The LA Chargers had one of the most talented rosters in the NFL heading into the 2022 season but the coaching staff and front office have still made some questionable moves with the personnel. At times it has not felt like those in charge have pushed out the best version of the team, which is a problem.
Suffering a slew of injuries obviously makes things harder for the team but the Chargers have to be proactive in replacing said injured players if they are going to stay competitive. Unfortunately, the team has not been willing to do that.
Despite likely losing Rashawn Slater for the rest of the season, the Chargers did not add tackle help even with there being decent options on the market. Jamaree Salyer stepped in at left tackle instead of Storm Norton and that really helped but the team still should have added depth.
LA bought itself no insurance in the case that Salyer struggled at left tackle or if the team suffered another injury. They simply rolled with a rookie left tackle who was drafted to be a guard and a swing tackle in Storm Norton that statistically is one of the worst, if not the worst, tackles in the leauge.
The Chargers paid for this mistake as Trey Pipkins suffered an injury against the Browns.
Trey Pipkins, who has been having a career year for the Chargers, suffered an injury in the second quarter of Week 5's matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The injury did not look good for Pipkins in the moment but the right tackle was able to walk off on his own power.
It would be extremely surprising if Pipkins did not miss time and thus, the Chargers have to rely on Storm Norton with literally no quality depth behind him. Sure, they could sign a practice squad player, but is that really the kind of talent the team needs?
Instead, if the Chargers would have just brought in a veteran tackle that had experience they would have that in their back pocket. Not only would that have helped the team in Week 5 against the Browns, but it would have helped a lot moving forward.
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Said tackle would have already been in the team's scheme and the coaching staff would have had a fair evaluation of him and how to game plan with him at tackle. Instead, the team is probably going to be left scrambling to fix a mistake that should have already been fixed.