LA Chargers: Justin Herbert and six Week 2 overreactions

Overreaction #6: James Campen fixed Sam Tevi, and he is now an average left tackle worth starting

Just before the season, Anthony Lynn announced that Sam Tevi had all but locked up the left tackle position, leaving us to question why the Chargers did not desperately seek Jason Peters in the offseason and what happened to Trey Pipkins that led him to lose the job so clearly.

Now, after Week 2, we have seen remarkable improvement from Sam Tevi.

In fact, in both weeks, we rarely heard Tevi’s name called, which is typically a good sign for an offensive lineman.

Despite this, saying that Tevi has reached an average level where he is an acceptable starter is a bit of a reach at this point.

Tevi has always excelled in run blocking, and he appears to have even improved that trait thus far. In the first game, Tevi earned and excellent 79.9 grade from PFF for his run blocking.

While he improved in this area, his pass blocking remains a bit suspect.

He allowed two pressures in Week one, which is certainly an improvement from years past, but it is a bit high for a run-heavy offense that got the ball out of Tyrod Taylor’s hands nearly immediately.

In Week two, Tevi also managed to not give up too many pressures, but there were multiple plays in which he was clearly beat. On one particular play in the third quarter, Tevi was reverse pancaked on a bull rush by the defensive end, and a quick release from Herbert was the only thing preventing a sack or pressure.

Simply put, Tevi has improved immensely, and it is quite remarkable that we have not had to say his name far more often this year. Clearly Tevi has put in the work and James Campen has done an excellent job in getting him ready for this season.

Despite this, we need to see a bit more improvement in the pass blocking game before we can declare Tevi to be a true candidate at left tackle in the long term.

Verdict 6: Overreaction