Chargers' growing faith in Travis Burke poses a serious Trey Pipkins III question

The Los Angeles Chargers' rookie class has looked promising through three weeks of training camp.

Akheem Mesidor has brought effort and consistency to virtually every practice—he's been the first one the field, and he's been willing to take on his role alongside Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu headfirst. Jake Slaughter has (thankfully) shown some serious upside at both center and guard, and both Brenen Thompson and Genesis Smith have shown flashes of their respective, enticing skill sets on their sides of the ball.

But the sneakiest riser has perhaps been offensive tackle Travis Burke, who continuously elevated his play in the absence of Rashawn Slater and has only looked stronger and more coordinated since the first day of camp.

Before practice yesterday, Harbaugh tacked on a commendation of Burke's effort to answer about Jake Slaughter's readiness—claiming that he sees both as capable Week 1 starters at the NFL level.

Obviously, the hope is that both Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are ready to go by Week 1, and neither Trey Pipkins III or Burke has to start. With Slater returning to practice yesterday, they both seem to be on track.

But Burke split snaps at left tackle with Pipkins when Slater stepped out of practice yesterday, and that poses a serious question. How long is Pipkins safe as the Chargers' primary swing tackle? If Alt or Slater goes down at some point this season, who's the first in line to take their place?

Travis Burke is putting up a challenge for Trey Pipkins III's spot on the depth chart

Pipkins' performance wasn't all that inspiring last season, but he was at least a sign of semi-consistency along a Chargers offensive line whose calling card was upheaval and chaos. He allowed 27 pressures and four sacks across 376 pass-blocking snaps in 2025, per Pro Football Focus. The Chargers brought him back this offseason on a two-year, $10 million deal to function as their swing tackle.

When Los Angeles first selected Burke, it seemed as though it was purely a long-term depth swing. Burke has an imposing frame at nearly 6'9" and 325 lbs, and he had the college production to be more than worth of a mid-round pick. He allowed just 13 pressures across 429 pass-blocking snaps at right tackle during his final college season at Memphis.

But there were plenty of questions about his footwork, range, and recovery abilities. These were things the Chargers could easily work on, but it didn't feel as though Burke was the type of selection that could make an immediate impact.

In all likelihood, Pipkins is still the first man off the bench for the Chargers along the offensive line. He's taken snaps at both guard and tackle during training camp, and he's largely looked solid in both of those roles.

But Burke continues to see more opportunity almost on a daily basis. It may only be a matter of time before he establishes himself as the primary swing tackle in Los Angeles—assuming we can take Harbaugh's words at face value.

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