Welcome to Part 3 of our 2025 draft preview series, which will be a position-by-position look at key prospects and where the Chargers roster stands ahead of the NFL Draft. This series will include a look at which prospects could be options for the Chargers later this month.

We chatted with CBS Sport draft analyst Chris Trapasso to break down the linebackers in this draft class. Trapasso can be found on X/Twitter @ChrisTrapasso for his analysis.

Chargers status at linebacker

Daiyan Henley, Junior Colson, Denzel Perryman, Troy Dye, Del'Shawn Phillips, Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste

The Chargers linebacker room entered the 2024 season not knowing how things would shake out on the depth chart.

Fast forward a year later, we know who sits at the top.

Daiyan Henley had a breakout season for the Bolts, emerging as a Pro Bowl-caliber player in his first season as the starter after earning the job in camp.

Henley led the Chargers with 147 total tackles and played the most defensive snaps on the team with 996. He was also the only NFL player in 2024 to record at least 120 tackles and more than seven passes defensed during the regular season.

In one season, he took over the mantle in the middle of the Chargers defense and quickly ascended as one of the rising young players at his position.

Henley's fellow starter for most of the regular season, Denzel Perryman, returned to the Chargers in free agency after starting 11 games for the team that drafted him.

And while Perryman missed the back part of the season with injury, it was Troy Dye who filled in playing the third-most snaps among the position and fifth on the team with 57 total tackles in relief.

The Bolts also used a 2024 third-round pick on Junior Colson, who endured an up-and-down rookie season due to injuries.

They also brought in Del'Shawn Phillips, who has been a special teams ace and figures to take over a major role in that department.

Finally, Jean-Baptiste rounds out the group after spending his rookie season on the practice squad.

Is it a position of need?

With the top of the depth chart almost the same as last season and Henley emerging the way he did, Trapasso believes the need for a linebacker is not "considerably high," at least in 2025.

"Troy Dye being a backup on this roster," Trapasso said. "You have Junior Colson obviously, we haven't seen a lot from him, third rounder last year."

But even with the depth built out the way it is, Trapasso believes it won't stop the team from picking one late if he's their highest graded player on the board.

"You never know if a specific player falls middle or back portion of the draft, if a team like the Chargers would just say, 'This is the best player on the board, we're going to pick him,'" Trapasso said.

Key Questions for 2025

1. What did you think about Daiyan Henley's first full season as a starter?

"I remember scouting him coming out of Washington State and being a wide receiver convert was so fascinating to me. Normally, I lean into the safety turned linebackers because I think they're just naturally better in coverage. But to go from wide receiver to linebacker was awesome. Year 2, it felt almost like he still got the experience as a rookie. The coverage ability was spectacular, I thought he picked his spots really well as a blitzer. Not a lot of missed tackles. He was really that modern day three down linebacker who can play between the tackles, range to the outside and then run with tight ends and running backs down the sea, on wheel routes and make plays on the football. He really is, to me, ascending into that upper echelon of not just young linebackers, but all linebackers in the NFL."

2. How is the overall depth of this linebacker class?

"I think overall, it's pretty deep. You have Jihaad Campbell from Alabama and Carson Schwesinger from UCLA as the two headliners of the position. But for a position that at the outset of the pre-draft process did not have a lot of buzz beyond those two, as I've gotten through it there's actually a fair amount of depth. I love Teddye Buchannan from California. Jack Kiser is an older prospect from Notre Dame but is such a great tackler. Even Schwesinger's teammate at UCLA, Kain Medrano, almost looks like a safety on the field but is playing that linebacker position. It's not like significantly deep, but I think after getting a bad rap reputation-wise at the outset of the draft process, it's actually a pretty good group once you get into that third round, early Day 3 rounds. I think there's a lot of good linebackers that kind of fit the mold of what you need at the position in today's NFL."

3. If the Chargers decide to target a linebacker in Round 6 or 7, who is someone you think would fit?

"It seems like Teddye Buchannan is a lot lower on most NFL team's boards than I have him. He would be the headliner if he's available on Day 3. I think to go from UC Davis, where he was so productive on the football — eight interceptions, 13 pass breakups — transfer into the ACC and really hold his own in coverage. We saw the 40-inch vertical at the Combine, 4.60 in the 40 so he has big time athleticism at the position. He would be the headliner. Chris Paul from Ole Miss is another one that I love for almost the opposite reasons as Buchannan… I think because the earlier you start in a draft, traits are more prioritized, Chris Paul could be available on Day 3 and I think is going to be a high floor player that will raise the entire floor of whatever team picks him, that entire linebacker room."

Expert rankings

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah currently has two linebackers in his latest Top 50 list, as does ESPN's Mel Kiper, Jr., in his Top 25.

The Athletic's Dane Brugler has four linebackers in his most recent Top 100 list, with the highest coming in at No. 23 (Jihaad Campbell).

Pro Football Focus has five linebackers in the top 100 in their Big Board Rankings, with a high of No. 10 (Campbell).

Potential Chargers options

Note: Heights and weights are from each player's profile on NFL.com (linked for each player's name).

Carson Schwesinger

School: UCLA | Year: Redshirt Junior | Ht: 6-foot-2 1/2 | Wt: 242 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (10 starts); 136 tackles (90 solo), 8.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, five passes defensed, two interceptions, one forced fumble

Quick fact: A former walk-on, Schwesinger was a First Team All-American selection by the Associated Press in 2024 and was a Butkus Award Finalist after leading the Big Ten in tackles.

Demetrius Knight, Jr.

School: South Carolina | Year: Senior | Ht: 6-foot-2 | Wt: 235 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games (10 starts); 82 tackles (57 solo), 8.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception

Quick fact: Knight made an impact in his lone year at South Carolina, becoming a leader of the defense and being voted by his peers as the team's Most Outstanding Senior.

Chris Paul, Jr.

School: Ole Miss | Year: Redshirt Junior | Ht: 6-foot-1 | Wt: 222 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (11 starts); 88 tackles (50 solo), 11.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, five passes defensed, one interception, one fumble recovery

Quick fact: Paul led the Rebels in tackles and spearheaded a defense that led the nation in sacks (52) and tackles for loss (120) enroute to All-America honors by some outlets.

Trapasso's Take: "He's not the big time tester, he's not the size of Fred Warner. He's 6-foot, 220 pounds, but such a reliable tackler, squares running backs, tight ends, receivers up routinely. You don't see him diving at the feet of players very often. For someone who does not have the big time athleticism, his coverage instincts and the ability to make plays on the football I thought was through the roof."

Danny Stutsman

School: Oklahoma | Year: Senior | Ht: 6-foot-3 | Wt: 233 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (12 starts); 110 tackles (44 solo), 8.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack

Quick fact: A Consensus All-American last season, Stutsman ranked second among linebackers with at least 500 snaps in Pro Football Focus' run defense grade (90.9).

Trapasso's Take: "He reminds me a lot of Jamien Sherwood, who was a collegiate safety at Auburn and transitioned to linebacker with the Jets. He just got a big extension this offseason. He's tall, he's long, he played with a lot of physicality inside the box. That's kind of how I view Stutsman. In 2022, he showed up on the draft radar cause he had a huge season as a sophomore then kind of regressed… Making plays off blockers within the confines of the tackle box, I think Stutsman really excels. I'm just a little bit down on him in coverage. He feels probably like a late Day 2, early Day 3 player that because of all the experience, another linebacker who has a high floor."