With the 2025 NFL season nearing its end, Pro Football Focus (PFF) identified one breakout candidate for each team ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Former Clemson safety R.J. Mickens was pegged as the early 2026 breakout candidate for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Mickens was an impactful rookie for the Chargers this season after being selected by the franchise in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the No. 214 overall pick.
“The sixth-round pick made 11 appearances, including six starts, and earned a 70.8 PFF overall grade in the process,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote. “His fundamentally sound play style fit in perfectly with the Chargers’ secondary, and he reeled in two interceptions to boot. Veteran Tony Jefferson will be a free agent, so Mickens could assume an expanded role in 2026.”
During his first professional regular season, Mickens tallied 29 total tackles, two passes defended and the two interceptions. He also appeared in LA’s lone postseason game and posted two tackles in the team’s loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs.
Mickens recorded his first career NFL interception in the Chargers’ Week 8 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He later nabbed his second career pick in Week 10, when he intercepted future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Chargers’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
An NFL legacy, Mickens is the son of former Texas A&M All-American defensive back Ray Mickens, Sr., who was a third-round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft by the New York Jets and played eight seasons with the franchise.
Mickens recorded 229 tackles (13.5 for loss), seven interceptions, 15 pass breakups and a fumble recovery in his Clemson career from 2020-24. He became the 10th player in school history to play 60 career games, and he started 30 of those contests. In 2024, Mickens finished third on the team with a career-high 85 tackles (including a career-high 6.0 for loss) while adding seven pass breakups and two interceptions over 13 games (all starts).
–Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee-Imagn Images