Derwin James Jr. had a resurgence in his last two seasons with the Chargers to put him back into All-Pro conversations. James earned back-to-back first-team All-Pro nominations for his work as a nickel in Jesse Minter's defense. He earned the payday he got with his three year extension this offseason.
NFL personnel seem to have rated the last season for James very similarly to Chargers fans. In the last day of Jeremy Fowler's poll rankings series at ESPN, he covered the top 10 safeties. Only Baltimore's Kyle Hamilton ranked above James in the survey of league personnel. James came in at number two on the yearly ranking. That's a four spot jump from year to year after the Chargers safety ranked sixth last offseason.
Chargers S Derwin James Jr. earned his respect from league personnel.
After the 2023 season, things looked rocky for James. Before the 2024 season, he fell as far as seven in Fowler's annual rankings. The end of the Brandon Staley defense era even resulted a game in which James was benched vs. Buffalo. His resurgence into being widely considered the league's second-best safety as he turns 30 this year was not expected.
James' durability has also stood the test of time despite medical red flags earlier in his career. He fell in the draft to the Chargers at 17 due to knee issues. Foot and knee injuries cost him nearly the full length 2019 and 2020 seasons. Over the last three seasons, James has missed just one game due to injury. It was back in 2023 vs. the Raiders due to a hamstring issue.
One NFL secondary coach gave this quote to Fowler about James' 2025 season:
"I thought Derwin [James] had his best, most complete year. Blitzing, coverage, tackling, just overall was really good. He can really do it all. And he's been healthy for a long stretch, which is good to see."
James' 77.2 opposing QB passer rating allowed in coverage was his lowest mark since the 2022 campaign. He also has 7.5 sacks and 20 pressures in his last two seasons. No matter what Minter asked of James, the All-Pro safety was always capable. As the defense transitions to the Chris O'Leary DC era, there's still no question as to who the unit is built around. There are no top-five statistical defense season finishes for the Chargers without their superstar lynchpin in James.
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