Tag: Gus Bradley

Chargers looking to bring more heat on opposing quarterbacks

Gus Bradley is hopeful the scheme change will help this upcoming season.

Despite having one of the more talented rosters on the defensive side of the ball in the league last season, the numbers didn’t reflect that in a specific category.

The Chargers ranked No. 6 in total defense, but they finished second-worst in takeaways with a -17 turnover differential.

A big reason why Los Angeles was unable to produce more turnovers was because of the lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

L.A. finished 26th in quarterback pressures with 125. The number doesn’t come as a surprise as the unit blitzed only 75 times, which ranked last in the league.

“Yes, you’ve got to stop the run,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “Yes, you’ve got to eliminate explosive plays. But you have to find ways to affect the quarterback. We didn’t do a good enough job last year in doing that.”

When a team has arguably one of the best pass-rushing tandems in the NFL, the expectations to generate more pressure is a lot higher. Defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram contributed for 18.5 out of the team’s 30 sacks, which ranked 28th overall.

Bradley’s scheme from previous seasons, a Cover 3 system that involves a lot of zone coverage, forced them to play conservative and not allowing many opportunities to attack downhill.

To ensure they’re getting more quarterback pressures moving forward, Bradley is going to start incorporating more two-deep safety looks and man coverage.

This offseason, the Chargers also brought in more personnel to aide in this department, signing cornerback Chris Harris Jr., defensive tackle Linval Joseph and drafting linebacker Kenneth Murray.

Having Derwin James for a full 16-game slate will also be beneficial. After finishing his rookie season with 11 quarterback pressures and 3.5 sacks, the do-it-all defender was limited to only five games in 2019 after sustaining a foot injury last offseason.

There are also high hopes that second-year defensive tackle Jerry Tillery takes a step forward after an underwhelming rookie season. Drafted for his ability to get after the quarterback, Tillery is working hard this offseason to get bigger and stronger.

The motto this upcoming season on the defensive of the ball will be more pressure, more takeaways.

What Chargers’ Gus Bradley said at media availability

Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley touched on handful of topics.

Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley spoke to the media on Wednesday via Zoom teleconference.

Going into the 2020 season, Bradley will have more pieces to utilize which include cornerback Chris Harris Jr, defensive tackle Linval Joseph and rookie linebacker Kenneth Murray.

Harris, the four-time Pro Bowl selection, brings a proven veteran presence to the cornerback room. Bradley said he met him at the Pro Bowl in 2019, and loves how competitive he is and feels like he will be a good addition to the defense.

To fill the void after Thomas Davis released earlier this offseason, Los Angeles traded up 14 spots to snag Murray with the No. 23 overall selection in this year’s draft. Bradley said his intensity, leadership, and length were some of the reasons why they picked him.

The Bolts released Brandon Mebane, too. To fill the nose tackle spot, the team signed Joseph. Bradley hasn’t met Joseph yet, but said that he has heard a lot about the leadership he brings, highlighting his spirited nature and feels like has a chip on his shoulder.

Bradley said that he wants to be more active at the position as a whole.

He believes Justin Jones will benefit from the changes that the team is making with the defensive scheme. As for Jerry Tillery, who didn’t wow as many people in his rookie season, Bradley highlighted his flashes. But the one thing needed to be improved upon was his strength and simply getting bigger. He said Tillery has been working hard this offseason.

A couple of the bigger questions heading into training camp is what role is Desmond King going to play after the signing of Harris, and how will Nasir Adderley see the field more as he showed a lot of promise before having his season come to an end after sustaining a hamstring injury.

Bradley said that King could play safety in their dime package. He said they may move him to the outside. King is going to have a lot on his plate heading into the final year of his contract, but he is a versatile player that they could move around.

Adderley was in the mix for the starting free safety spot, but the injury kept him off the field nearly the entire season. Heading into Year 2, Adderley could earn a job at the position, especially because Bradley said he wants to implement more two-deep safety looks and man coverage this season as opposed to just his Cover 3 system that relies heavily on zone coverage.

Rayshawn Jenkins, the team’s starting free safety from last season, showed have the same role. But Bradley thinks Jenkins might play more linebacker and strong safety this season to help with the dime linebacker void after Adrian Phillips left in free agency.

Bradley said that he could see Adderley, Jenkins or rookie Alohi Gilman in that spot.

One of the biggest goals this season is creating more takeaways. He said the defense didn’t do a good enough job of taking the ball away last season. The unit ranked second-worst in the league with a -17 turnover differential.

The bottom line is that we can expect the majority of the players on the defensive side of the ball to be moved around quite a bit this upcoming season, and a possible change to the scheme could benefit the group as a whole.