Should Chargers pursue Robert Nkemdiche?
By Brian Garcia
With the news of Corey Liuget not returning with the team, and most of the interior defensive line hitting the open market, the Los Angeles Chargers need to find defensive tackles that’ll make an impact on the team.
Is it Robert Nkemdiche, should he be made available?
Nkemdiche has not lived up to the hype of his first-round selection. He has only played 27 games in his three-year career and he only has 4.5 sacks in his career. And if you want to look at Pro Football Focus grading, he has never exceeded a 60 grade in any of his seasons.
It was first reported by Tony Pauline, that the Cardinals would release Nkemdiche.
Tony Pauline has Arizona Cardinals taking Quinnen Williams with the first pick… And cutting Robert Nkemdiche https://t.co/9ARPAQhOzV pic.twitter.com/8wSyF8Q3Fx
— Revenge of the Birds (@revengeofbirds) February 15, 2019
With all of these red flags, why would the Chargers look at him to “fix” the middle of the defense?
I don’t think he will, but I believe that he can make an impact. The one and only time I saw Nkemdiche play in the NFL was against the Chargers and it was the best game of his career to date.
Nkemdiche had seven combined tackles, four tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and 2.5 sacks. He was a monster of a defender that game and it looked as if it was his coming out party.
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If the Chargers see potential in Nkemdiche, I believe putting him beside Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram (and hopefully Dexter Lawrence) will give him the best opportunity to succeed.
Nkemdiche would be able to learn how to have better hand usage from Bosa and he could feed off of Ingram’s energy and his motor. Nkemdiche can be the dog that he was supposed to be coming out of college.
He is a chaotic point in his career and in order to become the best he can be he needs to learn how to become a controlled-chaos player. Some type of one or two-year prove-it deal would be an ideal low-risk, high-reward situation.
Anthony Lynn and company would be in a place where Nkemdiche wants to be. I believe that Lynn and his coaching staff would be able to get the best out of him.