Chargers RT Joe Alt got some respect from NFL personnel after his performances in 2025. Despite playing just six games due to a season-ending ankle injury, Alt achieved his first ever top 10 OTs ranking in Jeremy Fowler's ESPN poll. The 2025 Pro Bowler was ranked at #9 after being an honorable mention last year.
LT Rashawn Slater was listed as an honorable mention in the article. He fell from #6 last year to seemingly just outside the top 10. That was obviously due to his season-ending patellar tendon rupture in August that knocked him out for the season. Per Fowler, an NFC executive said that Slater will "be back on it next year" in regards to the top 10 list. There's a distinct possibility that the Chargers end up having two names on next year's ranking if Alt and Slater stay healthy.
One NFL executive thinks Joe Alt could match the career of a guaranteed Hall of Fame right tackle.
An NFC executive made a tremendous upside comp for Alt in Fowler's article:
"He will be the next Lane Johnson at right tackle. Rare combo of size, strength and agility." -NFC executive
Johnson has held down the right tackle spot in Philadelphia for 13 years. The two-time Super Bowl Champion also has made six Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pros, and three second-team All-Pros. Johnson is a near lock to walk into Canton's Pro Football Hall of Fame five years after he retires.
If Alt can have that kind of consistency and performance over a decade plus for the Chargers, they'd be incredibly lucky. Past the nice upside comp, it's interesting that NFL personnel sees Alt staying on the right side long term. That's in part due to the presence of Slater on the other side.
But one of the other parallels with Alt and Johnson is their position switching in the league. While Johnson played multiple positions in college, his senior season at Oklahoma was at left tackle. Both players made the left to right transition in the league. Alt started all three seasons at Notre Dame at left tackle before he switched to right in the pros.
In the first half of the season, Justin Herbert had a QBR of 56 without Alt on the field and a QBR of 80 when he was healthy. By EPA, the Chargers were a top five offense when Alt and Herbert shared the field together during the 2025 season.
Getting both tackles back from injury will be a huge win for the Chargers in 2026. Alt being held in such high regard by NFL personnel as a top 10 tackle this early in his career is massive for the team long term.
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