LA Chargers: Top five players from the 2020 season

4. Michael Davis

Another upcoming unrestricted free agent is on the list at number four. It’s not a stretch by any means to say that Michael Davis was the second best Chargers’ defensive player in 2020.

He was one of the lone bright spots of the secondary and radically improved in important ways. In a year where Casey Hayward struggled with age and injuries, as did Chris Harris, Davis was vital to the Chargers.

Davis’ 2020 season can best be summarized by the Buffalo game. Davis was forced to cover Stefon Diggs with Casey Hayward out. Everyone saw what Diggs did to the rest of the league with Josh Allen in 2020, but he didn’t expose Davis. #43 held Diggs to just 27 yards for the entire game.

Davis only allowed 100+ yards once going against Travis Kelce in Week 2. He allowed 50 yards or less in most of his games this year. Importantly, Davis also led the Chargers in both interceptions and passes defensed. He was tied with New England cornerback J.C. Jackson for the seventh most pass breakups in the league with 14.

What you really saw from Davis in 2020 was more consistent technique, better tackling, and fewer errors. He finally started turning his head around to avoid PI’s! Davis had the fewest missed tackles of his career despite playing nearly 300 more snaps. Even with more snaps, Davis halved his penalties from year to year.

To put it bluntly, Davis is without a doubt the best cornerback on this team. He has to be back with the team in 2021 for them to continue building out the secondary.