At the time of this being posted, the 2025 Los Angeles Chargers will officially be in their first regular season game week of what will be the second year of the duo of Head Coach Jim Harbaugh and General Manager Joe Horitz. Just as importantly, it is future head coach candidate and current Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s sophomore season with the Bolts, and his success is predicated on the back end of this defense!

[For the previous editions of the Chargers' season preview, check out Part 1 (Skill Positions) and Part 2 (The Trenches).]

Linebacker Core

The Chargers' linebackers are essentially Daiyan Henley and Friends. The groups includes long-time vet and fan-favorite Denzel Perryman (a close friend of Justin Herbert), Troy Dye (whose main role has beenon Ryan Ficken’s special teams unit), Del’Shawn Phillps (who played only 28 snaps for Demeco Ryan’s Texans last year), and UDFA darling Marlowe Wax. Wax made the 53 after a preseason where he played 68 special teams snaps and had the eighth-highest defensive grade of all Chargers players in the preseason: a 79.7 grade.

Junior Colson, the former Michigan Wolverine who was hoping to put together a strong sophomore season where he made a run at the second linebacker spot alongside Daiyan Henley, was forced onto season-ending IR with a shoulder injury after a rough preseason. This was an act of roster gymnastics meant to give the Chargers a way to retain Colson while also giving a well-deserved spot on the 53 to Marlowe.

The crown jewel of this room is the aforementioned Henley. Henley was one of the brightest spots on the Chargers defense last year, giving the Chargers the perfect chess piece to operate alongside All-Pro Derwin James in various blitzes and utilizing Henley’s versatility as a cover guy as well. The Ranger is poised to follow up a stellar 2024 campaign with an even better 2025 in his second year as the Chargers' defensive signal caller and first year as a captain.

Cornerback Room

The Chargers' cornerbacks are easily one of the most intriguing groups on the field, headlined by two rookies that took over the room in Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart. Still is in all likelihood the best of the entire room and is likely going to bounce inside and outside throughout the season, while Hart and his 6'2" frame projects as one of the most physical corners in the NFL as well as one of the best run defenders at the corner position.

The Chargers replaced Kristian Fulton, now with the Kansas City Chiefs, with Donte Jackson, who the Chargers are hoping is a bounce-back candidate similar to Fulton. Jackson had a rough (putting it kindly) 2024 campaign in Pittsburgh posting a 46.3 coverage grade, but still posting five interceptions, which is impressive nonetheless. The fourth of the “four starters” that Jesse Minter has named is free agent pick-up Benjamin St-Juste, whose most notable play was being beaten vertically in off coverage by none other than 2024 Mike Williams, and had a 46.8 coverage grade (191st out of 222 qualified corners). So … yeah.

This room has plenty of high-ceiling guys at the bottom of the depth chart with Nikko Reed and the currently injured Eric Rodgers, who both enjoyed some of the best preseasons in recent Chargers history and earned their spots on the roster, as well as special teams standout Ja’Sir Taylor who despite his struggles actually playing the cornerback position, earns his way on the 53 man roster due to his versatility and special teams proficiency.

Special Teams

Ficken’s special teams unit has been a revelation for a franchise that was historically bad in the often-forgotten third side of the ball. In 2022 and 2023, the Chargers posted the sixth- and fifth-highest DVOA (a stat that measures how above- or below-average a unit is as a whole) in the NFL. This crew was bolstered by performances by aces like Nick Neimann (now of the Green Bay Packers after a surprising cut for Houston), Ja’Sir Taylor, Deane Leonard, and many more depth pieces.

Ficken's track record is why he is able to lobby for certain guys to have a roster spot like Ja’Sir Taylor, despite the ire of Chargers Twitter. As far as the field goal unit, Cameron Dicker is one of the elite kickers in the NFL; this also used to be a foreign concept to Chargers fans as a whole. JK Scott returns as the punter, who had a strong season and graded out as the fourth-highest ranked punter according to PFF. The only question mark as of this moment is long snapper Josh Harris–the highest-rated long snapper in Madden 26!–who was injured in the preseason finale. Thie led to the acquisition of 2024 Super Bowl Champion Rick Lovato to put a Band-Aid on that issue until Harris is deemed healthy enough to take his rightful spot on his long snapping throne.

That’ll do it! The 2025 Los Angeles Chargers kick off their run at the AFC West crown by going straight for the kings of the Conference, as they take on the Chiefs in Brazil live on YouTube on September 5.