The less that's said about the Chargers' choice to platoon left guard in Week 1, the better. Kayode Awosika played a fine game while Trey Pipkins III cost the team in key moments. While the rest of the offensive line played 55 snaps, Awosika played 35 and Pipkins played 20. It has clearly thrown the Chargers' chemistry off along the offensive line. Rookie C Jake Slaughter didn't even know who he was going to line up next to from drive to drive in his first ever NFL game.
For now, that experiment is dead. Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh announced that Awosika will be the full-time starter vs. the Raiders. Pipkins registered DNPs on all three days of practice this week with a knee injury. The offensive line will finally have an opportunity to build some continuity together throughout the whole game vs. the Raiders (*knocks on wood* barring injury).
It shouldn't have taken a Pipkins injury for Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh to make this decision.
Awosika's Week 2 performance might be the determining factor on whether the Chargers would consider a LG platoon going forward. If he plays a good game, he probably locks up the job for the rest of the year. Hopefully, that happens for the Chargers on Sunday vs. the Raiders.
But being entirely truthful, it doesn't feel great that this had to happen for the coaching staff to back off of their rotation idea. Again, no other team in the NFL is currently switching out guards without an injury circumstance to point to. There are historic examples you can look at whether it's the 49ers or even McDaniel's Dolphins. But you're simply not a serious offensive line with serious options if you're running a rotation in 2026.
It's a sign that the Chargers didn't do enough in free agency. But at that point, the bed has been made. Whatever Awosika's limitations may be, it simply wasn't worth doing the rotation in Week 1. Perhaps we're talking about a different result in that game if they convert on 4th and goal with Awosika in pass protection instead of Pipkins.
At this point, considering how largely panned the decision was, I doubt the Chargers would go back to the platoon even with Pipkins healthy. But a good performance against Maxx Crosby's Raiders defensive line would help Awosika's chances of retaining the job throughout the season.
It's good that the coaching staff finally came to their senses on this one, even if they arguably got to the right answer through a bad process. But let's hope the offensive line plays well enough this week that they don't end up reconsidering their decision here.
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