The Los Angeles Chargers have dealt with serious offensive line issues all season, and the story was no different with their backups playing against the Denver Broncos in Week 18.
Against one of the most dominant pass rushes in the league, they allowed four sacks, bringing their season total up to a jarring 62. This number will leave them in the bottom three teams in the league in pass protection.
In addition to the injuries to star tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, the abysmal play of both Bradley Bozeman and Mekhi Becton on the interior has left Justin Herbert with little to no protection over the course of the season.
However, backup center Andre James, who got the start in the unimportant Week 18 game, looked solid across his snaps. While it's likely too late to make a drastic shift, his performance begs a question that has been burning all season.
Why hasn't he gotten a true shot to replace Bozeman?
Andre James' performance in Week 18 reignites a serious Bradley Bozeman question
Bozeman has, frankly, been terrible this season.
According to Pro Football Focus, he has been the worst center in the NFL who has garnered enough snaps to earn an overall protection grade. While he has one more year on his contract, he would represent just over $1 million in dead cap were the Chargers to move on from him this offseason.
Expect Bozeman to be replaced either through the draft or free agency.
However, the team has inexplicably refused to give James a shot at replacing him in-season. Heading into Week 18, the seventh-year center had played just 13 offensive snaps, stepping in when Bozeman went down in Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It would be revisionist to say that James looked elite in that appearance.
However, against the Broncos, he looked much improved. According to Pro Football Focus's game recap, he allowed just one pressure on 53 pass blocking snaps. Bozeman, for comparison, has allowed 30 pressures across his 654 pass blocking snaps: an average of 1.9 per game.
Swapping out Bozeman for James as the starting center is not a viable option for next season. Serious changes need to be made, and in all likelihood, James should remain the backup.
However, if James can put up solid numbers against the most lethal pass rush in the NFL, why couldn't he have been allowed to step in for Bozeman at some point in the season?
He could perhaps have provided some relief to the siege that Herbert was under all year.