Chargers may have just revealed the starting offensive line during OTAs

The LA Chargers made a polarizing selection with the fifth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, taking Notre Dame's Joe Alt over LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers. Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers committed to building in the trenches and buying in on Alt's ceiling as a franchise tackle, solving the wide receiver need later in the draft.

Whether or not this was the right path to take can (and will) be debated until Alt and Nabers take the field in their rookie seasons. One thing that cannot be debated is how special Alt is. Barring an unforeseen fall-off that would shock the entire league, he should be an above-average tackle for the Chargers right out of the gates.

It was assumed that Alt would move to right tackle with Rashawn Slater locking down the franchise left tackle position and that is the direction the Chargers are taking. The rest of the starting offensive line has been in flux, though, with fans not really knowing what Harbaugh had in mind.

Harbaugh previously stated that the Chargers would start the five best offensive linemen they have and after a week of OTAs, it looks like that fivesome is starting to take shape. Nothing is yet official, but there is one group that received all the playing time in front of Justin Herbert during Tuesday's practice, according to Eric Smith of Chargers.com.

"Finally, something of note, but the Chargers used the same group of offensive linemen — Rashawn Slater, Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, Trey Pipkins III and Joe Alt — in front of Herbert for the entirety of Tuesday's session."

Chargers offensive line may include Trey Pipkins at right guard

This is something that Harbaugh flirted with after making the Alt selection in the draft. Harbaugh called Pipkins one of the five best offensive linemen that the team had, which opened the door for him to slide to right guard. Fast forward to the summer and the Pipkins-at-right-guard experiment is in full swing.

There is plenty of time for the Chargers to tweak the offensive line group and try other combinations out. If there is one thing that Harbaugh certainly won't do it is settle for a fivesome that is not the best fivesome on the team.

That being said, this goes in line with what Harbaugh previously said, and proves that the team considers Pipkins to be a legitimate right guard option. Whether or not that actually works out remains to be seen, as Pipkins isn't necessarily the best run-blocker in the world.

Other options include Jamaree Salyer or Jordan McFadden at right guard. Harbaugh also said that he views McFadden as an option at center, so the team could even kick Bradley Bozeman to right guard to make room.

Either way, these five offensive linemen look to be the penciled-in starters for the 2024 season. It will be interesting to see if that changes with time.