The LA Chargers’ options if Derwin James’ injury is serious
By Jason Reed
Option two: Start Nasir Adderley and Rayshawn Jenkins together
One of the more exciting roster battles heading into training camp for the LA Chargers was for the second safety position between Rayshawn Jenkins and Nasir Adderley.
Jenkins stepped up big time in the absence of James last season and earned a lot of trust with the coaching staff in the process. However, on the flip side, Adderley is still a really exciting young prospect that the team took in the second round last year, so the battle would be intense.
The realistic outcome was that both guys would split time depending on the situation. Now, with James hurt, the team very well could look to start the two together and roll with that until James comes back.
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This could work as well. Adderley has the typical free safety ball-hawking profile that would make him really efficient in Bradley’s Cover 3 scheme. Jenkins also has experience playing the strong safety position and while he is not as versatile as James, eh still can hold his own as a traditional strong safety.
The downside of going this route is the team would be taking a risk with depth and both guys might not be as efficient as they would be spending more time playing rather than adopting a rotation of sorts, which would keep them fresh and maximize the talent.
What if the LA Chargers don’t want to start both Adderley and Jenkins for that reason? Well, they then have two options. One that is not that great and one that is a bit creative and could work out.