The interior defensive line is an area that needs to be addressed for the LA Chargers this offseason. Both Poona Ford and Teair Tart are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in March. Morgan Fox will also be available on the open market.
Those three players combined played over 1,600 snaps for the Chargers last season. The defensive tackles projected to be on the roster at the start of the new league year are Scott Matlock, Otito Ogbonnia, and Christopher Hinton (futures deal).
It stands to reason that almost regardless of what happens in free agency, LA probably will add a defensive tackle with one of their 10 projected draft picks. They met with plenty of prospects at the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, and the NFL Combine.
One defensive tackle prospects is already raving about his meeting with the Chargers' brass
Virginia Tech defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles spoke to The Draft Network's Justin Melo recently about his college experience and pre-draft process.
Melo asked him if any of the team meetings he had at the Senior Bowl stood out above the rest. Peebles listed his conversations with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers. His full quote on the meetings that stood out at the Senior Bowl can be seen below:
"I would probably say the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We had some great conversations. It was deeper than football. I had a great meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers as well," Peebles explained. "I enjoyed speaking with them."
"The San Francisco 49ers were great. Those are a few teams that come to mind. I had some great interviews and some great vibes with those teams during the interview process."
Peebles is the 113th-ranked prospect on PFF's big board, putting him firmly in late day two, early day three territory. In a deep defensive tackle draft class, he's PFF's 15th-ranked prospect at the position. Peebles played four seasons at Duke before transferring to Virginia Tech for his final collegiate season. In 2024, he had 37 pressures, three sacks, and 20 run stops.
He earned the highest defensive (89.2) and pass rush (91.2) grades of his career from PFF in his last season at Virginia Tech. Peebles had one of the highest pass rush win rates of the class at 17.8% in 2024.
If the Chargers need to rebuild their defensive tackle room, Peebles is a name to watch for. While the team could take someone like Michigan's Kenneth Grant early, there's no guarantee that he makes it to 22.