Below are 10 quick-hitting insights on the Chargers cornerbacks ahead of training camp:
1) The 2021 NFL season will be Chris Harris Jr.'s 11th as a pro and second with the Chargers. A Super Bowl champion, an All-Pro and one of the best slot corners in league history, Harris Jr. has 540 career tackles, 91 passes defensed and 21 career interceptions. His pick last December in Week 15 against the Las Vegas Raiders kept his streak alive of securing at least one INT in each season he's been in the NFL. He started nine games in 2020, totaling 37 tackles.
2) Harris Jr. was in Denver with head coach Brandon Staley during the 2019 season. In 2020, both left for Los Angeles – Harris Jr. to the Chargers, Staley to the Rams. Two seasons later, they're reunited again. Harris Jr. said that he's been in a majority of this defensive system his entire career. "This year, I feel very comfortable," he said. "I'm able to be that extra quarterback back there for these guys. They're still learning the system, so it's good to have me back there to be able to speed up their thinking and be able to help them out in this system, for sure."
3) Los Angeles re-signed Michael Davis in March to a multi-year contract. An undrafted free agent from BYU in 2017, Davis worked his way into the starting lineup in 2018. Over the last three seasons, he's made 35 starts. In his four seasons with the Chargers, the Glendale native has 157 total tackles, 32 passes defensed and five interceptions.
4) Asante Samuel Jr. was the first cornerback selected by the Chargers in an NFL Draft since Craig Mager in 2015 (No. 83 overall). At Florida State, Samuel Jr. was first-team All-ACC in 2020. He finished his career with the Seminoles with 97 total tackles, 29 passes defensed and four interceptions.
5) Brandon Facyson is entering his fourth season with the Chargers. He's appeared in 44 career games with four starts. In 2019, Facyson played 34 percent of the defensive snaps. Over the last three seasons, he's played over half of the special teams snaps (734).
6) Tevaughn Campbell appeared in 14 games – including four starts – in his first season on the Chargers' active roster. He totaled 22 tackles for the season, and recorded his first career interception in Week 11 against the New York Jets, a pick-six of quarterback Joe Flacco. It was also the first pick-six in SoFi Stadium history. Before joining the Chargers, Campbell represented his home country of Canada on the Rugby 7s national team.
7) Los Angeles signed a core special teamer this offseason in Ryan Smith. Last season in Tampa Bay, Smith played exclusively on special teams – 78 percent of the regular-season snaps – en route to a Super Bowl championship. In five seasons with the Buccaneers, Smith appeared in 73 games including 16 starts as a cornerback.
8) As an undrafted free agent, John Brannon appeared in the 2020 regular-season finale in Kansas City. He played his college ball at Western Carolina. According to the school's athletics page, Brannon totaled 90 tackles and seven interceptions, two of which went the other way for touchdowns.
9) The Chargers claimed Kemon Hall off waivers in May. Prior to Los Angeles, Hall had stops in Minnesota, New Orleans and most recently Dallas. He was a first team All-Conference USA selection for North Texas in 2018.
10) Donte Vaughn enters training camp as one of four former Notre Dame defenders on L.A.'s roster (S Alohi Gilman, DT Jerry Tillery and LB Drue Tranquill). The Irish cornerback was signed to the Chargers practice squad last September.
Snap counts courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
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