The long journey to the first Super Bowl in franchise history has officially started for the LA Chargers. Training camp kicked off on Wednesday and while the overall sentiment is excitement, it also didn't take long for the team's biggest offseason mistake to show its hand.
Simply put, the Chargers didn't address the offensive line as much as fans would have liked after Justin Herbert led the NFL in pressures and quarterback hits last season. Los Angeles is getting Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater back, which is great, but the additions on the interior offensive line leave more to be desired.
This was highlighted by the starting offensive linemen when camp kicked off. Kayode Awosika, who has 11 career starts in five seasons in the NFL, played with the starters as the team's starting left guard. Second-round pick Jake Slaughter, who was a polarizing pick, played back up snaps at both center and left guard.
The offensive line plan is genuinely confusing, which dates back to the questionable moves made during the offseason.
Chargers' offensive line decisions are already starting to age poorly
Is there a world where the Chargers cracked the code and they surprise everyone with who they brought in this offseason? Sure. But frankly, this regime has not earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to offensive line evaluation.
While injuries have played a big part of the struggles, this is the same regime that overspent on Mekhi Becton and doubled down on Bradley Bozeman even after he was the worst starting center in the league in 2024. Assuming the Chargers will get it right just because "they know more than us" is something the team has not earned.
Awosika starting for the Chargers in 2026 is an abject failure. If I would have told you in February that after the year Herbert had the Chargers would turn to a journeyman to start at left guard you would have lost your marbles. Everything the Chargers said and did lended the team toward heavily investing in the offensive line. That wasn't the case.
Now, just because Awosika got starting snaps on the first day of practice doesn't mean he will start in Week 1. We won't get a full idea at what the starting line looks like until there are several practices with pads on. But the fact he is even in the conversation is a problem.
How the team is handling Slaughter early is also highlighting the issues with the front office's philosophy. The idea at the time was that Slaughter would be the starting left guard even though he has never played left guard in his football career. Slaughter was an exciting center prospect in college, but that isn't guaranteed to translate to left guard.
One would think that the Chargers should be giving every single rep possible at left guard so they can determine whether or not Slaughter can do it. But the team isn't doing that, opening the door for Slaughter to be the long-term center as a backup this season.
Maybe he will be great in three years, but drafting a backup in the second round after last season would be a fireable offense.
And let us not forget: the Chargers' replacement for Becton was Cole Strange, one of the few guards last season who posted worse numbers than Becton. Strange has been bad at every step of his NFL career, so excuse me for not believing in him turning it around suddenly in LA.
But hey, the Chargers know better than the fans, right?
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