Good Afternoon Stormcloud! The last group up of these roster reset articles (My apologies to any special teams stans but I can’t make resigning JK Scott interesting enough to justify an entire article) is the Defensive Line which in Jesse Minter’s scheme refers to anyone who lines up with hands in the dirt between 6i and 0 techs. This unit features the most turnover of all positions in terms of snaps which are available due to the outgoings players. The Chargers have made a commitment to changing the make up of this position with some very specific traits in mind. This evaluation will therefore include:

• Returning players who signed a new deal with the team
• External free agents who signed before the May 1st compensation pick exemption deadline
• Players who were added in any of the seven rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft
• Undrafted free agents (UDFA) who signed deals with the team after the draft
• Unsigned players who are listed as camp invites in media reports

Note: If a player has an asterisk after their name (*) this means that they were added during the 2024 season and have been retained

Outgoing players

• Poona Ford
• Morgan Fox
• CJ Okoye
• Jerrod Clark
• Micheal Mason
• Savion Jackson

The new look IDL room

• Incumbent (3): Otito Ogbonnia, Justin Eboigbe, Scott Matlock,
• Returning (2): Teair Tart*, Christopher Hinton
• Free Agents (2): Naquan Jones, Da’Shawn Hand
• Draft (1): Jamaree Caldwell
• UDFA (2): TeRah Edwards, Josh Fuga

Returning

The decision to bring back Teair Tart was an easy one that would have only been prohibited if another team blew through his reasonable contract ceiling. That unfortunately happened for Poona Ford and I think the Chargers will consider it lucky that the same situation didn’t play out for Tart. To lose them both would have been borderline disastrous as they ascended throughout the 2024 season to be the bonafide starters and as much as others were rotated in, it was more for relief than for tactical upgrades. In Jesse Minter’s minicamp media availability on June 11th he talked about how his idea for interior rotation between four players turned into a starting pair with relief in behind due to how impressive their play was on early downs. They allowed the Chargers play with lighter personnel with their abilities against the run as the example play below illustrates how they gave the linebackers a two on one with the center.

Tart earned his way into that position after being brought in for competition between the first and second preseason game last August. He immediately showed that he was a level about the reserves he was playing with and he didn’t slow down at all. I was amongst the analysts calling for him to have more snaps every single game until he was finally given the full time spot opposite Poona Ford in Week 9. His barefaced statistics were decent with 18 pressures, 14 run stops, 22 tackles and 1 sack however he was a lot more impactful than that as Nate Tice’s insightful article titled ‘NFL’s low-key MVPs: 4 players in the middle of the field who add tons of hidden value like Frank Ragnow‘ highlights:

The Chargers gave up 5.2 yards per rush with Tart off the field, which would rank 31st league-wide, and 3.9 yards per rush with him on the field, which would be tied for second. Their rushing success rate also dropped from first with him on the field to 19th with him off it. The Chargers allowed a paltry 32.1% success rate against early-down runs last season with Tart on the field. (Think about that: two out of three first- and second-down runs with Tart on the field would put the offense behind the chains.) Explosive rush rate allowed? Ninth with Tart on the field, 20th with him off. EPA allowed per run? Minus-0.07 without Tart, minus-0.20 with him. Which, again, would rank first just above the Broncos.

Christopher Hinton remains with the team for a fourth season despite only appearing in eight games and not seeing the field at all last year. He has survived into his second regime which would usually come with an element of surprise however Coach Harbaugh has a pre-existing relationship after convincing him to come to Michigan as a 5-star recruit all the way from Georgia. His time in Ann Arbor was underwhelming compared to the hype in came in with but he did managed to have a good enough senior season to be offered a UDFA contract by the Giants in 2022.

Hinton became a full-time starter during the 2021 season, setting a new career high in tackles with 33 to go with 1.5 tackles for loss, another sack, two more pass breakups, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. He was later named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honoree.

From Bolts From The Blue’s player profile of Hinton

Hinton failed to break through the ranks in New York, or at his short stops in Miami and Atlanta but he finally found his opportunity in Los Angeles in November as part of Brandon Staley’s defensive line rotations. I personally have not seen any flashes from Hinton that would persuade me that he is worthy of a roster spot where so many others have been given a shorter window in which to prove themselves. He was one of my lowest graded preseason players from last summer therefore I can only draw the conclusion that his long-standing relationships with Jim Harbaugh and Mike Elston mean he gets a longer leash than most practice squad players are usually afforded. He might be a scout team asset or a high character player but whatever it is does not translate to solid tape.

