The Los Angeles Chargers safeties are one of the team’s few position groups that did not change much this off-season. The starters are still clearly the same. The team’s administrative and coaching changes are the main things that affect said starters this year. Most of the remaining questions around the Chargers safeties center around the backups and, if they play any formations with three safeties, who that extra safety would be.
2024 Los Angeles Chargers Safeties Preview
Derwin James
Derwin James is one of the very best players on the Chargers and has all gone All-Pro three out of six years with the team. With that said, even he suffered a little at times from the shortcomings of Brandon Staley’s defense. He is capable of playing all over the place in the defensive backfield, and has done so successfully before. But Gus Bradley seemed to utilize him a little better than Staley did. Even so, even Staley couldn’t keep a guy like James down entirely.
James will be a centerpiece of the Chargers defense no matter what, but the prospect of him being utilized possibly even better under Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter is undeniably an exciting one. If the Chargers return to being a top-16 defense as opposed to the bottom-10 that they were under Staley, James will almost certainly be part of the reason why.
Alohi Gilman
Alohi Gilman was one of the few random fliers of the Tom Telesco era that Brandon Staley went all in on that actually worked out. Brought in slowly over time, he grew into one of the better defensive players on the Chargers last year – to the point where it could be argued he should have been considered for the Pro Bowl. The fact that he stood out as much as he did—on a Staley defense that seemingly caused multiple players to regress or underwhelm—bodes quite well for him.
While the Chargers may have a lot of questions at cornerback, they have no such questions at safety – at least at the starting positions, anyway. They have a quite solid tandem back there, and they will be critical to the success of the Chargers secondary this year – and probably the defense in general.
JT Woods
Speaking of random fliers from the Telesco era, Woods is another one of those – and he has not panned out as well at all. Staley envisioned him as being a possible candidate to play that third safety role – or the “Star” role,” as it’s known – but that never worked. Through two years, Woods only has eight total tackles and no other stats. Granted, he spent most of 2023 on the reserve/non-football illness list, but whenever he did appear, he did not look good. Barring a turnaround, he could easily be on the way out when roster cuts come.
AJ Finley
Finley was an undrafted free agent from last year that managed to make the final roster. We did not see much of him on the defense – most of his role was on special teams. He did fairly well in that capacity, getting a forced fumble late in the season. If Ryan Ficken has any say in the matter, Finley might be able to stick around just for his special teams ability, but it’d surely help if he showed some prowess in the secondary too.
Tony Jefferson
Tony Jefferson is an interesting later-offseason signing by the Chargers. He was once a fine starter for the Cardinals and Ravens – but has not played in a notable capacity in years. He spent 2020 out of football – then played in 2021 for the Ravens and 49ers at different times, playing a total of six games and starting none of them. In 2022 he was with the Giants, but did not do a lot with them either, and then retired in 2023.
Given that he has not shown much in years, one has to wonder what the Chargers expect from him. Clearly, he’s going to be a backup, but whether he will have much of a role – such as that “third safety” role, if the Chargers deploy it – or if he’s just a veteran presence, remains to be seen. If he could return to something resembling his old form, he could be a valuable piece, but given his recent history, that should not be counted on.
Everyone Else
The remaining safeties are all undrafted free agent rookies – Akeem Dent, Thomas Harper, and Jalyn Phillips. The race for the backup safety positions is open enough that we could reasonably see someone steal a spot, but so far no one is really standing out yet. They still have a little over a month to show something, though. (Note that Akeem Dent did recently get drafted to the Michigan Panthers of the USFL, so it may be a moot point in his case anyway.)
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
