Rashawn Slater injury gives draft bust better chance of making Chargers roster

Update: Rashawn Slater returned to Chargers practice on Monday.

LA Chargers training camp is well underway and in classic Chargers fashion, the injury news has already started. The overall hope is that a new regime can result in better injury luck but that does not seem to be the case thus far.

While nothing severe has happened, the Chargers did already lose Rashawn Slater to an injury during a practice last week. Slater left practice early on Friday with an injury, although Jim Harbaugh downplayed any severity, saying he was held out of the weekend's practice session out of an abundance of caution.

It does not appear to be anything worth worrying about and should not have any kind of impact on Slater's 2024 season. It makes much more sense to be cautious this early in the training camp process so the Chargers should give Slater even more time than he needs to return to action.

It also opens the door for other offensive linemen to get snaps as well. While he is not going to be a starter for the team, Slater missing out on practice may impact one recent draft bust the most. After signing with the team earlier in the offseason, former Raider Alex Leatherwood is going to get a bigger runway to earn a roster spot on the Bolts.

Alex Leatherwood has a real chance to make the Chargers roster

The depth at the tackle position is not the best even though the Chargers have two lock-solid starters in Slater and first-round pick Joe Alt. With Trey Pipkins starting at right guard, the true backup tackle options (not counting Jamaree Salyer) are Foster Sarrell and Alex Leatherwood.

As Chargers fans are reminded every season, having depth on the offensive line is critical as there will be injuries that pop up throughout the season. Even if the Bolts have much better injury luck, the odds of the starting offensive line playing all 17 games together in 2024 is slim.

Thus, it is important to weigh all options behind the starting five and that includes Leatherwood. To this point in his career, Leatherwood has done nothing to show that he is a quality offensive lineman. Leatherwood was an absolute miss for the Raiders and didn't do anything with the Chicago Bears.

At some point, you are who you are in the NFL and Leatherwood may never turn into a consistent player. However, the Chargers' coaching staff and front office obviously see some potential in him, or else he would not have been signed in the first place.

It is not like Sarrell is a high bar for Leatherwood to cross so with more reps available to him in camp Leatherwood has a better chance of making an impression. A strong training camp can absolutely get him a roster spot and get him the role of OT4 (with Pipkins being the pseudo swing tackle if someone gets hurt).

Now it is up to Leatherwood to take the opportunity he has been given and prove the Chargers right for taking a chance on him in the first place.

More Chargers news and analysis