Chargers Building Depth On The Roster Through Free Agency

Jan 5, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; San Diego Chargers inside linebacker

(56) celebrates after a sack during fourth quarter of the AFC wild card playoff football game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

One of the Chargers weaknesses on the roster was the team depth. As soon as one of the starters went down, we had to rely on random players and sometimes had to pick up players off of the street in hopes that they would be able to contribute to the roster. We lacked the depth on a number of positions on the roster.

This offseason has been a little bit quiet and for some fans it has been frustrating, but the team’s depth has gotten much stronger during this time. The Chargers have kept a number of their own players that were set to become free agents. The Chargers kept Donald Butler to play in the middle. They kept Chad Rinehart to stay on as the starter at guard. The Chargers kept Darrell Stuckey on their special teams and also kept Reggie Walker to add depth at linebacker. With those re-signings, the free agency period is just adding to what we build last season.

We haven’t lost anyone and now we have added a new running back to the roster that has the ability to be a starter. Donald Brown has the talent to be a starter in the league and can take the ball when Ryan Mathews has to sit on the sideline. He will be huge for us during the year.

We have added a big man who can catch the football playing tight end and can also play fullback in David Johnson. Down in the red zone, Johnson is going to be a huge player to open up holes in the running game or to catch that red zone touchdown.

Kavell Conner is a run-stuffing linebacker that will be able to come in and start if Donald Butler or Manti Te’o have to sit with an injury. Conner is a tough inside linebacker that will be huge for the depth on the roster.

The frustration for the fans is there, but we have added onto the roster from last season. Nothing that we have done has gone backward to this point. We still need a starting corner and we still need a starting wide receiver, but there still is plenty of time to add those players. There still is an NFL Draft that can bring in some good talent onto this roster.

Our depth is stronger. Our team is stronger.