Chargers Daily Links: Could failing to address the edge come back to bite the Bolts?

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As good as an offseason teams can have, no single club will be able to look back on the past four or five months and say there wasn’t one thing they could have done better on. No team can be perfect during an offseason. There has to be some give and take. Pros and cons.

In a article by Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport, the NFL writer listed the riskiest move made by each team during the offseason thus far and when it comes to the Chargers, Davenport believes their decision to not address the edge spot opposite Joey Bosa may come back to bite them in the end.

“The Chargers possess one of the best edge-rushers in the league in Joey Bosa, but after nine seasons and 49 sacks, the Bolts didn’t make any real effort to re-up batterymate Melvin Ingram III,” says Davenport. “That moves fourth-year veteran Uchenna Nwosu into the starting lineup opposite Bosa.”

“The 24-year-old Nwosu is coming off the best season of his career, but that high-water mark was still just 4.5 sacks. If Nwosu can’t produce with at least some consistency off the edge, Bosa is going to be the constant victim of double-teams.”

“And if the Bolts can’t get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, Los Angeles is going to have a hard time finishing in the top 10 in pass defense for a fifth straight season.”

I understand that some on the outside may not think Nwosu is the answer to replace Ingram, but those who follow this team closely know just how talented the fourth-year pro is when he’s given the chance.

Yes, his career-high is 4.5 sacks, but he did that last year in minimal snaps when Gus Bradley decided to throw Isaac Rochell and Jerry Tillery on the edge instead of Nwosu. That move may have made sense due to the team running a 4-3 front, but Nwosu’s skillset is a much better fit as an edge rusher in the team’s new 3-4 base defense. This is where he can thrive. He was inherently limited in Bradley’s defense and we should all be celebrating the fact that’s no longer the case.

And now for today’s links.

Chargers News:

10 Insights with the Chargers running back room (Chargers.com)

Projecting the Chargers’ tight end depth chart (Chargers Wire)

Three 2021 contests with interesting storylines (Bolt Beat)

What are the team’s biggest under-the-radar additions this offseason? (L.A. FB Network)

NFL News:

The Jets are signing OT Morgan Moses (ESPN)

The Steelers replaced David DeCastro with Trai Turner (ESPN)

Ranking the NFL’s top-10 linebackers (CBS Sports)

Harrison Smith hopes to remain in Minnesota for the rest of his career (NFL.com)

The nine teams most-likely to win their first Super Bowl (NFL.com)

Tom Brady knows his career is coming to an end (Pro Football Talk)