Last Thursday was the first time where most of the Chargers starting offensive line played together in a real game. Despite Rashawn Slater not playing, Joe Alt, Kayode Awosika, Jake Slaughter, and Cole Strange were all out there. Out of all the Chargers interior offensive linemen in the game, Strange graded the lowest at a 40.5 PFF offensive grade.
Strange allowed a pressure on his six pass blocking snaps and had a few plays where he lost leverage vs. San Francisco's defensive line. He had a PFF run blocking grade of 49.3 and a pass blocking grade of 17.5. Keep in mind that we're talking about a limited sample size. But the eye test, film, and numbers all lined up in what was a pretty disappointing Strange debut.
It's just one game, but Chargers RG Cole Strange admitted his performance last Thursday wasn't up to par.
Strange and Chargers OC Mike McDaniel both spoke to the media on Monday. McDaniel was asked about Strange's performance and was more honest than coaches usually are at the podium.
"This past game I think he had nine snaps and there was a couple where Cole, he really went after an opponent and ended up being in a poor body position for the snap," McDaniel admittted.
"I was happy with his intent, not the execution this past game," McDaniel continued. "But he's not somebody I'm worried about. He was using those nine plays to his advantage. And you need NFL veterans like that that are willing to go after a certain techniques and fundamentals that you're working on so that they can perform at a high level in Week 1. I'm happy with where he's at."
Strange stepped to the podium next and largely echoed the same sentiments as McDaniel in regards to his perofmrance on Thursday.
Chargers RG Cole Strange on his performance vs. 49ers: "Not really happy with how I played. I'd like to play better."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) August 24, 2026
Says he was out of position on more plays than he wanted and was oversetting. pic.twitter.com/ulksyxUCcU
"Just got out of position a couple plays," Strange said when asked what he thought went wrong. "Overset a guy. Yeah I guess that's really mainly it. Just out of position."
From a panic or patience standpoint, I'm willing to lean more towards patience for now. It was the first game the team had played after Strange's linemate Tyler Biadasz suffered a season-ending injury. Hopefully, things look a little bit better this week against the Rams.
At the same time, McDaniel stuck out his neck to bring Strange in. There's a reason there isn't a competition for the right guard spot in McDaniel's system. Whether the offseason signing works out or not will largely be on him. Again, it's just one game in the context of this specific performance. But for most of training camp, the interior offensive line has been getting worked by LA's defensive line. That's been the trend and it showed up on film against another team last week.
The Chargers still have time to figure out the interior offensive line chemistry and machinations with Slaughter now starting. But last Thursday's performance by Strange set off some early alarm bells in terms of down to down play strength.
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