Free Agents

Naquan Jones announced himself to the Chargers when he sacked Justin Herbert on his way to his most productive game as a pass rusher of his young career in Week 8’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He dismantled Trey Pipkins’ poor attempt of a block with a laughable ease although it should be questioned as to how much of a marker for success that is. Jones had an inconsistent path to that point having been hovering between the roster and practice squad for both the Tennessee Titans and Cardinals since he came into the league in 2022. His 1 year $1.835 million contract may seem like he would push him into starting contention however with only $250,000 guaranteed he could sit anywhere between being a starter and being an end of summer cut.

Last season Jones played as the third interior defensive lineman who came on whenever the Cardinals lined up in an odd front, which Jonathan Gannon deployed ranging between 15 and 30 times a game. I see his use being similar in Jesse Minter’s scheme at least early in the season although that’s not to say he can’t play in an even front as he has the size to be a decent DT if he can develop his technique when meeting double teams.

Naquan is primarily a run stopper where he wins with consistent effort, violent hands and decent strength however his ceiling is lower than you’d want it to be due to his limited athletic ability. That said he is a lot faster than his testing numbers showed coming out of Michigan State, you can see this when he makes tackles a long way downfield after chasing the play in a display of his impressive motor. I see this high effort trait as necessary on a team that has a few players along the front that have struggled to finish plays. Jones also flashed as a pass rusher with a mean club move that gets quick pressures up the middle of the formation.

Da’Shawn Hand was the number one high school recruit in the nation in 2014, earning that ranking over the phenom Myles Garrett. He looked like he was on track to turn that promise into reality after a sensational rookie season as a Detroit Lion coming out of Alabama as a 4th round pick in 2018. However his play regressed to the mean as the reality of combative sports set in; a series of unfortunate injuries threw off the defensive lineman’s ability to build on the foundation of his early promise. Over the course of his four year rookie contract he missed more games (30) than he played (29) with a myriad of issues including ankle, groin, and elbow injuries. This rotten luck continued into his time at the Tennessee Titans, who took a chance on his talent, as he tore his quadriceps muscle on the second snap of the 2022 season, forcing him to placed on Injured Reserve for the sixth time in his five seasons.

“Unfortunate situations. I can’t help that I got hurt the years I got hurt, I kept a strong mind-set and I’m here now, still. A lot of people that had my injuries don’t come back, or don’t come back the same. Can’t play, can’t walk. My mind-set got me through it. I kept my head down and had a positive attitude.”

Da’Shawn Hand opening up about his torrid injury luck

Fortunately Da’Shawn found some footing when he landed in Miami and in 2023 he was able to claw his way from the practice squad to play 16 games. Whilst his use was sporadic, he earned his highest PFF grades of his career including a three game stretch to end the season against the Ravens, Bills and Chiefs where he averaged 83.8. Last season he finally returned to being a full time starter where he played 564 snaps, the most of his career, and had a career year against the run where he had 31 tackles, 17 run stops and 6 TFLs. I watched some of this tape from that season and you can see signs that the player of old is back and, despite his storied career, Hand is still only 29 years old so there’s plenty of scope left to improve especially at a position where peaks tend to happen much later on.

Da’Shawn is a well rounded defensive lineman that played all along the interior in Anthony Weaver’s 3-4 front last season. He aligned all the way from a 1t by the center to a 6t opposite a tight end, this shows a versatility in both athletic skills and a deep knowledge of the playbook. Hand is a linear player who prefers to use his balanced athleticism to attack the shortest path to the ball whether that is through a lineman’s chest or by shooting the gap. Minter and his staff were looking for an upgrade of Morgan Fox and Hand is most certainly that if you’re looking at a consistent presence no matter what the offense is drawing up. Hand is 35 lbs heavier meaning he is able to play early down snaps against the run yet he is just as a quick as his predecessor on pass rush snaps. Da’Shawn has his limitations of course, he has almost no pass rush moves and he can get stuck at the top of blocks against bigger lineman however his relentless energy, likely fueled by his injury battles, means he wins a lot more of these fights than he loses.

It seems to me that the Chargers’ front office have made the right bet at the right time once again as Hand looks primed to return to the levels of his earlier potential, it will be a matter of staying healthy and continuing to ascend towards being a three down player again. I project Hand to start alongside Tart with Teair likely sliding into the DT role and Hand being the primary DE. Da’Shawn’s contract backs this up, his one year deal is worth up to $3,350,000 and he has $1,925,000 of that guaranteed which is significantly more than the other additions will be earning this year.

Draft

I have been unreserved in my praise of the Chargers’ 2025 draft class and Jamaree Caldwell is a big part of my reasons for that. He was my favorite defensive pick and although I was high on him at the time, he has only climbed even further since I went deep into his film. I have broken down three full games of his tape (watch this space) and it is astounding to me how the Chargers’ third round selection was a surprise to so many of the nation’s draft analysts who watched that Oregon defensive front many times over the course of their 13-1 season. I graded Jamaree as having a positive impact on the play on 28.5% across those three games which, for a nose tackle, is absurdly high and to be clear that’s a play where Caldwell went above expectations, not where he simply did his job. For additional context, I had a negative grade on just 3.5% across those same games which were all against teams that finished in the Final 8 of the CFB playoffs.

