LA Chargers: The most disappointing players of 2020

Nasir Adderley

The hype was unreal to finally see Nasir Adderley in his second year. Truly, it was his first season with a hamstring injury keeping him off the field in 2019.

My expectations personally weren’t as high. The goal in my opinion was just for him to become a playable free safety so the team had options and depth in the secondary.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure he even lived up to relatively low expectations. In his defense, not having Derwin James was a big blow. The issue wasn’t really Adderley being unorganized though, it was simply execution.

12 missed tackles is pretty bad. Adderley took bad angles when it came to bringing down opposing ball carriers which usually led to rather larger YAC. Sloppy tackling wasn’t exclusive to Adderley, but you just have to be a better tackler to be able to play free safety.

In pass coverage, the story wasn’t much better. 14 receptions allowed for 156 yards and a 119.2 opposing passer rating. That’s not quite 2019 Desmond King bad, but he’s also not going to be thrown on as much as a slot corner.

The two pros for Adderley were his kick returning ability towards the end of the season and his run defense. Both were pretty sound. But in terms of his actual play with Rayshawn Jenkins? I don’t think the Chargers can afford to ever do that again next year if Derwin James is unavailable at any point.