Los Angeles Chargers: Four players that can win awards in 2018
By Jason Reed
Derwin James — Defensive Rookie of the Year
Derwin James winning Defensive Rookie of the Year would make him the second Charger in three years (joining Bosa) to win the award. Overall, James would be the fourth ever Charger to win the award, also joining Shawne Merriman and Leslie O’Neal. James would be the first secondary player to win the award for the Chargers.
Not only is James a solid choice for the Los Angeles Chargers to win the award, he arguably should be favored to win the award by the entire league. Sure, linebackers Roquan Smith and Tremaine Edmunds are both very talented and will be in the running.
However, James literally landed in the perfect system to maximize his talent and make the most out of his rookie year. The ball-hawking safety is coming into a secondary that is filled with guys just like him. Guys that can make quarterbacks pay and have a certain swagger while doing it.
Of course, joining a team with one of the best defensive lines in football is going to help as well.
Alongside Casey Hayward, Jason Verrett, Jahleel Addae, Desmond King and Trevor Wiliams, James is the final piece of the puzzle to build arguably the best secondary in the NFL.
The Chargers’ defense is going to be fun to watch and James is going to be a huge component to that. Derwin James should have never slipped to the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2018 NFL Draft. Plenty of NFL teams are going to regret it.