The Los Angeles Chargers' offensive line is, frankly, dead in the water even with all of its current starters healthy.
Both Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater have returned to acceptable form after missing most—or in Slater's case, all—of last season with their respective injuries. Their presence, at the very least, theoretically raises the floor of the Chargers' protection.
But that's assuming the interior has improved from the abysmal play we saw over the duration of 2025. Through four weeks, that hasn't been the case. Neither Kayode Awosika nor Trey Pipkins III looked like bona fide starting options at left guard when the Chargers were platooning them earlier in the season, and Trevor Penning has somehow been worse since both went down with injuries.
Jake Slaughter has been acceptable for a rookie stepping in as the team's starting center, but he's certainly not a true replacement for what Tyler Biadasz could've been for this offense. Cole Strange isn't even worth touching on at this point as a true option at right guard.
For all the things that are wrong with this offense, the protection is clearly the most frustrating. And now that Alt, Slater, Pipkins, Awosika, and Penning are all entering Week 5 on the injury report, Los Angeles simply needs anything they can get in terms of additional, starting-caliber linemen.
Who knows if Branson Taylor will be ready to go for this bout against the Denver Broncos, but the activation of his practice window is a much needed positive development for Los Angeles at this point in the season.
Branson Taylor may be at least a semblance of an answer for the Chargers on the interior offensive line
When the Chargers moved on from Bradley Bozeman, Zion Johnson, and Mekhi Becton this offseason, there was one central thought that surrounded their quest to replenish their interior. At the very least, there was no way that things could get any worse with some new additions.
In fairness, they haven't. But they haven't gotten much better either.
Penning has allowed seven pressures and one sack across just 84 pass-blocking snaps this season. Strange, for his part, has allowed nine pressures across 159 pass-blocking snaps. He's posted a PFF pass-blocking grade higher than 50.0 only once this season. The Chargers, to this point in the season, have allowed 12 sacks, and the run game has been one of the least effective in the league, especially when they're trying to move the ball up the interior.
Assuming none of these players are available this week, Los Angeles would likely be forced to roll with the line we saw at the end of last week's game—rookies Travis Burke and Logan Taylor at the two tackle spots, Slaughter and Strange at the guard spots, and UDFA Jacob Spomer as the starting center. Slater has already been ruled out, likely for multiple weeks, with a high ankle sprain. The Broncos defense hasn't been a major pressure-producer so far this season, but that's an absolutely abysmal matchup for Los Angeles no matter how you want to frame it.
Taylor isn't going to resurrect the offensive line even if he's able to return for the Week 5 matchup. But it's easy to forget that he seemed, at one point, to be in play for the starting left guard spot before he went down with an upper-body injury in the team's second preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The coaching staff as a whole raved about the transformation the former sixth-round pick underwent in the offseason, and he did look more violent and more agile in his limited preseason reps. While a small sample size, he allowed zero pressures across 22 pass-blocking snaps during the Chargers' early preseason slate.
At the very least, Taylor's return to the field would allow Los Angeles to leave Slaughter intact at center, which is certainly a more comfortable position for him at this point in the season. Perhaps they'd choose to utilize at tackle instead, keeping Logan Taylor—who allowed the strip sack that lost the Chargers the game last week—on the sidelines.
Either way, if Taylor is available, he provides the Chargers with some much needed flexibility. At this point in the season, anything counts.
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