The Los Angeles Chargers, needless to say, haven't gotten what they were hoping for out of Cole Strange.
When the organization signed him to a two-year, $13 million contract this offseason, the thought process was pretty clear. Although Strange hadn't had a stretch as a truly reliable starting-caliber lineman at the NFL level, he did show some improvement towards the end of last season in Mike McDaniel's scheme in Miami. Perhaps some continuity could provide Los Angeles with a cheap solution after releasing Mekhi Becton off his deal.
A reasonable gambit, assuming everything else along the offensive line went according to plan. It did not.
And now, eight games into the season, Strange has been one of the least consistent interior linemen in the league, allowing 19 pressures and three sacks on 307 pass-blocking snaps and, outside of isolated stretches, failing to show the effectiveness in the run game McDaniel saw from him last year in Miami.
This all came to a head in the Week 9 matchup against the Houston Texans, where Strange was benched for Branson Taylor and, later, sixth-round rookie Alex Harkey.
In theory, the Chargers have the bodies to provide some competition for Strange now that they're healthier. McDaniel indicated that in his comments on Strange this week:
"We see Cole as the starter but we have some players that have experience on the field that are chomping at his heels," says McDaniel. "When his play is not as good as expectation or his standard, we have the ability to utilize our resources."
But McDaniel also did not outright say that Strange will not begin Week 10 as the starter at right guard, and assuming that level of commitment is still there for Los Angeles, it's hard to see how any of the depth pieces could perform well enough to truly surpass him in the depth chart.
Chargers' 'competitors welcome' stance is relatively meaningless when the depth is this unreliable
There's a reason Strange got benched in Week 9, even after weeks of shaky performance at the position. He had two absolutely abysmal reps against opposing defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins, getting beat on a bull rush and then getting pushed aside by a swim move within the span of the same drive. Both led to sacks on Justin Herbert.
But here's the thing. Strange has essentially been the uncontested starter at right guard since he signed with the team this offseason. Any semblance of competition, both in training camp and at the start of the regular season, was always focused upon the left guard spot.
Theoretically, Los Angeles does have options to replace Strange—those are the "resources" that McDaniel is referring to. Taylor, before he went down with a shoulder injury during the preseason, was seen as a potential riser within the organization. Harkey was drafted as a guard, although all of his snaps prior to Week 9 came at right tackle in the absences of Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater.
If Strange comes out and has another abysmal performance in Week 10 against the Baltimore Ravens, perhaps the Chargers' only option will be to hand the keys to one of those players by the end of the first half. But neither of those "resources" presents much higher upside than Strange.
Taylor has a total of just 59 pass-blocking snaps under his belt midway through his second NFL season, and he was listed as a DNP on both Thursday and Friday on the Chargers' injury report. Even if he's good to go for Sunday, you can imagine Los Angeles would be hesitant to turn duties over to him.
Harkey, for his part, allowed two pressures on just 16 pass-blocking snaps last week when he filled in for Strange in the second half. That's not a large sample size—and it's a tall task to step into a game and provide immediately reliable play at a new position—but it's also not an inspiring enough data set for Los Angeles to feel comfortable moving off of Strange at the position. Harkey also popped up on the injury report earlier this week, although he was a full participant at practice on Friday.
In an ideal world, the Chargers would at least have a veteran option they could test out at the position—and the right guard spot wouldn't have been left solely to Strange in the first place. But if Los Angeles still views Strange as the starter, it's hard to think that a benching ultimately proves to be anything more than a temporary reprieve from his struggles.
Add us as a preferred source on Google