5 bold predictions for LA Chargers 2021 season ahead of training camp

4. Nasir Adderley steps up in year three, Jerry Tillery does not

There are two defensive players entering their third season with a lot to prove. Jerry Tillery and Nasir Adderley have both fallen short of expectations thus far in their career and if they don’t turn it around in year three then it probably never will turn around for those two.

That it not to say that they are terrible players, but if they are going to have successful careers in the NFL then they are going to have to turn it around soon.

One of the two players is going to turn it around and become one of the better defensive players on the team, one of them is not. Nasir Adderley is primed for success as the Chargers are trusting him to sink or swim, while the team has other options outside of Tillery to turn to if he does not turn it around.

That should be telling of the team’s opinion on the two players in upon itself.

Adderley has been dealt a pretty bad hand. He was hurt in his rookie year, had to undergo a wonky second season without a true rookie season and played in a secondary that really struggled last season. Now he is playing for a head coach who became a head coach because of his work with the defensive backs on the Los Angeles Rams.

I just don’t see Staley turning Tillery around. He is too bad against the run to play consistently in a 3-4 defense and he is probably better suited to a be strong-side defensive end, which is what Joey Bosa is in a 4-3 defense.

He is poor against the run, can disappear at times and commits too many pointless penalties that hurt the team.