After making an initial round of cuts on Saturday, the Chargers finally finalized their (almost) final 53-man roster on Sunday. San Diego claimed a trio of players off waivers, released three more, and signed six to their practice squad.
New to the Bolts are CB Pierre Desir (Browns), DT Caraun Reid (Lions) and RB Andre Williams (Giants). They will take the place of CB Stevie Williams, TE Asante Cleveland and LB Chris Landrum, who were all waived.
Desir is a big corner, standing 6’2” and weighing 206 pounds. He was a 4th round pick in 2014 and appeared in 19 games in two years with the Browns. In 2015 he started six games and had five pass defenses.
Reid was a 5th round selection and played 26 games in two years with the Lions. He’s also 6’2” but weighs 100 pounds more than Desir does. He backed up Ndamukong Suh as a rookie and Haloti Ngata last year so he learned under two of the best interior linemen in the game. Plus, he went to Princeton so if the Bolts get in to an Academic Decathlon they’ll have a leg up.
Williams, a 5’11”, 230-pound back, is now the 5th RB on the Chargers roster. He scored seven touchdowns as a rookie but lost his starting job last year to Rashad Jennings. In 2013 as a senior at Boston College Williams won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back. That means the Bolts have two of the last three Doak Walker winners on their roster (Melvin Gordon won it the year after Williams).
The Chargers also solidified six spots on their practice squad, singing WR Dom Williams, OLB Ben Gardner, S Adrian McDonald, CB Trevor Williams (they were all in San Diego for Training Camp), DT Kalub Eulls (Saints) and OT Austin Sheperd (Vikings). The Bolts can have 10 on their practice squad and plan to sign four more players.
One of those spots could go to the player they cut when Joey Bosa is ready to be added to the mix. The Chargers have 54 men on the roster at the moment because they have a special exception for their first round Draft pick. As it stands now the Chargers full roster breaks down like this:
Quarterback (2)
Philip Rivers
Kellen Clemens
Running Back (5)
Melvin Gordon
Danny Woodhead
Andre Williams
Derek Watt
Kenneth Farrow
Wide Receiver (5)
Keenan Allen
Travis Benjamin
Dontrelle Inman
Tyrell Williams
Isaiah Burse
Tight End (3)
Antonio Gates
Hunter Henry
Sean McGrath
Offensive Line (10)
King Dunlap
Orlando Franklin
Matt Slauson
D.J. Fluker
Joe Barksdale
Max Tuerk
Spencer Pulley
Chris Hairston
Kenny Wiggins
Tyreek Burwell
Defensive Line (7)
Corey Liuget
Brandon Mebane
Caraun Reid
Ryan Carrethers
Tenny Palepoi
Darius Philon
Joey Bosa
Linebacker (9)
Denzel Perryman
Manti Te’o
Melvin Ingram
Kyle Emanuel
Jerry Attaochu
Jatavis Brown
Josh Perry
Nick Dzubnar
Tourek Williams
Cornerback (5)
Jason Verrett
Brandon Flowers
Casey Hayward
Craig Mager
Pierre Desir
Safety (5)
Jahleel Addae
Dwight Lowery
Dexter McCoil
Darrell Stuckey
Adrian Phillips
Specialist (3)
Josh Lambo
Drew Kaser
Mike Windt
Two undrafted rookies, Pulley and Farrow, made the 53-man roster (three if you include McCoil) out of camp. Also, all of their NFL Draft picks except one, 7th rounder Donavon Clark, made the team. Clark was lost of the season to a torn ACL in the second preseason game.
That means the 2016 Chargers currently have 10 rookies on the roster and 22 players who are in either their first or second season, making them one of the youngest teams in the NFL.
