Why the LA Chargers are in prime position to actually make a trade this season
By Jason Reed
2. The LA Chargers have a legitimate hole on the roster
Even if the team is looking to get better, the LA Chargers would not make a trade unless there was an area of the roster that absolutely needed it. A football team can get better simply by making adjustments with the talent that is already in-house. Some weaknesses, though, cannot be fixed just in house.
The run defense is one of those weaknesses for the LA Chargers.
The run defense will get better on paper as the team gets healthier. Not having both Drue Tranquill and Kenneth Murray against Baltimore really hurt. Justin Jones' presence on the defensive line has been missed as well. Jones is not an elite run-stuffer by any means, but he gives the team depth and he is without a doubt better than the practice squad players the Chargers have been rolling out.
That is not enough though and it is crucial that the Chargers fix this weakness. There are several teams in the AFC that could run all over LA in the playoffs with this defense, stopping any deep playoff run before it can get off the ground. Cleveland, Baltimore and Tennessee would all poise massive problems for the Bolts.
Trading for a player is not going to suddenly make the team great against the run but getting the inside linebackers and Jones back as well as adding a legitimate run-stuffing nose tackle could work wonders for the Chargers.
Suddenly, the Chargers run defense goes from unmanageable to manageable, which is all the Bolts really need. The passing defense is good enough and the offense can score with the best of them. Turn one of the worst run defenses in the league to a top-20 run defense and they are fine.
If the LA Chargers were a bad team then it wouldn't make sense to trade draft capital for something inconsequential. The Chargers are a good team, though, and have the assets to make a trade; which gets into our third and final point.