Of all the storylines that followed the Los Angeles Chargers over the past two months, the battle for the starting left guard spot has certainly commanded the most attention and the widest variety of headlines.
The battle has taken on dramatically different shapes since the Chargers selected Jake Slaughter, who seemed slated to take the role, in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. During the offseason program, Kayode Awosika took the bulk of first-team reps while Slaughter and Trevor Penning were seen as the other two competitors.
Los Angeles entered training camp with roughly the same landscape at the position. But almost as soon as Slaughter had started to gain ground at his new spot, starting center Tyler Biadasz went down for the season with an ACL injury, thrusting Slaughter over to center likely for the duration of the season. Trey Pipkins III, who has some experience at guard, then started to crop up more seriously in conversations and coaching staff soundbites.
While it seemed like Awosika had all but claimed the job by the final preseason game, Pipkins continued to rotate in with him during practice. Now, Jim Harbaugh has thrown another wrench into the battle— the Chargers may very well platoon Awosika and Pipkins at guard until they figure out a clear winner.
Jim Harbaugh said the competition at left guard is still ongoing between Trey Pipkins and Kayode Awosika.
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) August 31, 2026
Harbaugh said Travis Burke’s emergence as a swing tackle has made it possible that the Chargers play both Penning and Awosika.
Harbaugh called it “platooning” guards and… pic.twitter.com/hNbue3toQW
Chargers have a stubborn fascination with Trey Pipkins— hopefully it pays off
Awosika is by no means the most certain bet at left guard. He's started just 11 games over the past four season with the Detroit Lions, and he's put up middling levels of performance in that span.
But why does Pipkins continue to stick around in this conversation?
Harbaugh makes a good point about Travis Burke. He was one of the most impressive performers of the preseason, leveraging his size, length, and physicality to completely disarm pass rushers at various points across Los Angeles' three matchups. If the coaching staff believes he's ready to take real NFL snaps on either side of the line, giving Pipkins a shot to outplay Awosika is at least a gamble worth taking.
At the same time, though, the Chargers largely know what they have in PIpkins. He's a capable swing tackle, but anytime he's been trusted to take over extensive reps—especially on the interior—he hasn't looked great. The only time in his career where he's seen significant time at guard were the 705 snaps he played on the right side in 2024. He allowed 29 pressures and six sacks that season.
Perhaps this is just a classic Harbaugh smoke-screen on the eve of the regular season. There might be a slim competitive advantage to be unlocked by keeping your starting left guard under wraps until Week 1.
But if there is still a real competition being waged here, it's likely less a sign of faith in Pipkins than it is an indictment on Awosika's inability to truly establish himself.
At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to Mike McDaniel and Butch Barry's preference for athleticism and fit along their offensive line. If Pipkins has that, he'll be the first man up at guard if either Awosika or Strange goes down, and he'll likely be the first man up at tackle as well.
Either way, Harbaugh's claim that Pipkins is one of the team's "five best" offensive lineman will almost certainly be put to the test this season. We'll simply need to wait and see if that's in a Week 1 starting role or not.
Add us as a preferred source on Google