The Los Angeles Chargers, on the whole, have exceedingly deep positional groups—especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Their strategic maneuvering at the roster cut-down deadline ensured that fact, leaving them with a solid combination of veterans like Tony Jefferson and Denzel Perryman and emerging, young contributors like Marlowe Wax and Rodney Shelley. But that depth has been tested almost as soon as the season's kicked off.
Perryman began the season on the IR, and the Chargers were immediately forced to elevate Del'Shawn Phillips from a special-teams role into a primary linebacker role, complemented by Troy Dye and Wax. The wide receiver room may be down both KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Ladd McConkey heading into Week 2, and the addition of Gary Jennings to the active roster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad were likely meant to account for that.
Valdes-Scantling's addition came at a cost, though. Los Angeles also released cornerback Kaiir Elam from as its corresponding move, leaving the Chargers with just five total outside corners available in the entire organization heading into their matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
In theory, that should be enough. Donte Jackson, Cam Hart, and Tarheeb Still will take on the vast bulk of snaps at the position, and Los Angeles should be able to elevate Nikko Reed from the practice squad if they feel it's necessary.
But when Hart went down holding his abdomen in the Week 1 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, we got a glimpse into what things could look if even a singular injury were to occur—even though Hart returned to the game almost immediately.
Does Los Angeles have anyone they can trust to step into the cornerback rotation? How much are they willing to lean on Reed and Shelley at this point in the season?
The Chargers' cornerback depth is still lackluster, especially after the release of Kaiir Elam
Now, the loss of Elam isn't that great of a sacrifice in a vacuum. He hasn't put up consistent play at any point in his NFL career, and it's unclear if Los Angeles would've ever truly felt comfortable giving him in-game reps except in an emergency.
But the landscape of the room just isn't that solid entering Week 2.
Reed is too small and too inconsistent to play outside corner. He primarily operated as a backup nickel behind Derwin James Jr. after making the roster last season as a UDFA, and he's present on the practice squad as a potential backup option in that same capacity. Shelley, who was one of the Chargers' major training camp standouts, has similar concerns in terms of his frame, but Los Angeles gave him ample reps on the outside during the preseason. In Week 1, though, he played just one defensive snap—a far cry from the 37% snap share that rotational cornerback Benjamin St-Juste took on last season.
Perhaps Shelley will work into the rotation more over the course of the season. For now, it's clear that Los Angeles feels their combination of Jackson, Hart, and Still is more than sufficient. They indicated that when they chose not to elevate Reed from the practice squad in Week 1.
But if one of those players goes down (like Hart almost did in Week 1), it's unclear how Los Angeles could truly account for it. The organization let St-Juste walk this offseason at a price point of just two years and $9.8 million. With over $30 million in cap space left at the end of the offseason, would it really have cost that much to bring him back?
They also moved UDFA cornerback Avery Smith to the Seattle Seahawks at the roster cut-down deadline in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round draft pick. That likely was a necessity, as they had already tabbed Shelley to make the 53-man roster over the emergent Smith.
But all of this is to say that Los Angeles has routinely sacrificed their depth in the cornerback room over the last few months. Perhaps there's a move coming to help shore things up in the next few weeks, but for now, there's plenty of reason to be quietly concerned about a potential injury to any of their three main cornerbacks.
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