As the Los Angeles Chargers enter Week 5 of the NFL season with a 3-1 record, many things, including the performance of quarterback Justin Herbert and ascendant wide receiver Quentin Johnston, have gone exceedingly well for the team.
At the same time, however, a major weakness for the team heading into the season, their offensive line, has wrought a nightmare scenario upon them with their injury struggles, and, now, they might be forced to regret a draft blunder they made in 2024: selecting Junior Colson in the third round.
While Colson, 22, played relatively well in the limited snaps he got last season, he is out for the entire 2025 season due to a shoulder injury he sustained, and it is possible that the Chargers may have been able to select a viable offensive lineman with that pick instead.
A 2024 draft blunder could surprisingly be sinking the Chargers this season
Heading into the season, Los Angeles's most glaring weakness was absolutely its offensive line depth. Throughout the offseason, they refused to add more back-ups, or even a new starter, to replace some of their offensive lineman, and this gamble immediately backfired when All-Pro left tackle Rashawn Slater went down for the season.
To make matters worse, Mekhi Becton has already missed time, and tackle Joe Alt, who moved across the line to replace Slater, is set to miss time with a high ankle sprain.
Moreover, the Chargers' remaining starters, including Trey Pipkins III, Bradley Bozeman and Zion Johnson have all struggled mightily, leaving Herbert to deal with the resultant pressure and limiting the offense's ceiling as a whole.
In a sense, this is not a new issue. Los Angeles's offensive line struggles have been present for years, and, apart from selecting Joe Alt in the first round in the 2024 Draft, the organization has only used fifth-round picks on linemen over the past three drafts.
Therefore, while Colson presents much-needed depth for the team's base 3-4 defensive scheme, the pick, in hindsight, could have been used much more wisely. At the time that Colson was selected, a number of now viable linemen were available, including Cooper Beebe, Isaiah Adams, Delmar Glaze and Matt Goncalves.
All of these players, to varying degrees, have developed into viable pass protectors over their first year-plus in the league. While Los Angeles likely would not have gotten an All-Pro player at this spot in the draft, having another viable lineman on the roster at this point in time would be a major boon to the team's playoff chances.
While hindsight is always 20/20, and Colson can still of course have a long and excellent career, at the moment it seems as though this draft blunder has come back to bite the Chargers in a painful way.