3 former Chargers who thrived on other teams in 2022

3. Uchenna Nwosu

Uchenna Nwosu did not get a chance to fully start as an edge rusher with the LA Chargers until his fourth year in the league. Melvin Ingram was blocking Nwosu for the first three years of his career, where he served as a special teams player and then a rotational edge rusher.

Nwosu's first season starting wasn't amazing for the Chargers but it was not terrible, either. There was definitely potential there in Nwosu's game as it was clear that he was only scratching the surface on his potential.

It was also clear that the Chargers likely were not going to bring him back as he was going to get a pay increase as a free agent. Those suspicions were confirmed when the team traded a second and sixth-round pick for Khalil Mack, ending Nwosu's Chargers career right then and there.

That was the best thing that could have happened to Nwosu as he went to the Seattle Seahawks and put together a career year. The former USC Trojan recorded 9.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss while playing in all 17 games for Seattle.

According to Pro Football Focus, Nwosu finished with 61 quarterback pressures in 429 pass-rush snaps. Khalil Mack, meanwhile, finished with 56 total pressures in 474 pass-rushing snaps.

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Mack did not have much help with the interior defensive line having very little pass-rushing ability and Joey Bosa missing most of the year. He is also a better run defender than Nwosu. That being said, it is fair to wonder if it would have been better in the long run to keep the draft picks traded for Mack, re-signed Nwosu, and used the extra cap space to avoid being in such a big hole this offseason.