LA Chargers roster: 3 most concerning positions in 2021

Positions to be concerned about on the LA Chargers roster: Defensive tackle

The one thing that the LA Chargers have not been able to figure out defensively in recent years is stopping the run. Some years they are outright terrible in stopping the run, other years are not so bad. The addition of Kenneth Murray and Linval Jopesph did help the team last year. However, they still didn’t necessarily figure it out and other teams were successful when they needed to be.

The hope is that the changes Brandon Staley will make to the defense will result in a more uniform attack to the run game that will improve the team’s performance in this area. A big portion of this could be the use of the linebackers, and as Drue Tranquill put it, he is going to be used more like an actual linebacker compared to the previous defense.

There are still some personnel concerns that I would not overlook with the defensive tackle positions. These concerns also spread to the defensive end position in a 3-4 defense, as that will be filled by the players who played defensive tackle last year.

Joseph was fine last year but he is one year older and it is far from a guarantee that he can be the player he was last year. He certainly will not improve with age.

Jerry Tillery has been bad thus far in his career and is especially poor in defending the run. While there is some third-year breakout potential, that is also far from a guarantee and he will really make or break the position.

If he can be good then the position will not be a concern. If he is still the same player from his first two seasons then the position will be a weakspot.

Justin Jones is a fine depth option but is nothing to get excited about, which is true of the rest of the position group. It really comes down to Joseph not regressing with age and Tillery improving after two bad seasons.