LA Chargers news: Bolts have just one player named in top 50

The LA Chargers are one of the most exciting teams in the league heading into 2021 and are a legitimate Super Bowl dark horse. All the Chargers news that has transpired this offseason has been extremely positive, from Justin Herbert’s reported development to the hiring of Brandon Staley.

It is really easy to be bullish on the Bolts heading into the 2021 season. They have one of the best young quarterbacks in the league who is coming off of the best rookie season in NFL history as well as a roster full of stars around him.

The team addressed its most pressing needs this offseason (offensive line and cornerback) and nailed the 2021 NFL Draft. While they still have to prove it on the field, everything the team has done this offseason has warranted an A+ grade.

Yet despite this, the Chargers do not have many players in Pro Football Focus’ top-50 players list. You would expect a team as exciting as the Chargers to have multiple players but that is not the case at all.

Chargers news: Joey Bosa is the only Charger to make PFF’s top-50 list

We already covered how Justin Herbert did not crack PFF’s top-50 list when we saw that Dak Prescott was named the 50th-best player in the league. Now that the list is fully complete, we can report that one Bolt made the cut.

That player is Joey Bosa and that is painstakingly obvious. Bosa is one of the most dynamic and disruptive pass-rushers in the league and his ranking of 21 is absolutely warranted. You could make the case for him being higher but 21 is fair and there is plenty of room for him to grow.

What is more shocking is that another player did not make the list as you could make the case for multiple Chargers in the top 50. Herbert should probably be in there but Keenan Allen should definitely be named.

Allen is one of the best and most underrated receivers in the entire league. He has top-five receiver numbers while not getting top-five, or even top-10, receiver recognition. There are eight wideouts named in the top 50. Keenan Allen is not one of them.

When healthy, Derwin James is also a candidate to be on this list but it is understandable to keep him off as he has played five games over the last two years. When it comes to overall talent, though, James is a top-50 player and could crack the end-season list if he stays healthy.

Finally, you could even make the case for Austin Ekeler, who is one of the best dual-threat running backs in the league. He was fantastic for the Chargers when he was healthy last season and still has not had a full season of being the featured back.

Five running backs made the list so it is not a sin that Ekeler was not included, but look for him to be an end-season addition if he has the kind of year that he is capable of in 2021. That is Chargers news that we would love to hear.