Chargers Place Safety Jaylen Watkins On IR

The Chargers announced that they’ve placed safety Jaylen Watkins on injured reserve after he suffered a torn ACL in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Seahawks.

Watkins, 26, wasn’t expected to start for the Chargers in 2018, as the club will deploy first-round pick Derwin James and Jahleel Addae at safety. But the former fourth-round pick could have offered valuable depth, as Watkins appeared in 36 games during a four-year run with the Eagles. Philadelphia opted not to tender Watkins as a restricted free agent this offseason, and he subsequently met with the 49ers before landing with the Bolts.

Even with Watkins sidelined, Los Angeles has enough safety depth to get by in 2018. James and Addae project to be backed up by Rayshawn Jenkins and Adrian Phillips, while A.J. Hendy could be kept on the the Chargers’ practice squad. Fourth-round rookie Kyzir White, drafted nominally as a safety, is expected to play a sub-package linebacker role for the Chargers.

To replace Watkins on their roster, the Chargers announced that they’ve claimed defensive back Micah Hannemann off waivers from the Browns. He was an undrafted free agent from BYU and was only used on the Browns practice squad since April 2018. Hannemann experienced his a fair share of ups and downs while at BYU, but his overall size and athleticism give him a decent shot at the next level. He might be remembered best for his impressive interception against Nebraska in 2015.  He also had a crucial interception and a couple of pass breakups against Mississippi State. Over the course of his career he totaled 123 tackles, four interceptions and one sack.