Los Angeles Chargers: Three players set for a big game in New England
By Jason Reed
3. Derwin James
Derwin James was exactly what the Los Angeles Chargers needed in the 2018 NFL Draft. An already great secondary got even better when the Chargers got the best value pick in the entire draft.
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James is versatile; he can play deep safety, can crowd the line of scrimmage, can play in the box and can blitz the quarterback from virtually anywhere on the field. He is the most important player on the Chargers’ defense because of the headache it is to gameplan coming up against him on offense.
James is going to get one of his biggest challenges to date: Rob Gronkowski.
Gronk is not the same Gronk from even last year. It is evident that football has taken a toll on his body and the Patriots have been very wary on how much they use him in the regular season.
However, there are still those designed drives and designed play calls where they give Gronk full reign to do Gronk things. It does not happen as often as it used to but Gronkowski is still a huge threat in the red zone as well as in the closing moments of a tight game.
It is going to be James’ responsibility to hold Gronk at bay when the Patriots need him most. His assignment won’t be that simple as he is going to be dropping back in zones and likely will pressure Tom Brady a few times in this game.
For the most part, though, James is going to be assigned to Gronk and he is going to limit him from making the big plays when he typically makes them.
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Not only that, we are going to see an uncharacteristic interception from Brady in the postseason. With pressure from Bosa and Ingram in his face, Brady is going to try and fit the ball in a tight window, where James will be waiting to hawk on the ball and flip the field.