It's generally unadvisable to draw sweeping conclusions in the preseason— especially from single-player performances in just a handful of reps. But the questions for the Los Angeles Chargers surrounding second-round selection Jake Slaughter have been circling since the conclusion of the Draft, and they've only ramped up as the competition for the starting left guard spot has started to take shape in training camp.
On Thursday night against the Houston Texans, we finally got some semblance of an answer.
Slaughter started the game at center, playing a handful of reps at the position before switching over to left guard when the line was re-shuffled later in the first half. We've heard all offseason about how Slaughter has the physical tools and the maturity to make the switch to left guard— even though he didn't play a single snap at the position in college.
He finally put that on display on the field. There's certainly still room for growth there— and it's hard to tell if Branson Taylor or Kayode Awosika is still in the lead in the competition— but Slaughter's performance as both a run and pass protector was highly encouraging. He looked just as violent and athletic as the coaching staff has spoken about all offseason.
That, at the very least, is proof of concept in an immediate sense.
Jake Slaughter was impressive in his first live-action showing in a Chargers uniform
This wasn't the Texans defense that amassed 47 sacks on 133 pressures a season ago. Virtually none of the starters were in the game— and Slaughter was left facing off against rotational defensive tackles Kayden McDonald and Dominic Bailey for most of his outing.
But neither of those matchups are walks in the park. McDonald was one of the most coveted interior defensive linemen in the Draft. At 6'2" and 326 lbs, he's an impressive physical specimen and a powerful interior stopper. Bailey is entering the league after a 5.5-sack, 7.5-tackle for loss campaign at Tennessee.
Slaughter held his own. There were times where he didn't get the first strike and was ultimately driven back a few steps. But on most of his reps, he was able to keep his anchor in tandem with center Jacob Spomer, and he looked highly athletic when he was required to get into the second level in the run game. There's still room to refine his first step and his hand placement, and it will ultimately be up to the coaching staff to determine if he's ready for a starting role.
At the very least, he didn't seem to get beat outright by his man at any point in the game. That's a highly encouraging sign— especially for a player who's taken a significant share of his training camp reps at center.
Whether the Chargers want to admit it publicly or not, Slaughter was likely drafted in the second round with the intention of him winning the starting left guard job by Week 1. It's not the end of the world if Awosika or Taylor ultimately starts the season there, especially considering how Mike McDaniel has historically been able to work around deficits in interior protection.
But Slaughter is certainly Los Angeles' highest-upside option at the position. Against the Texans, he proved definitively why that's the case.
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