The Chargers had a clear No. 1 priority entering the offseason: protect Justin Herbert. Herbert was the most pressured quarterback in the league last season and until that changes, neither will the Chargers' fate.
All five of the starters from the AFC Wild Card Round loss have been replaced after the second day of the 2026 NFL Draft. Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are getting healthy and look ready for the start of the 2026 season. Los Angeles replaced Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, and Mekhi Becton with Jake Slaughter, Tyler Biadasz, and Cole Strange.
Replacements don't always serve as upgrades and there's every reason to be skeptical of this group. Don't tell Jim Harbaugh that, though, as the Chargers' head coach is feeling great about his offensive line after the second round of the draft.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh on offensive line: “We’re in a tremendous place. Our entire roster is in a place physically that’s really good.”
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) April 25, 2026
Jim Harbaugh's comments about the Chargers offensive line are coach speak at their finest
Tremendous? That's not the word I'd use.
Could this all work out for the Chargers? Absolutely. We obviously want the Chargers' offensive line to succeed for Herbert's sake. But given the expectations heading into free agency and the resources the Chargers had, it's hard not to be disappointed by the crew the team has assembled.
It's pretty easy to look at this interior offensive line group with a glass-half-empty approach. Slaughter is a college center who has never played guard and struggled in his guard reps during the Senior Bowl. Biadasz is a veteran center who was just willing cut by his former team after ranking 23rd out of 31 centers in Pro Football Focus' Pass Blocking Efficiency. Strange has been one of the worst statistical guards in the league in recent years, regardless of his experience with Mike McDaniel.
Now, on the flip side, Slaughter was a successful center at Florida, Biadasz is an upgrade from Bradley Bozeman and Strange at least has experience in the system. Those positives are very real, but reality doesn't exist in rose-colored glasses.
Some fans may try and spin all of this as a positive outcome. Fine. I am not trying to yuck anyone's yums. That being said, if I told you back in February that the Chargers' solution on the line was a center with no guard experience, a released center, and Strange... well... you wouldn't have been very happy.
Harbaugh isn't going to tell reporters that the Chargers' offensive line is terrible. He's not going to go up there and completely dismantle the room he just played a role in acquiring. But his optimism also isn't the law, and it's not always a fair representation of what is actually happening.
Let's not forget, this is the same regime that stood by Bradley Bozeman last offseason after his awful 2024. It's the same regime that sold us all the same story on Becton last offseason. Just because they are selling it doesn't mean Chargers fans have to buy it.
And candidly, I'm not buying it. Hopefully I come to regret that.
Add us as a preferred source on Google