Tag: Kyzir White

Eagles agree to 1-year deal with LB Kyzir White

We previously mentioned #KyzirWhite as a linebacker to watch in #NFL free agency for #Philadelphia and the #Eagles just agreed to a deal with the talented linebacker.

The Philadelphia Eagles have landed a talented linebacker to compliment T.J. Edwards, inking Kyzir White to a one-year deal.

White finished the 2021 season with 144 tackles (90 solo), three passes defended, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a sack across 17 games.

The 2018 fourth-round pick flourished in his first full year as the starting middle linebacker and he’d pair well with T.J. Edwards, while also saving a first-round pick for another position.

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10 under the radar 2022 free agent for the Eagles to targets

10 under the radar 2022 #NFL free agents for the #Eagles to target #FreeAgency #FlyEaglesFly

NFL free agency isn’t always about landing the big names and with a little over $24 million available, Howie Roseman could fill a lot of holes with some under-the-radar names.

Value is in the eyes of the beholder and with Philadelphia having needs at running back, cornerback, linebacker, and safety among others, there are several lesser-known players set to hit the open market that can help improve the culture already in place.

With the new league year quickly approaching, here are 10 under-the-radar free agents for the Eagles to target.

7 pending free agents Chargers must re-sign

Here’s a look at the top names the Chargers will have strongly consider re-signing.

The 2022 free agency period is slowly approaching on the NFL calendar, and the Chargers have 21 pending free agents heading into the offseason.

Continuity is critical when it comes to roster management. Still, general manager Tom Telesco will have to be selective when it comes to deciding who’s worthy of being brought back next season.

With that, here’s a look at the top priorities when the team begins that process:

Kyzir White

If there’s one player who benefited quite a bit from playing in Brandon Staley’s system, it’s White. Given more responsibilities to play in space, White was impactful as a run defender, in coverage, and a pass rusher. Starting all 17 games, White finished with 144 tackles, seven for loss, three passes defended, and a sack. Having him back gives the Chargers their energized play-maker in the middle of the defense.

Uchenna Nwosu

It was a slow start for Nwosu. That was until Week 13 against the Bengals when he rose eyebrows with his seven-pressure, four-hurry, and two-sack performance. From that point, Nwosu made a steady impact down the stretch until the season debut against the Raiders, where he went out with a bang, finishing with seven tackles and four for loss. After setting a career-high 40 pressures, four passes defended, and five sacks and set to be only 26 years old during the 2022 season, Nwosu’s best playing days are still ahead of him.

Mike Williams

Williams will be one of the most sought-after free agents, with opinions of what the Chargers should do with him all across the board. But he proved to be an integral piece on the offense in the best season of his career. Williams’ reason for staying is keeping continuity between him and Justin Herbert, the ascend as the X-receiver, and the big-play ability and clutchness he offers. The best bet would be to franchise tag him. While it’s a good chunk of change at $19.1 million, it will allow the team more time to work out a long-term extension decision until 2023 depending on if he can replicate or top this past year’s production.

Justin Jones

The Chargers had one of the league’s worst run defenses, and while it had to do with the lack of talent up front, one player who proved to be viable was Jones. He finished with a career-high 18 pressures, 14 hurries while also adding 18 run stops, some of which came near the goal line. Now, I could also see a scenario where they blow up the defensive line altogether and use free agency and the draft to go into the 2022 season with a clean slate, but a cheap deal for Jones is well within reason.

Andre Roberts

The Chargers struggled to find productivity from their returners until the mid-season signing of Roberts, which paid off down the final stretch. On 19 kick returns, Roberts amassed 624 yards and a 101-yard touchdown. Having him back will be key to stabilizing their special teams department. Speaking of, Dustin Hopkins is another strong candidate to be re-signed after making 90% of his field goals and 93.8% of his extra points.

Oday Aboushi

Signed last offseason, Aboushi was a vital piece of the revamped offensive line before suffering a torn ACL in the season’s fifth game. In 293 snaps, he allowed just five pressures and did not surrender a single sack. Having Aboushi back would offer depth and experience at the right guard position, which would come at a relatively low price.

3 Chargers who exceeded expectations in 2021

Here are three Chargers players who exceeded preseason expectations during the 2021 season.

The Chargers’ season ended heartbreakingly, but there was still plenty of good to take away from 2021, including players who surpassed their expectations.

