4. What’s the safety rotation?
The Chargers might have the deepest safety room in the league.
And based on how the snap counts played out in Week 4, the Bolts aren’t afraid to deploy all of them.
James, as usual, played every defensive snap against the Giants. Gilman was on the field for 51 of 76 snaps, good for 67 percent of the plays.
Jefferson (51 snaps) and Elijah Molden (49 snaps) essentially split the third safety role as Molden was playing in his first game since Week 1 due to a hamstring injury.
Minter was asked about that rotation on the back end earlier this week.
“It’s really beneficial. I’ve talked about it before, guys that can help you play, that can play well, that are prepared,” Minter said. “One guy playing 70 snaps versus two guys playing maybe equal.”
He later added: “Just guys that can play, earned the right to play and then I think it helps everybody get through a grueling, 17-game season to be able to do that.”
We’ll see how the rotation shapes out this week assuming Molden’s health is improved.
Either way, the Chargers feel just fine with whatever combination they roll out at safety.
“I don’t think it’s much of an adjustment. We’re all ballers and we all can play. We all contribute in our ways,” Gilman said. “We have good chemistry out there so it makes us stronger as a unit.
“We’ve got to lean on that and continue to get better,” Gilman added. “I think it’s a good thing, I think we’re in a good space.”
Jefferson said: “We all work together pretty well. We can all play at the same time and work off each other.”
The Chargers will face one of the league’s best left tackles in Week 5.
Laremy Tunsil is as consistent as they come, something Dupree knows well from their time together in the AFC South.
Tunsil was previously with the Texans, who traded him to the Commanders this offseason. Dupree used to play for the Titans.
“Man, Tunsil is one of those guys who’s going to be a legend,” Dupree said. “Anytime you get the opportunity to go against a guy like that, it’s great.
“You see his skillset and it’s just iron sharpening iron,” Dupree added. “You go out and see if you can make a play on him, it means a little more.”
Entering Week 5, Tunsil ranks fourth in the NFL among tackles with a PFF pass-blocking grade of 87.0.
But that’s nothing new for Tunsil, who has been one of the league’s best players at his position for nearly a decade.
Since 2019, Tunsil has ranked no lower than fourth in PFF pass-block grade in seasons where he’s played double-digit games. That includes a stellar 2022 season in which Tunsil led the league with a 91.7 grade.
“He’s got good patience and good feet. Any lineman with great feet is going to have a chance in this league,” Dupree said. “He’s been around and seen a lot of different moves and different games.”
With Dupree primarily lining up on the right side of the Chargers defense, that means he’ll get the majority of the reps against the five-time Pro Bowler.
On the other side of the defense Tuli Tuipulotu will look for another big game after his 4.0-sack performance against the Giants.
“Beast mode,” Dupree said of Tuipulotu’s Week 4 outing. “He’s trying to be a household name.”
Source link
