Los Angeles Chargers: This surprise player can make a massive difference

The Los Angeles Chargers have one of the most complete rosters in the league but will be getting a huge impact from an unlikely source.

The Los Angeles Chargers have quite the roster heading into the 2019 season and have talent in every single facet of the game.

The team is led by Philip Rivers, who statistically is a top-six or seven quarterback of all-time and is hungry for a championship ring. Rivers is coming off of one of the best years of his career, so there is no slowing down there.

Rivers has weapons around him. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Travis Benjamin and Hunter Henry make up a group of pass catchers that can rival any other team. Running back Melvin Gordon is a top-five back in the league when healthy.

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Defensively, the Chargers are even better. Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram lead a defensive line that is only going to get better after drafting Jerry Tillery in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The secondary is just as stacked with two All-Pros in Derwin James and Desmond King to go with an extremely deep and talented unit.

The linebackers are not as elite but are playmakers and showed a ton of improvement in 2019. In particular, Adrian Phillips provides help in the middle with his unique role (also being a special teams All-Pro, nonetheless) and Denzel Perryman is one of the most impactful members of the defense when healthy.

All in all, the Chargers have a stacked and scary roster. There really is only one area that is questionable heading into the year and that is the offensive line, which was among the league’s worst last season.

While the team can still be successful with this version of the offensive line, it certainly would make the jump to making a Super Bowl run much easier if the line can fill in its holes. There is talent there, the team just lacks depth and quite frankly underperformed in 2018.

That is where an extremely important player can come in and make a difference, a player that wouldn’t even crack the top-20 most important players on the Chargers. That player is 2017 second-round draft pick, Forrest Lamp.

It was considered a huge win when the Los Angeles Chargers drafted Lamp in the second round. Lamp was a first-round talent that slipped to the second-round and looked like the perfect lineman to shore up the Chargers’ problems.

The problem is that Lamp has battled injuries in his NFL career and has only played in two games, both coming last season. Lamp now has the opportunity to win the job heading into this year, which he should be able to do with his raw talent, as long as he is healthy.

Lamp has the size and flexibility to really play anywhere on the line but having him be an anchor in the middle at guard would be huge. He has the athleticism and the nature offensive lineman talent to be an asset in both pass and run protection and really could blossom into the team’s best lineman.

He obviously would make the rest of the interior line’s jobs easier. Dan Feeney might have a bounce-back year after a decent rookie season that was followed with a poor sophomore year. Just having that one extra guy, especially if he can be as good as Lamp can be, is huge for this team.

The domino effect he would have on the line would only create a bigger domino effect on the rest of the team. Suddenly, if the Chargers have a line that is above average, the team can be more effective on offseason and complete more methodical, long drives.

dark. Next. Rivers is the most underrated quarterback ever

Philip Rivers has been rushed too much in his career and the same can be said for last season. Forrest Lamp can be the ultimate difference maker in changing that narrative for the Los Angeles Chargers.

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