Here are three players who exceeded expectations:

LB Kyzir White

The Chargers always had a talented player in White, but his undefined role in Gus Bradley’s defense kept his playing time to a minimum. That was until Brandon Staley came aboard, and with his system, it was able to maximize White’s true potential. Manning the middle of the defense with the ability to play freely in space, White was impactful against the run, in coverage, and as a blitzer. He had 144 tackles, seven for loss, three passes defended, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a sack.

OT Rashawn Slater

The Chargers knew that they had their left tackle of the future when they snagged Slater in last year’s draft. However, the team had no idea that he would establish himself as one of the best at his positions in Year 1. Facing the league’s best edge defenders week in and week out, Slater allowed just 26 pressures and four sacks while mauling defenders in the run game en route to being named a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro.

OT Trey Pipkins

Pipkins was selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft with the hope of developing into a starter. However, he was being written off amid his struggles in his first two seasons. When Slater was ruled out with COVID-19 in Week 15 against the Chiefs, Pipkins was called on to make the start in place of him. On 42 pass-blocking opportunities, Pipkins allowed just three pressures. Two weeks later against the Broncos, he started at right tackle in the absence of Storm Norton. He did not surrender a single pressure on 32 opportunities. While it was a small sample size, Pipkins is a prime example that scheme and coaching are significant factors in the development of mid- late-round offensive tackles.

GM Tom Telesco assesses Chargers’ defensive struggles

The lack of defensive talent and depth hurt the Chargers down the stretch this past season.

After turning the Rams into the NFL’s best defense in just one season, there were expectations that Brandon Staley would have similar results with the Chargers. However, that ended up not being the case.

Los Angeles ended up having one of the worst defenses in the NFL. The team finished 29th in points allowed (27.0), last on third-down (49.54%), 30th against the run (138.9 YPG), and 26th in the red zone (64.18%).

“It just didn’t come along as quickly enough, on defense, as I thought it would,” Tom Telesco said. “We had a lot of stretches this year that the players that are out there did some pretty good things, but we weren’t consistent enough by any means.”

Last offseason’s primary focus was to bring in pieces to put around Justin Herbert. That paid off as the Chargers possessed a top-5 offense. However, neglecting the defensive side of the ball with the exception of Asante Samuel Jr. and Kyler Fackrell ended up hurting them.

Despite having cornerstone pieces with Derwin James, Joey Bosa and Kyzir White, the starters weren’t consistent and the team was forced to rely on its depth down the stretch due to COVID-19 and injuries, which ended up being exploited in games that should have been gimmes, like against the Texans.

The Chargers enter this offseason with five defensive starters set to hit the free agency market – White, Uchenna Nwosu, Chris Harris Jr., Linval Joseph and Justin Jones.

With Telesco’s philosophy being drafting, developing and signing their own, White, Nwosu and Jones all earned the right to be brought back. Only time will tell if the coaches and front office view it that way.

One thing is certain and that’s Telesco and company must use a good chunk of their salary cap space and draft picks to bring in instant contributors along the defensive line, a starting cornerback, and depth at the second and third levels to turn things around next season.

“Some of it is alignment, assignment, and technique. Some of it is personnel, and some of it is just being in the first year of the defense.”

Chargers PFF grades: Top offensive, defensive performers from 2021 season

Spotlighting Pro Football Focus’ top-5 performers on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Which Chargers players impressed the most this season?

I put out who I thought did, and now it’s time to shift gears to the analytics.

With that being said, here are the best performers on both sides of the ball, according to PFF’s player grades.

Top 5 Offense

QB Justin Herbert — 90.1

C Corey Linsley — 86.3

OT Rashawn Slater — 83.7

WR Mike Williams — 77.6

WR Keenan Allen — 77.5

Top 5 Defense

EDGE Joey Bosa — 85.9

S Derwin James — 78.5

S Nasir Adderley — 66.2

LB Kyzir White — 65.1

EDGE Uchenna Nwosu — 64.3

Chargers’ year-end awards from 2021 season

Going back and highlighting the players who stood out for the Chargers in 2021.

The Chargers finished 9-8 and came up just short of the playoffs during the 2021 season.

While many fans are ready to put this season to bed, it’s still only right to reflect and hand out the season awards to certain players for their efforts on the field.

 

Final stat leaders for the Chargers in 2021

Find out which Chargers players stood atop of each statistical category.

While most of the attention has been shifted to what the offseason will hold, it’s still appropriate to reflect on this past season for the Chargers.

With that, here are Los Angeles’ final stat leaders from the 2021 regular season.

