3 Chargers roster battles that have already been decided before preseason Week 3

3. Asante Samuel Jr over Ja'Sir Taylor, CB3

This was one of the weirdest roster battles for the Chargers at the start of training camp. Nobody expected Asante Samuel Jr. to have to battle for a spot in the starting 11 after the strides he made in his second season in 2022.

However, it was reported that the Chargers favored Ja'Sir Taylor in the slot more than Samuel because of his ability to stop the run. With J.C. Jackson returning much sooner than expected, Samuel suddenly became the odd man out and was viewed as the CB4 on the roster.

The Chargers even backed this up as Taylor was the starting slot corner with Samuel getting reps in the second team at the very beginning of training camp. It did not take long for that to flip and the battle that surprised everyone wasn't much of a battle in short time.

Samuel has been absolutely stellar in training camp thus far and it is impossible to deny him a spot in the starting 11, even if Jackson is healthy and ready to go in Week 1. Taylor, meanwhile, has struggled a tad in the preseason and it is clear that there are going to be some hiccups in his game.

Even if Taylor was playing well it would not have mattered much as Samuel has been that good. It is worth wondering whether or not there was actually ever a roster battle, or if that was just something manufactured by the Chargers to light a fire under Samuel.