The Super Bowl is over and that means the NFL off-season is in full swing. The San Diego Chargers had a very rough 2015 season. They suffered a lot of injuries and are hoping for a better 2016 season. The Chargers have the third pick in the 2016 draft after finishing with a 4-12 record, good enough for fourth in the AFC West. San Diego has almost $32 million in cap space to work with. They have some notable free agents this off-season, including their main two tight ends Antonio Gates and Ladarius Green, and Eric Weddle who had a falling out with the Chargers front office.
San Diego Chargers 2016 Off-Season: Top 3 Needs
Defensive Back
San Diego had a falling out with their free safety, Eric Weddle. It is highly likely that Weddle will not be back for the Chargers. Cornerback Brandon Flowers is 30 and looks washed up and the team gave up on Jimmy Wilson, who was signed last free agency. The Chargers were 14th in passing defense, giving up an average of 237 yards per game.
With nearly $32 million in cap space to work with, San Diego can compete pretty well in free agency if they want to. It is possible that San Diego might go for Sean Smith if the Chiefs don’t lock him down or Trumaine Johnson or Janoris Jenkins of the Los Angeles Rams. These players are considered to be some of the top free agent corners. Safety might be a little harder to come by in free agency since the best safety in free agency right now could easily be Weddle. The Chargers might look more to the draft for safety help.
Defensive Line
San Diego ranked 27th in the NFL at stopping the run and did not put a whole lot of pressure on the quarterback this year. They need to step this up so that their defense isn’t always on the field and so that the secondary gets some help. They need to be able to put pressure on the quarterback in 2016 and beyond.
This is a position that the Chargers would have to spend a lot of money on in the free agency market if they want to fill it by those means. There are some big names that could possibly be hitting the free agency market that the Chargers could look at. Defensive end Malik Jackson and defensive end Olivier Vernon might both be headed to free agency because their teams have other priorities. This 2016 NFL draft also has some young talent that they could fill the need with, especially in the first round.
Offensive Line
The Chargers have a very good quarterback in Phillip Rivers, but quarterbacks can only do so well when they constantly feel pressure. The first key is for the linemen to stay healthy. Right guard D.J. Fluker, left guard Orlando Franklin and left tackle King Dunlap all missed significant playing time in 2015. Center Trevor Robinson was ranked 40th by Pro Football Focus. In a league with only 32 teams, this is not something that you want to see from a starter. Right tackle Joe Barksdale’s contract is up so it will be interesting to see what the Chargers do about that.
The Chargers can look towards free agency and the draft to boost their offensive line. The Chargers had one of the worst offensive lines in 2015 (ranked at 28th by Pro Football Focus overall), so it is key for them to get all of their offensive linemen back fully healthy. To top it off, they had some penalty troubles as well. With the Broncos and Chiefs having very solid defenses, the last thing you want to do is become one-dimensional against either one of those units.
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