camp. The injury wiped out the majority of his season, but he still managed to play in five games, where the do-it-all defender was a force to be reckoned with. Ensuring James is on the field in 2020 will be critical. James gives the Chargers a rare defender who can cover wide receivers, the best tight ends in the NFL, stop running backs at the line of scrimmage and put pressure on quarterbacks, all of which are key elements in stopping the reigning Super Bowl champions – Kansas City Chiefs.

LB Drue Tranquill

It didn’t take long for Tranquill to get a strong grasp of the defense and make an immediate impact in his rookie season. The former Notre Dame was given a larger role as the year went on, finishing as the Chargers’ second-leading tackler with 75 total tackles, along with being tied for the most special teams tackles by any rookie (11). Heading into Year 2, Tranquill is expected to take another step forward as the team’s middle linebacker. Denzel Perryman may start, but Tranquill will come onto the field in passing situations. Eventually, he should be the permanent starter alongside Murray.

QB Justin Herbert

It’s no surprise that fans are electrified to see their first-round pick take the field, especially when it’s the replacement to veteran quarterback Philip Rivers. It remains to be seen how much playing time Herbert will receive this upcoming season since he’s in a position to sit and enhance his game while 30-year old Tyrod Taylor is under center. However, it might be the most optimal situation for the former Oregon product, who could benefit from learning from quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton before taking the reins. Herbert has all the physical tools and arm talent in the world, but he needs to develop his instincts and decision-making. If he does, the sky is the limit for Herbert.

Projecting the Chargers’ linebacker depth chart

With the addition of rookie Kenneth Murray, Chargers Wire examines the linebacker corps.

The Chargers have steadily looked to enhance the linebacker room over the course of the past few years. The team looked through free agency and the draft, but the results from the positional group were still average at best.

After a couple key additions, they look to boast a promising unit this upcoming season.

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

MIKE: Denzel Perryman

Perryman is entering the final year of his contract, and will have to do a lot in order to stay on the roster beyond the 2020 season. 2019 was the first time since Perryman’s rookie campaign in which he played in 14 or more games, finishing with 68 tackles (50 solo), one interception and one forced fumble. However, his playing time decreased due to the emergence of rookie standout Drue Tranquill, who took a significant amount of snaps away from the former Miami product. Going into this year, Perryman will likely see the field first, but him and Tranquill will split snaps. Perryman will play on rushing downs while Tranquill will play on passing downs. By the end of the year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the second-year player with more snaps taken.

Backups: Drue Tranquill, Nick Vigil, Malik Jefferson

WILL: Kenneth Murray

The Chargers weren’t aggressive in trading up for Murray in this year’s draft to serve as a depth player. The team clearly had a role for him and that’s to start in the spot that was played by Thomas Davis last season. Murray needs to needs to clean up his overaggressive tendencies and enhance his ability in coverage, but the combination of his instincts, range and closing speed quickness will translate to remarkable production in the running and passing game. With his leadership and football IQ, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one responsible of handling defensive play calls.

Backups: Nick Vigil, Malik Jefferson

SAM: Kyzir White

White started last season as the starting middle linebacker while Denzel Perryman was nursing an ankle injury for the first two games. White struggled in that role, so Perryman took over. With Thomas Davis serving as the starting WILL, that only left White with one option: SAM. With the Chargers playing a lot of nickel packages, that means the SAM doesn’t see the field as much. Because of that, White didn’t play as much as many were expecting. When White did see the field, he was making plays. The former West Virginia product finished with 40 tackles, two passes defensed and one tackle for loss. Desmond King, Rayshawn Jenkins and Nasir Adderley will likely be the candidates as the team’s sub-package linebacker, which will limit White’s playing time.

Backups: Uchenna Nwosu, Emeke Egbule

Two Former Notre Dame Stars Listed as “Most Underrated”

A pair of former Notre Dame stars were recently listed as “most underrated” on PFF’s list of such players

If you watched Notre Dame for even a short time between 2016 and 2018 chances are you saw Julian Love or Drue Tranquill make a big play.

Whether it was a pass break up, interception or returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown, the young man just had an ability to make plays on the regular.

Now Pro Football Focus is throwing praise their way as they’ve released the “Most underrated on all 32 NFL teams” list ahead of the 2020 season.  In it they list Julian Love, the second year defensive back as the New York Giants representative and Tranquill as the Chargers rep.

