The Los Angeles Chargers are clearly headed in the correct direction. The hiring of head coach Jim Harbaugh before last season was a great move, of course. A team that appeared set for also-ran status, even though LA had a great young quarterback, looked different last year.
This offseason, the team got even better with the signings of offensive lineman Mekhi Becton and running back Najee Harris. Harris will only help Justin Herbert improve even further.
There is no reason the Chargers cannot make a deep run in the playoffs next season. Maybe they are not ready to contend for a Super Bowl yet, but they are getting closer. If the three players below performed better than they have, LA could shock a lot of people in 2025.
3 LA Chargers who are on thin ice ahead of the 2025 season
Trey Pipkins
Pipkins' strength has been that he is versatile enough to play left or right tackle as needed. Beginning in his second season, LA needed him to play right tackle, and there he remained through 2023. The problem was that he was never very good. He allowed 49 total pressures and nine sacks in 2023, for instance. He also got penalized far too many times.
Last year, the Chargers moved Pipkins after the team took Joe Alt in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. The move was good, at least for the right tackle position, because Alt was quite good as a rookie and should only get better with age.
Pipkins moved to right guard, where he was atrocious in pass protection. Over the course of his career, he has been slightly better at pass-blocking than opening holes in the run game, but even that did not hold true last season. The Chargers signed Mekhi Becton in free agency, so Pipkins now seemingly has no home.
Cornerback Ja'Sir Taylor
Slot corners, of which Taylor is one, need to do several things to help their teams be successful. That includes covering running backs and tight ends and helping out in run support. Taylor has not shown that he can do any of those overly well, and, as he enters his fourth season in the league, he needs to be replaced.
Perhaps the worst facet of Taylor's game is his inability to tackle. His career whiff rate is an atrocious 19.5, and he missed 23.5 in 2023. He isn't big to begin with, at 5'10" and 185 pounds, but good technique would make him better. Taylor doesn't seem to have that either.
Last year, however, his coverage skills were a mess. He allowed five touchdowns on 21 catches with a quarterback rating allowed of 146.8. Instead of improving over his career, he is regressing. The Chargers are a good team, and cannot afford a player such as Taylor to pull them down.
Wide receiver Quentin Johnston
When Johnston was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft, he was supposed to be the big and fast receiver that every team covets. He is 6'4" and can fly, but he also has issues catching passes. In a Monday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens last season, Johnston had the ball thrown his way five times. He caught none of them, but he dropped three.
That has been an ongoing problem for the wide receiver throughout his career. The other issue is that fans know he can do great things because he has had great games. He is just too inconsistent to count on week to week.
In Week 9 of 2024, he had four catches on five targets for 118 yards. Over the next three games combined, he had four catches on 15 targets for 72 yards. Somehow, two of the receptions were touchdowns. Johnston struggled through most of the second half of last year, but in the final game of the season, he had 13 catches on 14 targets for 186 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders.
In 2025, Johnston needs to make it all make sense. He still has at least two years left on his rookie deal (the team holds a fifth-year option as well), and maybe year three is when the proverbial light bulb goes off for the receiver. Or maybe the team gives up on him after next season.