Rashawn Slater, Justin Herbert headline the group of five Chargers that made PFF’s Top 101 Players from the 2024 season.
A team that exceeded expectations and won 11 games this past season was sure to have its fair share of elite players.
In a new list by Pro Football Focus of the top 101 players from the 2024 season, the Chargers landed five players amongst the group, including one of their star rookies.
Let’s go ahead and see who made the cut!
71.) WR Ladd McConkey
“McConkey quickly established himself as the top receiving threat in the Chargers’ offense. Including his incredible postseason debut, he finished this season with an 85.0 receiving grade, the 12th-best among wide receivers, and over 1,300 yards. His downfield efforts earned him an elite 94.4 receiving grade on 10-plus yard targets, the ninth-highest among wide receivers.”
Along with right tackle Joe Alt, the Chargers found a building block for the future in McConkey who was by far the best receiver on the team as a rookie. The Bolts will look to add another consistent threat on the outside to alleviate the pressure on McConkey’s shoulders and give Justin Herbert some needed help in the passing attack.
70.) S Derwin James
“James bounced back from a career-worst season in 2023 and turned in one of his best performances this year. His 80.9 overall grade placed him among the top 10 qualified safeties, and he set a new career-high with an 87.9 run-defense grade. Of course, James is known for his blitzing prowess as well. He led all safeties with six sacks this season while racking up 15 total pressures, the second-most among that same group.”
Jesse Minter let James get back to what he was best at and it turned into his third All-Pro honor of his career. After playing up near the line of scrimmage for most of the 2024 season, James was named a Second-Team All-Pro at slot cornerback.
In Year Two under Minter, expect James to do a lot more of the same that made him so successful this past season, especially with the return of third safety Elijah Molden following his recent three-year contract extension.
54.) EDGE Khalil Mack
“Mack continues to age like fine wine at 33 years old, as he’s now a member of the PFF 101 for the ninth time in his 11-year career.”
“His 87.7 run-defense grade trailed only T.J. Watt among all edge defenders while his 90.2 overall grade ranked fifth. The future Hall of Famer looks to capitalize on his back-to-back stellar seasons in free agency this offseason, where he’s one of our top-five free agents available.”
Death, taxes, and Mack bring one of the best players in the NFL. Even at 33 years old, he’s still a monster in the trenches. Despite logging an underwhelming amount of sacks, he was still incredibly impactful against the run which has gone a long way in keeping his floor as a player extremely high.
I would be surprised if Mack ends up playing somewhere outside of Los Angeles, but he’s still enough of a force that a number of teams will likely make a run for his services next season.
33.) QB Justin Herbert
“If Herbert’s 2024 season taught us anything, it’s that success is about how you finish, not how you start. Through Week 6, he ranked 29th in the NFL with a 58.2 passing grade. From Week 7 onward, however, he flipped the script, posting a 92.6 passing grade—the second-highest in the league over that span—while leading the NFL with 26 big-time throws to close out the regular season.”
After a slow start to the season, the Chargers offense finally found their identity that included a bit more of Herbert’s arm than they initially prepared for. Once the offense found their balance, so did Herbert.
He ended the 2024 campaign with a 91.2 overall season grade, the highest of his career and better than the 90.0 season grade he posted in 2021 when he threw for 5,014 yards and 38 touchdowns.
23.) OT Rashawn Slater
“Slater took another step forward in 2024, further cementing himself as one of the NFL’s most consistent tackles. He earned a career-high 90.9 PFF grade, excelling in pass protection and the run game. Slater finished with the third-highest pass-blocking grade at the position (89.9) and led all tackles in run-blocking grade on zone concepts (92.6).”
Slater has bee one of the best in the game since he was drafted in 2021 and that didn’t change in 2024. He did miss two games to injury, but that did not keep him from being named to the first Pro Bowl Games since his rookie season.
With another strong year under his belt, Slater will enter the 2025 season as the unquestioned leader of the offensive line — a group that could feature a few new faces after an offseason where the Chargers are expected to add some key pieces with their large amount of available cap space.