Chargers' Secondary: Achilles' heel or ready to succeed?
Here's an article for anyone interested. I like where the author is going with this one. It echoes what I've been thinking going into this year. A talented safety behind our corners will open them up to be more aggressive (and productive), plus a little less job security with Cromartie there will really improve Jammer and Florence's games. I don't know if I'd give them top 5 pass defense, but I'd give them top 10.
Anyway, read on:
Chargers' Secondary: Achilles' heel or ready to succeed?
By Reif Reifsnyder on July 21, 2006 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | RSS
San Diego Chargers
There's an old saying in football - after the game, when reviewing the film, you're never as good as you thought you were, but you're never as bad as you thought you were.
The San Diego Chargers hope the second part of the adage is true for their secondary.
In 2004, the Chargers finished 31st in the league in passing yards allowed, the usual measure for ranking pass defenses.
What you may not know is that, although they had the third best rushing defense that year and finished 12-4, they also only had 29 sacks - good for third worst in the league.
Seeing as the team had two former first and two former second-round draft choices in the secondary, it was logical to conclude that to fix the pass defense, the Chargers needed to fix the pass rush.
So in 2005, they drafted two defensive front seven studs in the first round, Defensive Rookie of the Year Shawne Merriman and defensive end Luis Castillo, and fixed the problem - sort of.
Despite OLB Steve Foley missing several games with an abdominal injury and playing half speed for others, the 2005 Chargers finished with 46 sacks, including Merriman's 10 and underrated pass-rushing specialist Shaun Phillips' seven, good for fifth in the league.
The problem - the defense only moved to 29th in the league in passing, with a paltry 10 interceptions. However, from the "you're not as bad as you thought" camp, the Chargers were 21st in passing yards per attempt and 17th in passing touchdowns allowed. Not great, but better than, well, almost last.
Regardless, and even though some of the poor statistics can be attributed to a brutal '05 schedule (which included seven games against playoff teams), that performance is not going to get it done for a team that feels it's ready to go deep into the 2006 playoffs.
The current offseason brought what are the most significant additions to the Chargers' secondary since the selection of Quentin Jammer fifth overall in the 2002 draft. Of course, I'm referring to unrestricted free agent safety Marlon McCree and first-round draft choice Antonio Cromartie.
Jammer's biggest problem has not been coverage, especially man-to-man. The biggest problem is covering the zone and being fearful of letting a man get deep, because Jammer has not been able to trust that, whomever the Chargers had at free safety, would be able to get over to help. That has led to playing soft, and allowing receivers to make plays in front of him, much to the consternation of long-suffering Bolt fans.
That equation has changed with the addition of McCree.
Although he has bounced around a bit in his career, he is undoubtedly a ball hawk, having snatched five interceptions last year, including two against Eli Manning and the Giants in the 2005 playoffs.
The addition of McCree will allow the Charger corners to play tighter coverage in their zones, since they will have the confidence that veteran has the range and the smarts to get in position over the top.
This will enable Jammer and fellow corner Drayton Florence to make more plays on more balls and generate more interceptions.
The other significant change in the Chargers' secondary has been the trade of first-round bust Sammy Davis to San Francisco (for fellow first-round bust WR Rashaun Woods) and the addition of the athletic but raw Cromartie.
Cromartie is expected to be an immediate upgrade over Davis in the nickel spot, and expects to challenge Florence for a starting job by midseason. Further, Cromartie has already impressed the coaches with his ball skills in camp.
The additions of McCree and Cromartie combined with the rapidly maturing Merriman and a healthy Foley should shore up the pass defense significantly.
Look for a quantum leap in production from the Chargers' secondary which, when combined with one of the top rushing defenses and a friendlier schedule, should lead their total defense to a top five ranking in the league and a playoff berth come January.
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Chargers' Secondary: Achilles' heel or ready to succeed?
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