The Chargers’ linebacker positional group has been a work in progress the past few seasons.
The team has prioritized the unit, adding a handful of players throughout the years. Heading into 2020, they have a decent-looking corps on paper led by Denzel Perryman, Drue Tranquill and rookie Kenneth Murray.
Where do they rank among the rest of the league’s linebacker rooms? Pro Football Focus stacked up all 32 units heading into the upcoming season, and Los Angeles was slotted No. 18 overall.
Perryman, the sixth-year player, 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 his rookie campaign in which he played in 14 or more games, finishing with 68 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble.
However, his playing time decreased due to the emergence of last season’s 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.
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.
Kyzir White will start as the SAM linebacker. White started last season as the starting MIKE while Denzel Perryman was nursing an ankle injury for the first two games. White struggled in that role, so Perryman took over. With Davis serving as the starting WILL, that only left White with one option: SAM.
With the Chargers playing a lot of sub-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.
Los Angeles also added Nick Vigil via free agency, and they will have Malik Jefferson, Cole Christiansen and Asmar Bilal all fighting for final roster spots.