The Chargers made the decision to not re-sign Rayshawn Jenkins after a promising 2020 season.
The reason could’ve been that the new coaching staff didn’t see Jenkins as a scheme fit, or head coach Brandon Staley was sold after watching Nasir Adderley’s tape.
From Staley’s comments at last Thursday’s media availability, it certainly seems like that was the case.
“He’s our type of safety,” Staley said. “He can see in the deep part of the field. He’s smooth. He’s got a lot of DB traits for us,” Staley said. We really think that he’s a smooth athlete. We think he’s going to be a good fit for how we want to play.”
Adderley struggled in his sophomore season after missing a good chunk of his rookie campaign due to an injury. While he showed some flashes in spurts, he was too inconsistent in the single-high role in defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s system.
Instead of relegating Adderley to the free safety position, Staley believes that he will be able to get the most out of him by utilizing his versatility, where he can be flexed in the slot (Star) and fill a sub-package safety-linebacker hybrid role (Money).
Rather than playing a specific position in the secondary, defensive backs will be moved around quite a bit.
Given the fact that Staley likes to roll with three safeties on the field, the team could be looking to add another one in this year’s draft, considering it’s only Adderley, Derwin James and Alohi Gilman on the roster.
