The Los Angeles Chargers have had some intriguing storylines surrounding the inside linebacker room ahead of their 2026 campaign.
It started with a tough competition between former UDFA Marlowe Wax and former third-round pick Junior Colson for the final roster spot behind Daiyan Henley, Denzel Perryman, and Troy Dye. Both players performed at the top of their games across their three preseason appearances, but Los Angeles ultimately went with the intensity and run-fitting abilities of Wax over the athleticism and coverage upside of Colson. Colson remains on the practice squad, and there's a chance he'll see snaps at some point this season.
With Colson off the 53-man roster, though, the established structure in the inside linebacker room seemed to place Henley and Perryman as the clear-cut starters, with Dye and Wax competing for rotational snaps behind that pairing. But with Perryman heading to the IR after roster cut-down day with an undisclosed injury, there was room for another shakeup.
In the Chargers' first unofficial depth chart of the regular season, they listed seventh-year linebacker Del'Shawn Phillips as the team's second starter alongside Henley, with Dye and Wax as the backups. This could mean a lot of things— including simply that Phillips' role as a special-teams ace will simply grant him a greater snap count than his counterparts.
But after seeing just 8% of the team's defensive snaps last season, could it be an indication that the Chargers may expect more out of Phillips in 2026?
Denzel Perryman's injury could give Del'Shawn Phillips the chance to carve out a rotational defensive role
As long as Henley is on the field, the Chargers have the responsibilities of the ace in the middle of their defense covered. Henley is so athletic in coverage (and so well-rounded as a run defender), that Los Angeles simply needs to ensure they have a capable, run-fitting defender next to Henley to complete their ILB pairing.
Perryman fits that description perfectly, even as he enters his age-34 season. But who claims that role with the veteran out for at least four weeks?
The obvious answer would be Dye, who was the primary backup for both Henley and Perryman last season. But Dye certainly isn't the most athletic player on the field, and there's times where his viability in coverage has been less than inspiring. Intuitively, that opens a door for Wax—who was the defensive darling of the Chargers' three preseason games—to siphon away some starting snaps from the veteran.
But the Chargers' unofficial depth chart at least forces us to ask the question. What role does Phillips have to play in a potential inside linebacker rotation with Perryman out?
Phillips is a more-than-capable tackler and a physical defender, but he's never played more than 14% of a team's defensive snaps in his career. He saw just 82 defensive snaps in his first season with the Chargers in 2025. While that surpasses the 39 that Wax saw during his rookie campaign, Phillips is much more established as a special teams weapon at this point in his career. Flexing Wax into that rotational spot makes more sense, at least on the surface.
But if Los Angeles truly wants to give Phillips the chance to rotate with Dye and Wax at that second inside linebacker spot early in the season, he has the athleticism and the intensity to make it worth their while. He's shown some upside as a run defender during his stints outside of special teams throughout his career, and there's a chance Chris O'Leary may want to utilize him as an additional blitz threat in certain situations given his speed and agility.
We'll need to see how things play out in Week 1. Perhaps Phillips simply remains in his special teams role, and the ordering of this depth chart isn't significant in the slightest. But even when Perryman returns, the shape the inside linebacker room takes will be an intriguing storyline to keep an eye on this season in Los Angeles.
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