Texas Football: Malik Jefferson will compete with Kenneth Murray at LB

A former Texas football linebacker, Malik Jefferson, that really needs a good season under his belt will be competing for snaps with a Chargers rookie.

The Los Angeles Chargers made a lot of moves to shore up the linebacker position this offseason. They already made the low-risk move of signing former Texas football All-American linebacker Malik Jefferson after failed stints with the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns over the course of the last two years. And now the Chargers got off to a good start in the 2020 NFL Draft by selecting former Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Kenneth Murray (at No. 23) and former Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert (sixth overall).

Murray was anticipated to be a late first round pick in the draft last night. He is one of the more proven and versatile linebackers in this draft class. During a three-year playing career in Norman, Murray registered more than 320 total tackles, and 36.5 tackles for loss. He was one of the surest-tacklers of any player and any position on a Big 12 defense last season.

However, the Chargers as a whole are pretty thin at linebacker. This is good that they’re making so many moves in the first half of the NFL offseason to shore up the depth in the linebacking corps. Murray and Jefferson could be battling each other for snaps at the middle and strong-side linebacker positions. Murray is more of a middle linebacker, but both him and Jefferson are athletic and versatile enough to play at either linebacker position.

Jefferson had physical tools and proven production as a ball hawking linebacker coming out of the Texas Longhorns football program in the 2018 NFL Draft that made him an appealing prospect.

The three projected starting linebackers for the Chargers this year will be battled out between five or six players. Jefferson and Murray should be in competition with the likes of Nick Vigil, Kyzir White, and Denzel Perryman for snaps. Another name to watch will be former Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Drue Tranquill, who finished top three on the team in tackles last season.

If Jefferson is able to bounce back and actually find his way in the NFL this coming season, then the linebacker that he would be most likely to take snaps away from is a fellow former Big 12 product. White is a product of the West Virginia Mountaineers football program, and posted an approximate value rating of just 4 last year.

White also didn’t start in more than half of the regular season games the Chargers played in 2019.

Murray could definitely take some snaps away from Perryman, if the latter of the two linebackers continues to struggle with missed tackles. Perryman was second on the team last year in total missed tackles (11) and ranked in the top eight on the team in missed tackle percentage (a rather high 14.0 percent).

Given that Murray is such a sure tackler at the linebacker position, the Chargers likely picked him with a clear goal in mind of adding depth behind Perryman.

But a looming storyline to watch in the Chargers linebacking corps is how the snaps are split up. If the Chargers continue to shore up the depth at this level of the defense, then there’s going to be limited snaps to go around to each player.

The Chargers finished up their 2019 season with a record of 5-11. They took a big step back after being one of the AFC’s best regular season teams in 2018. Adding depth to a key spot on the defensive side of the ball should help them bounce back this coming season.