The Chargers were undermanned when it came to their tight end room last year. Will Dissly essentially became a healthy scratch for most of the year after leading the 2024 TE room. The team signed Tyler Conklin in 2025 free agency. It was one of the few Joe Hortiz bargain bin free agent moves that simply didn't work out.
The big positive step forward we saw was the development of Oronde Gadsden II. Gadsden was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the season as a fifth-round selection. He finished the year with the best receptions (49) and yards (664) marks in Chargers rookie TE history.
The Chargers then bolstered their room around Gadsden this offseason. They signed Baltimore's Charlie Kolar to the highest ever blocking tight end contract (at the time). Kolar will also likely have more receiving responsibility than he had in Baltimore behind Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. After not adding a tight end in the draft, the team also bought low on Cleveland's David Njoku as a free agency signing.
Scott Matlock is also out at starting fullback. After Miami cut Pro Bowler Alec Ingold, he followed OC Mike McDaniel to Los Angeles fairly quickly.
The Chargers TE/FB room in 2026 looks much deeper than it was last season.
TE1: Charlie Kolar
Depth chart wise, there's not necessarily a clear indication of who the top tight end is here unlike other positions. But considering how much the Chargers paid Kolar in free agency and how much better of a blocker he is currently relative to Njoku or Gadsden, he'll be on the field a lot. Who puts up the most receptions, yards, and touchdowns is another conversation. But right now I'd guess Kolar gets the most work inline out of the three key TEs.
Out of 85 tight ends with 100+ run blocking snaps last year, Kolar had the 10th highest PFF run blocking grade at 71.5. Relative to Dissly, Conklin, Gadsden, and Tucker Fisk from a blocking standpoint last season, Kolar is an immense upgrade.
While he hasn't been known as a tried and true pass catcher at the NFL level, it's notable that he's gotten more involved as a receiver every season. Kolar had 14.2 yards per reception last year and 142 yards. Two receiving touchdowns was also a career high for him. Are those numbers supposed to blow you away? No, but the Chargers clearly believe he's capable of chewing on more in a receiving capacity based on the year to year increases and the college tape.
It can be argued that the Chargers overpaid for Kolar if you're going off of pure receiving production. But in the constantly evolving world of 12/13 personnel usage in the NFL, he's going to be a key fixture for the team this season. And he's the best blocker on the team without a doubt.
Grade: B
TE2: Oronde Gadsden II
To me Kolar is the clear early winner for most snaps amongst the TEs. It gets a little dicier between Gadsden vs. Njoku. Historically, Njoku has been able to line up both inline and from the slot. There's a little more versatility to his game vs. Gadsden being the ideal F TE.
But Gadsden is coming off of a much better season relative to Njoku last year. He's also seven years younger than a 30 year old version of the former Cleveland TE that's dealt with injuries. Njoku has missed 11 games in the last two years. If we're talking about usage, I'm more willing to bet on Gadsden's volume in this offense than Njoku's.
The question for Gadsden will be whether or not he can improve enough as a blocker to earn some more playing time inline as opposed to primarily working out of McDaniel's slot role. But there will still be a decent role for him in the passing offense regardless.
The comp for Gadsden in this offense is 2024 Jonnu Smith and 2025 Darren Waller in terms of slot usage. Both players ended up spending most of their time (over 40%+ snaps each) in the slot vs. inline or out wide. Gadsden did hit that mark last year with the team at 44.7%, but the lack of playable tight ends meant he had to line up inline about equally as often. That'll change under McDaniel in my opinion as long as Njoku and Kolar stay healthy.
Statistically, I'm not sure if Gadsden will match the numbers he put up last year with the new bodies in the TE room. But from a film and technique standpoint, there's no reason Gadsden shouldn't be a more complete and dangerous version of the flashes we saw in 2025.
Grade: B
TE3: David Njoku
After not taking a tight end in the draft, the Chargers went out and signed Njoku. Considering the fairly inexpensive contract he got, it was worth the gamble. If Njoku can give the team the level of production he had in 2023, he'd be incredibly underpaid. Even if it doesn't work out with the Chargers, they didn't invest much financial capital in acquiring him. Generally speaking, he's the perfect buy low signing of the Hortiz era.
What Njoku can still do in the red zone and as a pass catcher in general is worth the shot. But he's not 2020-2023 Njoku at the moment, and that's ultimately why he was available in the first place. As a run blocker last season, Njoku was 82nd in PFF run blocking grade amongst TEs with 100+ blocking snaps. A rookie WR-TE convert in Gadsden was 84th on that list. Injuries have clearly affected how well Njoku was once able to block.
But McDaniel is truly the reason to be cautiously optimistic about all three of the TEs in the room from a receiving standpoint. And considering the resurgences that Waller and Smith once had under him, that's also still true for Njoku. As long as he stays healthy, he'll get a fair share of red zone opportunities.
Grade: B-
FB1: Alec Ingold
The Chargers got a steal in Alec Ingold as the Dolphins cut him prior to free agency. He didn't even count against Hortiz's comp formula. Considering his familiarity in the system and his blocking from last year still holding up on tape, there's no reason the signing shouldn't work.
The Chargers had Scott Matlock playing fullback last year and the reality was that experiment was always a square peg in a round hole. Having a real fullback will give the Chargers a big advantage in the run and pass games when you consider the other TEs they've added. It is a massive upgrade on paper.
Grade: A-
Others: Scott Matlock, Evan Svoboda, Jerand Bradley, Johnny Pascuzzi, Lander Barton
Scott Matlock is now working as a Y blocking TE now instead of as a fullback. If he wants the chance to make the roster, it'll basically have to be as the teams' fourth tight end or because they'd keep him for some DT snaps. But as of now, he's technically working at TE over DT. It's not impossible Matlock makes it with how important he's been on offense, defense, and special teams in the past. But his fit with the current roster and arrival of Ingold seems redundant.
Evan Svoboda, Jerand Bradley, and Johnny Pascuzzi are all undrafted free agents there for competition. UDFA Utah LB Lander Barton seems worth mentioning here-he played 120 snaps at TE in 2025 in addition to his defensive workload.
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