To say the LA Chargers need offensive line help next offseason would be an understatement. Heck, the team needs help right now, but once spring rolls around, fans want to see the front office get aggressive in protecting Justin Herbert.
Some of that will come with health. The Chargers couldn't have prepared to lose both starting tackles en route to playing their seventh tackle on the depth chart. Some things could have been prepared for, however, such as the center position.
The Chargers brought Bradley Bozeman back when it clearly wasn't the right move. After another frustrating season, it's essentially a guarantee the Chargers will replace Bozeman in the offseason. The top center on many fans' wishlists is Auburn center Connor Lew, who is the best at his position in the 2026 draft class and is a likely first-rounder.
Well, he was a likely first-rounder until this past weekend. Lew suffered an injury against Missouri and early speculation is that he tore his ACL and will miss the entire season. Auburn has not confirmed that report at the time of writing.
Chargers' dream center, Connor Lew, gets hurt just like everyone in LA
Lew is fitting in with the Chargers before ever getting a chance to join the team. The Chargers have had the most banged-up offensive line in the sport and Lew just got hit with the same awful injury bug.
This genuinely changes the calculus of the center position in the long term for the Chargers. Ideally, the Chargers would bring in a young center who can be the franchise cornerstone for multiple years. Patching it together with various veterans simply has not worked.
Lew is currently ranked in the 20s on most big boards, which puts him right in the Chargers' range in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, a torn ACL will likely tank his draft stock into the second round, especially because it will eat into his rookie season and training camp.
Are the Chargers really going to take a chance on a center coming off a torn ACL after everything they've gone through in the 2025 season? As talented as Lew is, that might be too big of a risk for the Chargers to take.
But you have to admit, this is the most on-brand thing that could have happened this weekend after the game the Chargers just had. The offensive line struggled once again and Bozeman was particularly bad, yet again.
DeForest Buckner generated 10 quarterback pressures in the game according to Next Gen Stats. That ties his career high and is the most for an interior defensive lineman this season. Bucker was Bozeman's main assignment.
It's clear the Chargers need to upgrade at center after the 2025 season, but it's not longer clear if that center is going to be Connor Lew.