Chris O'Leary needs to be commended for how he's held this Los Angeles Chargers secondary intact even while missing multiple key pieces for much of the season. Derwin James and Donte Jackson have both missed multiple games, and yet O'Leary has found a way to make this unit one of the league's top passing defenses as a first-time NFL play caller. That, in and of itself, is an impressive feat.
Even playing Isas Waxter for significant snaps on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, the Chargers were able to hold their opponents to just one potent first half drive. 10 of the Rams' 24 points came in short-yardage situations induced by turnovers from Justin Herbert. Deane Leonard and Rodney Shelley also missed the Week 8 matchup, for what it's worth.
So perhaps the Chargers' decision to sign Jalyn Armour-Davis, who started 10 games for the Tennessee Titans last season before going down with an Achilles injury, is simply a move to shore up a room that desperately needs the depth. As well as he's done, it's clear that O'Leary can't count upon Waxter, Leonard, and Shelley to deliver consistent performance on a week-to-week basis.
There's a chance it represents more than that, though, and we'll simply need to wait until we get closer to the Nov. 10 trade deadline to find out.
Chargers' Jalyn-Armour Davis signing may serve as a precursor to a Donte Jackson trade at the deadline
There's two important caveats to outline here before we get into the possible implications of this signing.
Firstly, Armour-Davis isn't going to step in as a top cornerback in the Chargers defense. Even aside from his injury, he's largely been inconsistent in coverage throughout his career. Across those 10 games with Tennessee in 2025, he posted a coverage grade north of 65.0, according to Pro Football Focus's system, just three times. He did have a low missed-tackle rate, which is a. key to success in the Chargers' zone-heavy scheme, but it's simply hard to see him being a difference-maker right away.
Moreover, Hortiz has continued to publicly project that Los Angeles won't be fielding trade calls at the deadline, which has "confounded" other teams according to The Athletic's Jonathan Jones. And the closer we actually get to the Nov. 10 deadline, the less that seems like an organizational smoke screen. If Los Angeles is going to strip back parts of this roster in order to amass additional mid-round draft capital, that process needs to start as soon as possible.
But Armour-Davis is, at the very least, a defender with starting experience at the NFL level—which puts him a notch above pieces like Waxter, Shelley, and Leonard. That means, for now, the possibility of moving on from Donte Jackson at the trade deadline is open.
Jackson is in the final year of his contract, and while he's been solid, it's clear that Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart are the future of this room. Moving Jackson to a cornerback-needy team for a mid-round draft selection should be a real option for Los Angeles to consider over the coming week.
Perhaps the Armour-Davis signing is simply meant to shore up the depth of a room. This is a good time to remind the reader that the front office failed to add a single cornerback in free agency after letting Benjamin St-Juste walk to the Green Bay Packers.
But if a Jackson move happens over the next eight days, this signing will suddenly take on a much more significant complexion.
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