The Los Angeles Chargers will be the next Legion of Boom

The Los Angeles Chargers have one of the best defenses in football. So good, in fact, that the Chargers will be the NFL’s next version of the Legion of Boom.

The Los Angeles Chargers are going to be one of the most exciting teams to watch in football next season.

A well-rounded offense and defense with a, hopefully, improved special teams should lead to promising results for the Chargers. With a division that has undergone a quarterback shake-up, Los Angeles has emerged as the favorites.

In terms of the rest of the NFL and the best defenses in the league, the league no longer has the luxury of watching the Legion of Boom in Seattle. Headlined by Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, the Seahawks’ defense terrorized opposing offenses and carried the team to a Super Bowl title in 2014.

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If it was not for a bonehead coaching mistake by Pete Carroll the following year, the Seahawks very well could have been back-to-back Super Bowl Champions.

With Sherman in San Francisco, Chancellor retired and Thomas as a trade chip, the Legion of Boom is no more. This naturally raises the question: who is the next Legion of Boom?

The Ringer’s Danny Kelly tackled this question and gave us the inspiration to write this article. To give Kelly credit, the Los Angeles Chargers were amongst the favorites to be the next Legion of Boom behind the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.

And while that is a very elite class to be included in, the Los Angeles Chargers will ultimately trump all of these teams and become the scariest team to throw the ball against in football.

First and foremost, the Chargers have the best set of defensive ends in football, both of which being in the top-five in the league. Joey Bosa has blossomed into a superstar and arguably outplayed Aaron Donald last season. He is a future NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Melvin Ingram falls closer to that number five range but is still one of the scariest defensive ends in football. Even the best tackles in football struggle to contain both Bosa and Ingram, which naturally leads to holes elsewhere. With a great second-round pick in Uchenna Nwosu, the Chargers are only scarier.

Then you have the secondary, which serves as the vultures of the defense, picking up the scraps that are caused by the defensive line.

Casey Hayward is a top-five cornerback in the entire league. Jason Verrett is a top-10 corner, when healthy, and a former Pro-Bowler.

Second-year safety Desmond King is overlooked but recorded four sacks last season despite not being an every-down option. Adrian Phillips and Trevor Williams also tossed in a pair of interceptions.

Jahleel Addae is a very underrated strong safety as well. Although he may not be the same ball-hawk mold as his peers, Addae was very valuable to the Chargers last year. His Approximate Value (AV), according to Pro-Football-Reference, was six last season. To compare, Jacksonville’s best safety, Barry Church, also had an AV of six.

And most importantly, the Chargers managed to improve the defense despite losing the team’s interception leader, Tre Boston. Los Angeles drafted an absolute steal with the 17th overall pick in Derwin James, who was arguably a top-five talent in the draft class.

James should be the favorite to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and literally fell to the perfect team to compliment his play style.

This Chargers defense is young, they are hungry and they are only going to get better as they continue to terrorize opposing quarterbacks.

Next: Chargers' keys to success in 2018

So no offense to the Jaguars, Vikings or Rams, who all have very solid defenses. It is the Los Angeles Chargers time to shine.

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