Of Love they say:

The Giants’ secondary has some definite question marks with DeAndre Baker facing possible legal trouble and an unproven group at cornerback behind free agent acquisition James Bradberry. But Julian Love is someone they should feel pretty good about after a promising start to his NFL career as a rookie last season. Love is a guy who graded extremely well at the college ranks as an outside cornerback for the Fighting Irish, earning coverage grades of 83.7 and 90.9 during his final two seasons with Notre Dame. Love followed that up by coming away from the 2019 season with an encouraging 70.5 overall grade despite being a 21-year-old rookie playing a new position. Whether he remains at safety or moves back to cornerback to potentially fill in for Baker outside, Love is a player to watch as he enters his second season.

Love defended three passes last season while also recording one interception and forcing a fumble.

On Drue Tranquill…

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Pro Football Focus lists Chargers ‘most underrated’ player in 2020

The second-year linebacker is looking to take a leap this upcoming season.

Yesterday, I wrote about the Chargers’ most underrated position groups heading into the 2020 season.

On the same day, Pro Football Focus’ Ben Linsey tabbed the most underrated player on each team in the league.

For Los Angeles, he went with linebacker Drue Tranquill.

Athleticism like Tranquill displayed at the 2019 NFL Combine (4.57 second 40-yard dash, 6.94 second three-cone and a 37.5-inch vertical jump) married with strong coverage results coming out of college (80-plus coverage grades in each of his last two seasons) is a recipe for success in the pros. As a fourth-round pick, Tranquill had a limited role in his first season as a member of the Chargers’ defense, but he did some promising things during his time on the field, earning a 66.6 overall grade for the year. Even with the Chargers trading back up into the first round to take Kenneth Murray, there is plenty of reason to expect the second-year player out of Notre Dame to take another step forward in 2020.

Tranquill, the fourth-round selection of the 2019 NFL draft, made an impact upon arriving to camp in his rookie season. As the season went on he became a key piece on the defensive side of the ball.

In 15 games played, three of which he started, Tranquill racked up 64 tackles (50 solo), four tackles for loss and one pass defended. On top of that, he finished with the most special teams tackles by any rookie (11).

The former Notre Dame product will likely split time with Denzel Perryman at MIKE, while rookie Kenneth Murray starts at WILL this upcoming season. But it won’t be long until Tranquill is the permanent starter.

It may seem like a long shot for Tranquill to make the Pro Bowl at the linebacker position in Year 2, but he’s more than capable of landing on the team as a special teamer.

Bleacher Report ranks Chargers defense in 2020

The Los Angeles Chargers should be higher on this list.

The Chargers defense has finished in the top-10 the past few seasons, boasting one of the best players in the league at their perspective positional groups.

However, Bleacher Report’s Martin Fenn doesn’t believe that Los Angeles’ defense isn’t worthy of being in that tier heading into the upcoming season. In Fenn’s defense power rankings, the Bolts rank No. 14 overall.

Here’s how he broke it down:

The Los Angeles Chargers have talent on the edge and in the secondary, but they needed an inside linebacker. They got one with their first-round selection of Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray.

Murray had 102 tackles, including 17 tackles for loss, to go along with four sacks last season. the 6’2″, 241-pound linebacker is a big and athletic guy who can close the distance in the running game and plug the gaps, and he chases the ball to make plays all over the field.

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley might ultimately be dialing up more blitzes despite his heavy Cover 3 scheme, especially because Murray is at his best when he can hunt ball-carriers and get into the backfield.

Los Angeles also made a couple of veteran additions, signing cornerback Chris Harris Jr. and defensive tackle Linval Joseph in free agency.

Harris has been on the decline in recent years, but he should benefit from playing with a loaded secondary with Desmond King, Casey Hayward and Derwin James.

Speaking of James, he will return healthy for the start of the year after missing 11 games in 2019. The same can be said for Melvin Ingram III, who missed only three games but was hampered by a hamstring injury. Ingram’s abilities as a pass-rusher and cover man are especially valuable in Bradley’s scheme, particularly now that they have Murray.

Joey Bosa can focus on terrorizing opposing quarterbacks even more with Joseph expected to be a run-stuffer in the middle.

As frequently seems to be the case, the Chargers have one of the most talented defenses in football. But the question remains: Can everyone stay healthy?

The Chargers lost linebacker Thomas Davis and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, who were both released, along with safety Adrian Phillips. But they made up for the losses, signing cornerback Chris Harris Jr., defensive tackle Linval Joseph and drafting linebacker Kenneth Murray.

They join elite company which features defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, cornerbacks Casey Hayward and Desmond King, safety Derwin James and an ascending linebacker in Drue Tranquill.

Last year, Los Angeles ranked No. 6 in total defense. However, they ranked near the bottom in takeaways. To ensure they force more turnovers, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is going to start mixing up the looks, deploying more two-deep safety looks and man coverage.

With the players on the roster, the sky is the limit for the defensive side of the ball. If all key members can stay healthy, they’re capable of finishing within the top-5 in 2020.