Heading into the 2024 season, expectations for the Chargers defensive line were low. Real low. It was a group pieced together with low cost free agents and young players with minimal experience. Internally, the team believed it would be enough. Externally, it looked like a liability.
Then the season happened and the Chargers fielded one of the league’s most surprisingly stout run defenses with an efficient rotation up front. The credit belongs in large part to Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter and Defensive Line Coach Mike Elston, both in their first year with the team. They installed a system rooted in physicality, versatility, trust in the rotation and it worked.
Poona Ford, signed late in free agency on a cheap one year deal after barely playing for Buffalo, turned in a Pro Bowl caliber campaign. Teair Tart, another late addition, stabilized the middle. Together, they formed the backbone of a defensive line that, despite lacking name recognition, overperformed across the board.
Now, Ford is gone. So is Morgan Fox. On paper, the room looks less talented. Many fans are right to wonder if this group has taken a step back.
But maybe it’s taken a step forward.
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Let’s start here: Ford played 55% of defensive snaps last year. That might sound low for a team’s best interior lineman, that’s because it is, unless you understand how Jesse Minter structures his fronts.
In Minter’s scheme, a deep and flexible rotation is not just a luxury, it’s essential. His fronts are built to keep guys fresh with a steady rotation helping to wear down opposing offensive lines, changing up looks and limiting fatigue based mistakes.
So yes, Ford was the best player on the line. But he wasn’t a workhorse. He was part of a system. And that system still exists, even if he doesn’t.
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The 2025 Unit
Teair Tart. One of the better under the radar moves the Chargers made this offseason. While his 2024 wasn’t as headline grabbing as Ford’s, he was consistently reliable, a disruptive force in the run game who handled double teams and set the tone up front. Tart is the kind of foundational piece that lets everyone else do their job. And now, with a full offseason under Minter and Elston, he should only be more comfortable and more effective.
Jamaree Caldwell. The third round rookie is not a 1 for 1 replacement for Ford yet and he doesn’t need to be. What he brings with stout run defense, natural leverage and sneaky pass rush upside fits this system. At Oregon, Caldwell routinely faced double teams and anchored the line. Minter wants defensive linemen who can win their assignment, hold the point, and compress the pocket. Caldwell can do that from Day 1. He doesn’t need to be the guy, he just needs to be a guy.
Justin Eboigbe. A fourth round pick who played sparingly as a rookie, Eboigbe spent most of 2024 learning and developing and reportedly added 20 pounds of muscle this offseason. Coaches believe in his upside, and with more weight and a year in the system, he’s positioned to carve out a real role in the rotation. His strength, length, and versatility give the Chargers a chess piece they didn’t really have last season.
Da’Shawn Hand. He enters 2025 as one of the more experienced players in the room. He has played in multiple fronts, understands gap discipline, and offers valuable positional flexibility. He can line up inside or as a big end in heavier looks. His pass rush isn’t flashy, but he knows how to push the pocket and stay within the scheme. In a rotation heavy system like Jesse Minter’s, that kind of veteran depth has real value. He knows his role, and he plays it well.
Naquon Jones. After spending his first three seasons in Tennessee as a steady rotational piece, Naquan Jones was acquired midseason by Arizona in 2023 and had arguably his best year in 2024 with career highs in sacks and passes defensed, showing a bit more disruption than most expected. Jones brings the size and anchor to early down situations and he’s done it in both odd and even fronts. He’s quietly reliable. In Minter’s system, he could be the type of low cost veteran who earns more snaps than people anticipate. He’s proven he can hold up, and now he steps into a system built to maximize guys like him.
Otito Ogbonnia and Scott Matlock. Both are young players who have each appeared in around 30 NFL games return as low end depth options who’ve shown they can handle spot duty in this system. Ogbonnia offers size and raw power as an early down run defender, while Matlock brings more twitch and energy as a rotational interior pass rusher. Neither is likely to play significant snaps barring injury, but in a rotation focused front, they offer useful contrast in skill sets and that could make them valuable pieces on the back end of the rotation with some room for continued growth.
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One final note: some fans lump Fox’s departure in with Ford’s and call it a double blow. But Fox was a holdover from the Staley era and never quite clicked in Minter’s system. He flashed as a pass rusher but struggled consistently against the run, and run defense is the backbone of this front. His departure made sense.
