No. 3: An Improved Chargers Offensive Line

The Chargers’ offensive line wasn’t particularly good last year. Pro Football Focus ranked this unit 24th in the league, which isn’t a surprise after considering former L.A. linemen Kenny Wiggins and Spencer Pulley allowed the most pressures among all guards and centers, respectively, in 2017.

Wiggins is gone now, and Pulley has been relegated to a backup role.

Now, L.A. is going to rely heavily on younger interior protection, namely in guards Dan Feeney and Forrest Lamp, who missed his rookie season with a torn ACL.

Both should be viewed as upgrades. If anything, it can’t get much worse than it was with Wiggins and Pulley at the interior.

PFF did, however, keep the Chargers’ O-line relatively low, only bumping it up one spot from the ranking this unit had to close out last year.

Philip Rivers was pressured 222 times last year, according to PFF, which was tied for fourth most in the league among quarterbacks. Yet when facing that pressure, he still managed to post an 80.7 passer rating — the highest out of all QBs under pressure 200 times or more last season.

Judging off this, Rivers isn’t the kind of quarterback completely handicapped by a lack of protection up front. And since L.A.’s O-line should be better, so should Rivers’ numbers here.

Next Page: No. 2