Even with the departure of Jesse Minter this offseason, the Los Angeles Chargers' defensive outlook for 2026 is excellent.
Their secondary, apart from the depature of Benjamin St-Juste in free agency, is still intact. The Chargers likely expect rookie safety Genesis Smith to play a large role, and both Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart should be able to take steps forward in their third seasons.
Under new defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary, the hope is that Los Angeles will be able to continue to maximize the talent in their secondary, maintaining Derwin James' role as their do-it-all nickel/dime piece. It's reasonable to assume that effort will be successful.
But Minter's zone-heavy scheme was always dependent on the defensive line's ability to contain outside runs and achieve disruption in the backfield on a frequent basis. As such, Daniel Popper of The Athletic has Khalil Mack listed as the fifth-most important player to Los Angeles' success this season, sat behind only James in terms of defensive players. His reasoning is sound:
"When Mack was out from weeks 3 to 6, the Chargers ranked 17th in EPA per play on defense. After Mack returned in Week 7, the Chargers ranked sixth in EPA per play over the remainder of the season. Mack is one of those rare players whose impact is felt equally by his on-field performance and his leadership. He is one of the Chargers’ culture-setters. As long as he is still playing for the Chargers, Mack will be high on this list." Daniel Popper, The Athletic
But even with the addition of Akheem Mesidor and the ascendance of Tuli Tuipulotu, the fact of the matter is that much of the Chargers' defensive success still depends on the 35-year-old Mack. That, at the very least, is a daunting thought.
Khalil Mack's decline doesn't appear to be imminent, but the Chargers can't depend on him forever
First and foremost, Mack is still a highly effective and disruptive pass rusher at the NFL level. Although his counting stats were impacted pretty heavily by the time he missed last season and the addition of Odafe Oweh, he still managed to post an impressive 39 pressures and six sacks on a total of just 264 pass-rush snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
As Popper points out, there's no one better than Mack for the Chargers defense in terms of consistency and veteran leadership. But his importance to the team extends even beyond that.
Under Minter, the Chargers' trio of edge rushers was so effective because each could be disruptive on any given snap. Mack's explosiveness, combined with the versatility of Tuipulotu and the sheer size and willpower of Oweh, allowed the team to routinely confound opposing protection schemes. O'Leary, if anything, will likely want to lean into that more than Minter did.
Tuipulotu's 13-sack campaign in 2025 was massively impressive, and he'll likely be well-compensated for it this offseason. If he's able to maintain that production, perhaps Mack's (slow) decline can be mitigated. The same goes for Mesidor, who's about as league-ready of a pass rusher as can come out of the draft. If he's able to come even close to the production Oweh put up in 2025, Mack can start to take a back seat as he enters his 13th NFL season.
But the truth is that, as of now, the Chargers need all three of their primary pass rushers clicking at the highest level for this defense to reach its ceiling. Depending on a 35-year-old, even one of Mack's caliber and work ethic, to this extent is risky— no matter how you spin it.
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