The Los Angeles Chargers needed to add to their pass rush this offseason with the departure of Odafe Oweh. Between their selection of Akheem Mesidor in the first round of the NFL Draft and their pickup of Nadame Tucker as a UDFA, they accomplished that goal successfully.
Mesidor should take on the lion's share of Oweh's snaps. His alignment versatility will allow Chris O'Leary to utilize him as he sees fit, and he has the physical tools and the pop to be disruptive at the line of scrimmage alongside Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu.
Tucker, for his part, spent his final college season under O'Leary at Western Michigan. It was a highly productive one. He amassed 14.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss across 13 games. He should have a strong chance to make the roster in competition with the rest of the Chargers' pass-rush depth.
This puts the roster spot of Kyle Kennard, a fourth-round selection in the 2025 Draft, in imminent danger. But after a disappointing, injury-riddled rookie season, perhaps this push is what Kennard needs to unlock his potential.
Chargers' pass-rush competition could unlock Kyle Kennard's potential in his sophomore campaign
Although Kennard came into his draft with questions about his physical readiness, he was a worthy Day 2 pick for a Los Angeles team that desperately needed additional pass rushers. In his Senior season at South Carolina, Kennard posted 11.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. Although he didn't crack Daniel Jeremiah's final rankings of the top-150 prospects for that draft class, there was plenty of excitement surrounding him when the Chargers made the selection.
The hope was that the combination of him and veteran pass rusher Bud Dupree would be enough to augment their duo of Mack and Tuipulotu. It quickly became apparent that wasn't the case.
He had some injury issues to start his rookie campaign, but Kennard was entirely ineffective even when he was available. He played just 26% of the defensive snaps across the five games in which he appeared, posting just two tackles and zero sacks in that span. That lack of production, combined with Dupree's inefficiencies as a pass rusher, left the Chargers with no choice but to pull the trigger on the Oweh trade.
Kennard will likely have priority over Tucker in a roster battle by pure virtue of his draft position. But Los Angeles' selection of him was likely a gamble on their coaching staff's ability to overcome his physical deficits. His future as a NFL player will hinge on how the coaching staff chooses to utilize him in 2026.
The way his rookie campaign went had to be discouraging for the young player. Perhaps some competition in training camp will help bring that competitive spirit we saw at South Carolina back to the forefront.
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