LA Chargers: Ranking the new faces by importance to success

1. Bryan Bulaga

It could not be anybody else. The biggest issue that the LA Chargers have had, for what seems like forever, has been the offensive line. This team has not been able to put together a solid offensive line in a decade and signing Bryan Bulaga was a huge step forward in building a better offensive line.

There are still so many moving parts around Bulaga that are going to determine the true success of the offensive line, but he seems to be the one constant that the Chargers can bank on. Tyrod Taylor is going to have good protection on his right side and the offense should utilize.

To highlight just how important Bulaga is to the team’s success I want to take you down a hypothetical rabbit hole. The Chargers are 3-1 to start the season with some key wins. Bulaga goes down with an injury. He is out for the season. Sam Tevi is tasked with being the team’s every-down right tackle alongside an already green Trey Pipkins at left tackle.

That is a disaster waiting to happen. As much as I like Pipkins personally this season and as much as some fans want to hype up Storm Norton, the Chargers are not very deep at tackle. Bulaga getting injured could be the downfall of this team’s success.

And while Tyrod Taylor has never had these kind of weapons before, he also has never had a really bad offensive line. The one time he did, in three starts with Cleveland, he played horrible.

A run-heavy offense with a scrambling quarterback can only work if the offensive line holds up. I would argue that a gunslinging offense is more efficient behind a bad offensive line than a mobile quarterback offense just because of the talent in the receiving corps and we all saw how bad last season was.

Bryan Bulaga is the anchor of the LA Chargers’ offensive line in 2020. He is easily the most important new face on the Chargers and it is not even close.