The Los Angeles Chargers cornerbacks corps did not experience a whole lot of change in the 2023 offseason \u2013 the main difference is that starting slot cornerback Bryce Callahan was not re-signed. However, he remains a free agent, so a reunion remains possible. There are already some solid players in place, but they are depending on a couple of players who are wildcards (for very different reasons) to help the unit become truly dominant.<\/p>\n
Asante Samuel Jr had a solid sophomore season after starting strong in his rookie year but being bogged down by concussions. He\u2019s not a top cornerback at this stage by any means, but he\u2019s still fairly young and there\u2019s still time for him to reach his ceiling.<\/p>\n
Michael Davis started the season towards the bottom of the depth chart but finished the season leading the team in passes defensed (15). He may not be a game-changer, but he has been consistently solid for the Chargers over the years and was quite arguably the most reliable cornerback on the team last year for the team. Depending on the status of J.C. Jackson, either Davis or Samuel Jr may end up a rotational player again, but both of them are starting-caliber.<\/p>\n
It may be hard to believe that J.C. Jackson is in this category, given his years with the New England Patriots. But the fact is, there are so many question marks surrounding Jackson in 2023. Basically, everything that could go wrong did go wrong for him in 2022 \u2013 he had surgery to remove an extra bone in his foot, took longer than expected to recover, played horribly seemingly due to being in a defensive scheme mismatch (though the surgery recovery may have played a role, even though he should have recovered by then), and got benched<\/a>. Then he finally started to look like himself \u2013 and in that same game had a catastrophic season-ending injury.<\/p>\n The injury that Jackson suffered \u2013 patellar tendon rupture \u2013 has been known to be career-altering. Allegedly he is progressing and healing well, but it is a big crapshoot as to whether he\u2019ll be anything like his old self. It\u2019s not even known if he\u2019ll be ready by Week 1. And even if he does <\/i>recover such that the injury doesn\u2019t affect his career going forward, it\u2019s still a (smaller) question mark as to whether he will play up to expectations, given how he was playing most of the 2022 season before he got hurt.<\/p>\n The best-case scenario here is that Jackson recovers fully, returns to his old self, and becomes a candidate for Comeback Player of the Year. The worst-case scenario is that he is a complete liability and his career ends prematurely. After his disastrous 2022 season, the Chargers would probably be happy if the result even turned out to just be \u201csomewhere in the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n Ja\u2019Sir Taylor started a couple of games for the Chargers when Bryce Callahan got banged up. He was surprisingly effective despite being a late-round rookie, contributing to the Chargers defense\u2019s shutdown of the Miami Dolphins offense in Week 14.<\/p>\n Unless Callahan is brought back, Taylor will almost certainly end up being the starter at slot cornerback. What we\u2019ve seen looks promising so far, but the question will be if he can be consistently good as a full-time starter \u2013 and progress further in his sophomore year. At the moment there isn\u2019t really another alternative besides putting Samuel Jr there \u2013 and that only works if Jackson and Davis are both playing outside corner.<\/p>\n After the previous four, it\u2019s pretty much a battle for depth\/backup spots \u2013 as well as roster spots. Kemon Hall and Deane Leonard are the main returning players from last year in that capacity, and neither of them saw much time, so we don\u2019t know much of what they\u2019re capable of. There will be plenty of competition for their spots, though \u2013 including returning practice squad guy Michael Jacquet from last year, and three undrafted free agents to go with that.<\/p>\nThe Other Wild Card: Ja\u2019Sir Taylor<\/h3>\n
The Rest: Kemon Hall, Deane Leonard, Cameron Brown, Michael Jacquet, Tiawan Mullen, AJ Uzodinma<\/h3>\n