Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey, Rashawn Slater headline the Chargers who made CBS Sports’ list of the top 100 players in the NFL this season.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports recently dropped his top 100 players in the NFL for the upcoming 2025 season and the Chargers managed to land four players on the list.
Let’s go ahead and dive in to see who made the cut.
38.) OT Rashawn Slater
“The former top 10 pick is a rock on the left side of the Chargers line. He excels in pass protection for Justin Herbert, but he’s also powerful in the run game.”
Slater made his first Pro Bowl since his rookie season and looked to be back as one of the league’s best offensive tackles. He helped keep Justin Herbert clean all season, helping his quarterback to throw just three interceptions in 17 regular season games. With another year in Greg Roman’s system, I’ll be looking to see if Slater can take another step in unleashing this Chargers run game behind a new duo of backs.
49.) QB Justin Herbert
“In his first season under Jim Harbaugh, Herbert threw for 3,870 yards with 28 touchdown passes and just three picks. Over the final four games, he threw nine touchdown passes. He’s another who needs to win in the playoffs.”
Herbert authored his cleanest season of football in 2024 by throwing just three picks. Forget the playoff game. Doesn’t matter. Herbert may have unlocked a new level to his career with a strong play-action game that should only get better in 2025.
Add in the fact the team added back old friend Mike Williams and drafted a pair of tall, athletic pass catchers (Tre Harris and Oronde Gadsden) and you’ve got what could be a surprising passing attack, as well
Look, if Roman was able to get Lamar Jackson an MVP trophy, I’d like to think he could do the same for Herbert.
93.) WR Ladd McConkey
“As a rookie, McConkey caught 82 passes for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 14.0 per catch and should be even better in 2025. He also had nine catches for 179 yards and a touchdown in his team’s playoff loss.”
McConkey makes what may be his debut on any sort of Top 100 list right here at No. 93. The rookie set the franchise rookie records for both receptions and receiving yards, on top of the postseason single-game receiving yards mark by a rookie.
McConkey was lightning in a bottle for the Chargers offense in his first season but the team still sorely needed help elsewhere as carrying an offense as a rookie is never the ideal situation. Expect even bigger things from McConkey in 2025 now that the team has more weapons ready to roll alongside him in year two.
95.) S Derwin James Jr.
“James was back to playing at a high level in 2024 after a disappointing 2023 season. He was used more near the line of scrimmage, which plays to his strengths. He is not a player who can just sit in center field and dominate.”
Hard to believe a Second-Team All-Pro would fall this far down the list but that’s just what happened to a James after he earned the honor in 2024 as a slot defender. I’m not. big fan of Prisco seemingly flagging James for what he deems as an inability to play deep safety. I don’t think that’s the case at all. He’s just THAT good at what he does around the line of scrimmage. I don’t know how he fell all the way down here, but mistakes were made.