The Chargers have benefited from good-to-great play from their starting corners, but is it more of a concern heading into 2019 than expected?
The Chargers were named to have the league’s best trio of corners by Pro Football Focus, specifically the group of Casey Hayward, Desmond King, and Trevor Williams. It’s a solid trio, and easily one of the better ones in the NFL. But could the position wind up becoming a problem this year, even with two All-Pros? Here’s why there should be some concern.
Daniel Jeremiah, who is very close to the team, had this to say about the Chargers taking a corner in the first round in an early mock draft:
“I’d just go back and just watching the team in some big games, I thought, man, they can use another body, another guy at corner would be a big help, and unfortunately Jason Verrett just couldn’t stay healthy. Michael Davis has some intriguing skills, but I think they look to upgrade that position pretty early on in this draft…”
When talking about why he specifically chose Rock Ya-Sin for the Chargers, this is what he had to say:
“There are other needs here — safety and defensive tackle among them — but it was apparent that the Bolts need to add some talent on the outside based on their performance against the Patriots in the Divisional Round of last season’s playoffs.”
The Chargers opted to not take a corner in this year’s draft or sign one in free agency, so the current state of the position is as follows:
- CB1: Casey Hayward
- CB2A: Michael Davis
- CB2B: Trevor WIlliams
- CB3 (slot): Desmond King
- CB4: Brandon Facyson
How did each hold up in the Divisional Round Jeremiah is referring to? Here’s a play-by-play of all five of the Patriots’ scoring drives in the first half (only passing plays).