Los Angeles Chargers 2025 Profile
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh
Offensive Coordinator: Greg Roman
Defensive Coordinator: Jesse Minter
Special Teams Coordinator: Ryan Ficken
2024 Summary (W-L Record: 11-6)
24, 21, and 29. Those are the rankings of the Chargers scoring defense from 2021-23. A change in course was clearly needed.
It appears that L.A. is now moving in the right direction after hiring Jim Harbaugh, because he promptly brought in Jesse Minter to be the defensive coordinator, and Minter turned the Chargers into the top scoring defense in the NFL in his first year:
2024 was a huge turnaround for the entire Chargers organization. Most importantly, quarterback Justin Herbert finished with the best passer rating of his career. He threw just 3 interceptions all season, allowing the Chargers to stay close in just about every game.
Unfortunately, it all ended in a surprise 32-12 loss to the Texans in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Herbert fired 4 interceptions (one more than he did all season), and L.A. had no answer for Houston’s pass rush.
Despite the poor finish, the key elements of this team all look to be in place, and the organization appears to be on the upswing.
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Key Additions
RB Omarion Hampton (1st Rd, 22nd Overall)
RB Najee Harris
WR Tre Harris (2nd Rd, 55th Overall)
WR Keenan Allen
WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (5th Rd, 158th Overall)
TE Tyler Conklin
TE Oronde Gadsden (5th Rd, 165th Overall)
RG Mekhi Becton
C Andre James
DL Da’Shawn Hand
DL Jamaree Caldwell (3rd Rd, 86th Overall)
DL Naquan Jones
EDGE Kyle Kennard (4th Rd, 125th Overall)
CB Donte Jackson
CB Benjamin St-Juste
Key Losses
RB J.K. Dobbins
RB Gus Edwards
WR Josh Palmer
WR Simi Fehoko
TE Stone Smartt
TE Hayden Hurst
DL Poona Ford
DL Morgan Fox
EDGE Joey Bosa
CB Kristian Fulton
CB Asante Samuel
S Marcus Maye
Did They Address Their Holes?
Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman want to run the ball. This is the foundation of their offense, and they tried to lean on it last season. For instance, they ranked 10th in run frequency and 4th in percentage of runs against 8-man boxes, according to NFL Next Gen stats. Even if defenses were geared up to take it away, the Chargers were going to try and pound the rock.
Their passing game is heavily based on the threat of the run as well. L.A. ranked 2nd in play-action frequency and 7th in EPA per play when utilizing it last year.
The problem was that they just couldn’t run the ball consistently enough. Their rushing attack was one of the least efficient, ranking 2nd-to-last in percentage of runs gaining 4 yards or more. They didn’t have much explosiveness either as they finished 22nd in the league in runs of 10 yards or more.
So they used their first pick on North Carolina stand-out running back Omarion Hampton, who has the explosiveness to bring some juice to this running game that was sorely needed.
L.A. also signed Najee Harris to share a bulk of the carries, although who knows when he’ll be able to play after suffering a fireworks-related injury this summer.
The other move that I really liked was the signing of Mekhi Becton to play right guard. Becton revived his career last season with the Eagles after bumping inside. He’s a big dude and a mauler, which fits well with L.A.’s predominant gap-scheme run game. If he can stay healthy, he’ll move defenders and help Harbaugh and company effectively play a more physical brand of football this season.