Los Angeles Chargers: Overlooked players with the biggest impacts
By Jason Reed
1. LB Denzel Perryman
The Los Angeles Chargers were really bad in stopping the run last season; so bad that the team ranked second-worst in rushing yards allowed per game. While the terrorizing duo of Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram definitely could get to the quarterback from the outside, stopping the run in the middle was a challenge.
A big reason for that was due to some underperformance at both the defensive tackle and middle linebacker positions. However, the Chargers certainly have talent at middle linebacker, the problem was that it was not present all season long.
Denzel Perryman probably represents the best linebacker on the Chargers. He is explosive with good open field speed that uses a great football IQ to explode towards holes. While the defense still struggled at stopping the run, it was better when Perryman was on the field.
The problem was that Perryman missed nine games last season. In the games that Perryman did play the Chargers were 5-2, the two losses being against Kansas City and Jacksonville; the team should have won the game in Jacksonville.
A healthy Perryman, alongside second-round pick Uchenna Nwosu, is imperative to stop the run next season. That is the team’s one weakness, if they can stop the run, great things will come.