LA Chargers: 3 most underrated players heading into 2021

3. Nasir Adderley

This mostly has to do with projections as Nasir Adderley has not done anything in his career thus far to warrant being called underrated. Adderley has been fairly bad in his career thus far and the Chargers are entrusting him with the starting safety job this season.

However, while Adderley was really bad last season, there are reasons to believe that he can turn it around in 2021 and live up to some of that potential that he had when the Chargers picked him in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

The first thing is the change of defensive scheme. Gus Bradley’s Cover 3 scheme was obviously not great for Adderley and he may thrive in more split-zone safety coverages. We have heard other Charger players say that the old coaching staff did not put them in the best position to succeed, which applies to Adderley as well.

Adderley also has not been dealt the best hand in the NFL. He was hurt most of his rookie season, which hurts his development, and then had to go into year two without many snaps with no preseason and an abbreviated camp. He was not the only one that had to go through that, but it definitely had an impact.

Getting a real offseason to work and a real preseason to get up to speed will be beneficial to Adderley. Sharing duties with Derwin James will also be beneficial, as it will make his job easier.

Adderley has the fundamental skills to be a difference-maker for this Chargers defense and that should not be overlooked.