LA Chargers: 5 most tradable players on the Chargers roster
By Tyler Gallagher
Fourth most tradable player on the LA Chargers: Uchenna Nwosu
The fourth most tradable player on the LA Chargers roster is also a youngster in Uchenna Nwosu.
Like Mike Williams, Nwosu is a generally popular, young player that fits into the timeline of Justin Herbert and the rest of the Chargers roster. There is more reason to keep him around than trade him, but you can make a surprisingly compelling argument for trading Nwosu.
For starters, look at Nwosu’s place on the depth chart. Being buried behind two excellent pass rushers in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram III is not the ideal place for a young pass rusher that needs snaps to improve. Certainly, he gets plenty of reps in practice to improve, but Nwosu needs game snaps to become consistent.
Furthermore, consistency has been a significant issue for Nwosu, and the Chargers may be concerned to give Nwosu a significant contract to become a starter given that he has never been a consistent player.
Plays like the memorable one below show the elite pass-rushing potential that Nwosu has. Unfortunately, it only shows up in spurts, and Nwosu is often not present in particular games.
Lamar Jackson fumbles the ball to end the #Ravens playoff loss to the #Chargers
He has 14 fumbles in 8 starts this season. He had 2 fumbles in this game and an INT.pic.twitter.com/PBvwDUeaOk
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 6, 2019
If the Chargers are not confident in Nwosu’s long-term ability to be a starter and do not want to pay him big for a new contract, they could sell another team on his tantalizing pass-rushing skills.
Rotational pass-rush specialists are possible to find in free agency, but the potential growth of Nwosu in a full-time role could allow the Chargers to fetch a third or fourth-round pick for Nwosu, who is in the final year of his contract.
However, it rarely makes sense to trade away a young pass rusher, particularly when there is not much depth behind Nwosu on the depth chart. The decision on Nwosu truly comes down to how the Chargers feel that the talented edge rusher can perform in a larger role.