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The San Diego Chargers, who are breaking in an entirely new set of cornerbacks, already had plenty of question marks regarding their secondary. Now, in the wake of the season-ending injury to rookie cornerback Steve Williams, the team has even more questions to answer, especially with the lack of depth at the position.
With Williams now out, the Chargers have just three decent starting options at corner in Derek Cox, Shareece Wright and Johnny Patrick. Though they’ve all looked pretty good this offseason, things could definitely take a turn for the worst if one of them were to go down with an injury. Cox comes with serious injury concerns, having missed 14 games in the past two seasons. Wright is inexperienced and also missed six games last season due to a foot injury. Patrick, meanwhile, never looked good with the New Orleans Saints and also dealt with a thigh injury during his rookie year. Williams was the most durable of the four, having never missed a game in three seasons in college.
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With no one really reliable behind them, the Chargers should definitely consider adding another cover guy, especially if they hope to compete with the Denver Broncos’ spread offense this coming season. They could be in luck as a pretty good cornerback just became available – Richard Marshall.
The 29-year-old cornerback was released by the Miami Dolphins mainly for financial reasons. Marshall hasn’t been spectacular in his career, but has definitely been very solid and has 18 career interceptions. Marshall also has played some safety in his career, and his versatility would certainly help the Chargers if they ever needed to shuffle their secondary around. Marshall missed all but four games of the 2012 season, but prior to that, he never missed a game.
Marshall is a durable, versatile defensive back who could really help fix the depth in the Chargers’ secondary and compete for a starting job on day one. He will likely garner some interest around the league meaning he won’t come cheap, but San Diego should at least explore the option of signing the eight-year veteran.
Kevin Chan is a San Diego Chargers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
