Houston Texans: Four candidates for DROY competing with Justin Reid
Player #3: Derwin James
A player that has now being heavily leaned off of in the City of Angels is safety Derwin James. The first-round (17th overall) pick out of Florida State is already branding himself on a surging Los Angeles Chargers’ team that is in the battle for the top of the AFC along with the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots; and, of course, the Houston Texans. The Chargers sit at 9-3 on the season and this is the most complete team fielded in quite some time.
He complements Joey Bosa well and he’ll be household name within his own right before we all know it.
Read. Three must-win games to secure a first-round bye. light
He’s currently 5th among rookies in run stops (30) and 7th in tackles (62). However, he’s the highest-targeted rookie safety with 45 of those to his credit. Out of those targets, 29 of them have been caught for a solid 64.4 catch rate. In the same cut, quarterbacks have a 53.4 rating when trying to go deep, specifically trying to target James. These are remarkable numbers and that alone can put him in the conversation as well.
His PFF grades are: 89.3 overall, 77.3 run defense, 66.1 tackling, 87.6 pass rush and 90.0 in coverage.
Those are good numbers in any right for a rookie of his caliber and there’s no doubt that he’s going to get better with each stride that he makes out on the gridiron.
In addition, he has three interceptions, five pass breakups and 15 quarterback pressures to add to his resume this season.
Will it be enough? Likely not — but he’s definitely one of the best rookie defensive players this season.
Who’s the last on my list? Keep reading to find out more.