Caldwell may have been a key part of the Ducks’ run defense but he is far more than the gap filler type many have portrayed him as. Despite his huge size he is very light on his feet and is somehow able to get skinny through gaps that look closed. He pries them open with brute force by burrowing his way through in an unceasing manner that renders half man or zone blocking schemes perilous to deploy against him. Jamaree plays gap-sound cohesive defense too, he doesn’t cheat gaps and it allows his second level players to flow over the top of him in a way that has earned him some big fans in Oregon’s linebacker room.

“Jamaree Caldwell. Big boy on my defensive line. I think he’s a guy who always doing his job. Always taking on double teams. Always in the right place at the right time.” – Jeffrey Bassa

“Our guys up front, especially the D-line, make my job really easy, Jamaree Caldwell, Derrick Harmon… endless dudes up front that just eat up double teams and make those gaps easy for me to run through. Shout-out to the D-line for making my job easy.” – Bryce Boettcher

Oregon’s starting linebackers both touted Jamaree Caldwell as a player who deserves more recognition ahead of the Rose Bowl in 2024

This selfishness doesn’t end there either. His ability to collapse the center of the pocket allowed for his fellow pass rushers to pin their ears back to go hunting knowing the quarterback would struggle to stay in the pocket for too long. Derrick Harmon (21st overall), Jordan Burch (78th overall) and projected 2026 first round pick Matayo Uiagalelei (brother of the Chargers’ own DJ) collated 25 sacks between them in 2024 and you can of course attribute those achievements to their own talent but it would have been a lot harder without their unselfish linchpin in the middle. This style of cohesive front play in turn allowed Dan Lanning’s defense to play Quarters on the back end at a very high rate which resulted in them finishing 16th in the CFB for total defense despite playing a passive and reactive style that allowed their offense to win them games.

There are clear reasons why Jamaree wasn’t taken earlier though, the main one is that he really struggles to finish plays, his tackling is substandard and he does not have the athletic ability to match last second adjustments by quarterbacks escaping pressure. This is because he plays too high and it means he isn’t able to break down which is compounded by the momentum he carries as a quick big man. As I highlighted in my Outside Linebackers’ roster reset, the Chargers targeted guys who can finish plays off the edge so this negates some of the concerns with Caldwell.

UDFA

TeRah Edwards spent the past three seasons as an Illinois Fighting Illini after transferring from Northwestern where he wasn’t getting the playing time he thinks he deserved. He repaid the staff for their faith in him with an impressive senior season as he had 32 tackles, 24 pressures, 16 run stops and 3 sacks. On the face of things his pass rush numbers are impressive, to have a 7.2% pressure rate as a nose tackle in an odd front is outstanding. The fact that he didn’t play third downs would normally be even more impressive but playing alongside future top 50 pick Gabe Jacas probably evens that out.

There are some excellent flashes when TeRah gets it right as the clips above demonstrate but his tape overall is quite flat. He doesn’t lose ground but he usually doesn’t make any either. Against the run Edwards used his strength and showed an impressive ability to bend and split double teams but his best asset is that he understands how to play with leverage as he plays low and drives upwards despite his big size. This allows him to hold up against combo blocks which could get him on the field as a nose tackle should the team move on from some of the incumbent players. The Chargers will need to turn those flashes into more frequent wins over the course of July and August to make the roster in September but he faces a steep climb with the depth in front of him.

Josh Fuga played alongside fellow 2025 classman Aeneas Peebles in the middle of Virginia Tech’s defensive front. Fuga played as part of a heavy rotation between the three interior spots but his best play came in an even front when he had a single gap responsibility over being asked to play a gap-and-a-half or two gaps. Fuga has a sudden and heavy two handed punch that he pairs with his low stance to shock lineman back into their anchor. This sets him up well to beat slower guards and works very nicely to hold up to double teams so his presence in the run game is well felt.

Unfortunately when it comes to pass rushing, his initial shock is where the play often ends with Fuga as he has very little else in his bag. It was surprising to me that the Hokies kept him on the field for third down. Josh was also guilty of collapsing his lead arm and shoulder charging which is a big tell that someone is technically underdeveloped. Even though both Fuga and Edwards are being paid the same UDFA contract I see TeRah’s path to the roster as being slightly more feasible as his flashes were more explosive but for either one to make the final 53 would be very surprising to me as the competition for this position group will be fierce.