Chargers 2022 offseason preview: Pending free agents, cap space, team needs, draft picks

After falling short of the playoffs, let’s look at the Chargers’ offseason, including team needs, pending free agents, and salary-cap space.

After finishing the season 9-8 in Brandon Staley’s first season as head coach, the Chargers are set to enter the offseason after seeing their season end with a loss to the Raiders on Sunday night.

Los Angeles is still a couple of months away from the new league frenzy to commence, but it’s not too early to take a look at what to expect then, starting with 20 players who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents.

  • DT Linval Joseph
  • CB Chris Harris Jr.
  • WR Mike Williams
  • TE Jared Cook
  • G Oday Aboushi
  • CB Ryan Smith
  • EDGE Kyler Fackrell
  • EDGE Uchenna Nwosu
  • QB Chase Daniel
  • G Michael Schofield
  • K Dustin Hopkins
  • G Senio Kelemete
  • LS Matt Overton
  • DT Christian Covington
  • TE Stephen Anderson
  • DT Justin Jones
  • LB Kyzir White
  • S Trey Marshall
  • RB Justin Jackson

Cap space

The Chargers are projected to have $72.5 million in salary-cap space, marking the second-most in the NFL, according to Spotrac.

Team needs

Defensive tackle: The Chargers finished with the third-worst run defense in the league, and a lot of it has to do with the lack of talent upfront to consistently hold its own at the point of attack. Furthermore, Linval Joseph, Justin Jones, and Christian Covington are all slated to be free agents.

Edge defender: Joey Bosa had another great season, but the depth behind him is thin at the moment. Uchenna Nwosu put together a resume that should garner consideration of being re-signed, playing his best football towards the end of the year. Like Nwosu, Kyler Fackrell is also a free agent.

Linebacker: Outside of Kyzir White, who proved to be the team’s best linebacker, the production at the position was inconsistent. Kenneth Murray was arguably the most disappointing player on the roster. Drue Tranquill missed four games due to an ankle injury. The jury is still out for Nick Niemann and Amen Ogbongbemiga.

Cornerback: Asante Samuel Jr. proved to be the Chargers’ best cornerback in just his first season, but he had two concussions. Michael Davis played well, but nothing to warrant the money he was paid last offseason. Chris Harris Jr. will be a free agent after this season. Tevaughn Campbell didn’t do anything to be relied upon as a starter.

Right tackle: Bryan Bulaga is still under contract, but his future is up in the air after dealing with injuries during his time with L.A. Storm Norton’s poor play against the Raiders exemplified that he isn’t reliable enough to be counted on as a long-term starter. Trey Pipkins played well in his two starts and should be given a shot to compete for the job in the summer, but the team still needs a surefire starter to protect Justin Herbert.

Right guard: In the five games as the starter, Oday Aboushi was a difference-maker upfront. Unfortunately, his one-year stint was cut short after suffering a torn ACL. Aboushi is a strong candidate to be brought back. But if the Chargers move on from him, they will need someone to compete for the job, possibly with Brenden Jaimes.

Wide receiver: The Chargers are set for the foreseeable future with their No. 1 wideout in Keenan Allen. However, behind him, the room draws some questions. Will Mike Williams be re-signed, franchise-tagged, or let go of altogether? Is Josh Palmer ready to take the leap as the No. 2 guy if Williams walks? Regardless, one thing is certain: Los Angeles needs a speed/yards-after-the-catch weapon.

Running back: Austin Ekeler thrived in his first season under Joe Lombardi, reaching 20 total touchdowns, which tied for the most this season. However, he will need a running mate moving forward to help with his longevity, and that guy doesn’t appear to be on the roster. Coming into his own late in the season, Justin Jackson will be a free agent. Joshua Kelley and Larry Rountree had their opportunities but left a lot to be desired.

Draft picks

The Chargers possess the No. 17 overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft, and they are projected to have 11 total picks, with eight coming on Day 3 (four compensatory).

1 pending free agent each NFL team should bring back in 2022

NFL free agency 2022 starts just over two months from now. Here’s a look at who teams should keep among their pending free agents.

NFL contracts not signed beyond 2021 expire at 4 p.m. ET March 16, meaning that teams have from the end of the season until that time to sign their pending free agents to contract extensions. A few will get tagged (the franchise tag period begins Feb. 22), some will get extensions, but it’s a good bet most of the players set to reach unrestricted free agency will do so.

But if we were in charge, these are the players we’d keep — one per team as decided by the NFL Wire staff.