Charlie Kolar is steadily making his case for a starting role with the Chargers

Of all the concerns the Los Angeles Chargers need to address in training camp, the tight end room is far from their most prevalent.

After letting Tucker Fisk and Will Dissly go this offseason, they added Charlie Kolar and David Njoku to complement emergent pass catcher Oronde Gadsden II at the position. With Mike McDaniel instituting a new, heavy-personnel centered offensive scheme to the organization, both Kolar and Njoku will have major roles to play as in-line blocking tight ends.

What McDaniel and the rest of the coaching staff need to determine over the next few weeks is who will take on the role of TE1. Each piece has a case, and Los Angeles will likely be looking to cycle these tight ends depending on the situation. But if one can emerge as the clear-cut starter, that makes the offensive hierarchy for the Chargers immediately more defined.

Kolar has the best case for that role out of the three. With his mention of his hidden pass catching skill set during his press availability after practice on Saturday, he continues to strengthen his claim.

Charlie Kolar has the strongest case for the Chargers' open TE1 role

If the depth chart were decided purely in terms of explosive-play upside, Gadsden would be the clear-cut favorite for TE1. Although he began last season as a healthy scratch, the questionable availability of Dissly gave him an opening, and he seized it wholeheartedly. He posted 32 receptions for 453 yards and two touchdowns across his first seven NFL appearances, quickly becoming one of the few sparks in the floundering Greg Roman offense.

Although his production died down as the season went on, he still remains a tantalizing playmaker under McDaniel.

But Kolar was brought in on a three-year, $24 million deal because of the value he provides as a blocker in McDaniel's scheme. McDaniel is known to lean into 12 and 13 personnel (featuring two and three tight ends on the field at a given time), and Kolar will be integral in helping to set the edge in McDaniel's outside zone-centered run game.

He already has a strong case to take the TE1 role on that basis alone. But if he can back up his claims about having more to unlock in his pass-catching skill set, there will be little room to argue otherwise.

Kolar was essentially just a blocker during his time with the Baltimore Ravens, seeing just 41 targets over the course of four seasons and seeing less than 30% of the offensive snaps across his first three NFL campaigns. But that was, in part, a result of the offensive hierarchy in Baltimore. Both Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely were above him on the pass-catching totem pole for the entirety of his time there.

In his senior season at Iowa State, though, Kolar posted 62 receptions for 756 yards and six touchdowns. He's certainly been a blocking tight end since he came into the league, but it seems as though both he and the Chargers have hopes for him to take on an expanded role in Year 5.

If Los Angeles can keep him on the field on an every-down basis without sacrificing their versatility through the air, Kolar may quickly be carving out his spot as the TE1 on this roster.

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