Reasons for change

In the contemporary landscape of two high safety looks with nickel personnel as the base there is one overarching truth about defending the run effectively on early downs: you need to be big along the line. Any defensive coordinator without this element of size will need to sacrifice other elements of his scheme in order to operate an effective run defense; that could be playing with a bigger apex player like a Will linebacker or being less aggressive on their early down blitz calls, either way it pushes you away from your core principles. That is where Jesse Minter found himself last season because as much as Teair and Poona were able to play above their size, they couldn’t take on double teams for 20 snaps a game whilst maintaining their explosiveness on passing downs.

This meant relying on the depth and it just was not good enough. Fox took a step back and is 25 lbs undersized, Eboigbe was too far away from NFL speed and Matlock was an offensive player. The lack of size from the bench is why Otito Ogbonnia played so many snaps for the Bolts last season even though he added very little in terms of pass rush. The defense needed someone who could hold up to Duo and Inside Zone blocks even if it came at the expense of being flat with no ability to collapse the pocket due to the imbalance that could spring any quarter back with the pocket presence to see the opening. Jesse Minter negated this impact with his incredible ability to make small changes in order to play gap sound run defense despite being short on numbers.

However these smart adjustments came at the expense of being able to play aggressively and whilst that’s not always what Minter wants to do, it’s never a good thing to have options taken away from your repertoire to leave you with a narrow game plan. So when Minter sent his shopping list of traits to Joe Hortiz’s team, I’m confident in saying that size was close to the top of it. The smallest player the Bolts added was 6′ 3″ and 300 lbs and a consistent theme of strength is present in all the new additions. There are no more Morgan Fox types to be seen. This highlights the likely philosophical transition from coverage first principles to an attack minded scheme where Minter can trust his secondary to hold up after their excellent play last season.

Positional Reset Evaluation

This is the first position I think has taken a definite step back, even if I like and understand the direction the coaching staff are going for. Poona Ford was a fire hydrant in the middle of the defense last season, that elite level of play more than earned the 3 year $27,600,000 contract he got from the Los Angeles Rams. It is a shame to see an important player walk away after he resurrected his career in powder blue but the front office clearly had a cost ceiling and it’s respectable to see them stick to it. The exact reasons that Joe Hortiz and Ed McGuire refused to match that offer are unknown (I think it was the length of the deal) however once it was clear that the team weren’t willing to match it, the plan for how to replace Poona was enacted.

This offseason, the Chargers had more cap space to work with, and instead of breaking the bank for top-of-the-market players, they focused on dart throws. One player out in a position group, two players in. Two players out, three players in. No players out, still more players in.

Daniel Popper, The Athletic, describing the Chargers’ Dart Throw approach to the off-season

The kind of impact that #95 provided would have been be very hard to replace in a like-for-like player especially with the market for interior defensive lineman absolutely exploding, therefore the ‘Moneyball’ philosophy that Hortiz has utilized on the defense this season was opted for in attempting to replace Poona Ford in the aggregate. As much as I am disappointed that the Chargers were not able to retain Ford, I am excited about the group they have brought in with the money they saved by letting him go. The Chargers acquired Da’Shawn Hand, Naquan Jones and Jamaree Caldwell for only $625,000 more than Ford’s cap hit for 2025.

The off-season strategy for the defense has been one of adding depth to raise the floor for the output which to me, is a smart way to keep a defense that over performed from regressing too far to the mean. There is also another factor to consider; above average players and league leading defensive coordinators will both get poached from winning teams, as is the nature of the league. If the Chargers only commit to short term deals for ascending or resurging players, then they’ll be able to negate the long term issues you get with chasing stars that could leave the team short once they reach the top.  This is a young position group with no player over 30 years old and 7 of the 10 players still on their rookie contracts, there is plenty of future redundancy built into that group which creates a sustainable stream.

“Maybe there’s more total capable guys now than we had at this time last year, and let it all shake out. That’s kind of how I feel about the D-line.”

Jesse Minter

This strategic approach also speaks to Joe Hortiz’s beloved comp picks; if you’re not chasing top tier contract players at a position where the market has blown up, then you save double the money when you can find a starter that’s hitting free agency the following spring. If they go on to earn a big deal elsewhere and you already have a succession plan in place a year early then this is how you stay competitive financially. This progressive mentality allows teams to stay agile despite having a set of star players at key positions who need to be paid their worth. This may sound overly simplified but the majority of the league haven’t got the patience or foresight to set up their teams in this very specific manner to reap the rewards. This is how consistently successful franchises are built. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of comparing how this forward thinking, pragmatic front office compares to the passively reactive one we had in place for over a decade.

So there it is, 27000 words assessing all 11 positional groups which saw some level of change. My overall assessment of the Chargers’ off-season will be rolled into my season predictions later this summer. I’ll be continuing to write all through the summer break so if you have anything you’d like to see us dive into then please let us know.

In the meantime, Bolt Up!