The Los Angeles Chargers, for the most part, are poised to continue the dominance they found under former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
In two seasons with the Chargers, Minter spectacularly implemented his zone-heavy, low-blitz scheme, banking on maximizing the talent of the secondary to systematically suffocate teams' passing attacks. Given what Los Angeles had on the field for much of his two seasons with the team, it worked spectacularly. The Chargers had a top-10 defense in total points allowed in both 2024 and 2025, finishing first in that category just this past season.
Ultimately, Minter did more than enough to earn his new position as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. He leaves new defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary with some big shoes to fill.
But O'Leary worked under Minter at multiple different stops. Although there will be clear differences in the expression of his scheme, much of Los Angeles' defensive infrastructure should remain the same under the first-time coordinator. Importantly, the Chargers also retained almost all of their defensive talent outside of Odafe Oweh and Benjamin St-Juste.
But O'Leary can't simply depend on things remaining the same in 2026 production-wise. If the Los Angeles defense is going to find its top form, they'll need a resurgence from one of their emerging star defenders— inside linebacker Daiyan Henley.
Daiyan Henley needs to maintain his star trajectory for the Chargers defense to remain dominant in 2026
In 2024, when Henley first entered the Chargers defense as a starter, he quickly took the league by storm. Across 17 games, he amassed 147 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, and three QB hits. Alongside veteran defender Denzel Perryman, Henley seemed to be emerging into one of the NFL's next star defenders.
Those 2024 numbers set a difficult bar for Henley to exceed, though, and he fell short in 2025, posting 103 combined tackles and five tackles for loss.
Don't get it wrong— these are still highly-productive numbers. And given what the Chargers have behind him in the inside linebacker room— including Junior Colson and Troy Dye— Henley is certainly still the star of the middle of the Los Angeles defense. But there were some inconsistencies in the team's run defense in 2025, a portion of which can be traced back to the dip in production we saw from Henley.
From a whole-season perspective, the Chargers run defense actually improved between 2024 and 2025, moving from 14th to 8th in total rushing yards allowed. But there were some serious lowlights during the 2025 campaign, including the 192-yard, four rushing touchdown performance they gave up to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11.
Henley is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and he could be due for a major extension next offseason if he matches the production of his 2024 campaign. Upward trajectory is hard to maintain, but with the end of Perryman's career rapidly approaching, the Chargers have no choice but to hope that Henley can once again cement himself as a future star of the league— regardless of the monetary implications.
The team's run defense, with shifting tides under O'Leary, will depend upon it.
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