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Projecting the nine players to make up the offensive line room to open the 2023 season.
Over the next couple of weeks leading up to training camp, I will be breaking down the depth chart for each Chargers position.
Next up, I project what the offensive line room will look like heading into the 2023 season.
Kellen Moore was particularly bullish on the left side of the Chargers’ offensive line.
The Chargers are on the rise at their organized team activities, and one thing that has drawn attention is the offensive line, particularly the left side.
In an interview after practice on Wednesday, a reporter asked about the strength of his front five, and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore wasted no time in telling the media about the unit’s potential.
I think we’re building this left side that is going to have some tremendous strength behind it. Those guys’ ability to use strengths — the right side, as well — to kind of solidify these positions, to get these guys working together. I think that’s one of the biggest things with offensive line is that it’s five guys that have to be in sync. The more those guys spend time together, I think, is critical. We’re really excited about the way it’s laying out.
Star left tackle Rashawn Slater is back after missing nearly the entire 2022 season with a torn biceps.
“I love it. I’m so excited to be back,” Slater said. “I feel like we’ve all — it’s a young group, but now we had last year, especially with Zion and Jamaree.”
Slater had a dominant rookie season en route to being named to the Pro Bowl and earning Second-Team All-Pro honors.
After playing next to Matt Feiler in his first season, Slater will play next to second-year Zion Johnson, who is making the switch from right guard to left guard.
Johnson, the 2022 first-round pick, experienced some growing pains but he still flashed dominance, especially as a run blocker.
With the guys up front, the Chargers’ coaching staff won’t be content with anything short of excellence from the team’s offensive line in 2023. And if Moore’s comments are any indication, fans should be optimistic about this group’s trajectory.
PFF went through all 32 teams and named a breakout candidate from each one.
Every season, there are players who break out onto the scene who may not have been dominant the season before, whether they had limited snaps, dealt with an injury, or just improved as a player in the offseason.
Pro Football Focus’ Zoltan Buday went through all 32 teams and named a breakout candidate from each one. For the Chargers, Buday pegged second-year guard Zion Johnson as his.
Johnson is another second-year player who struggled a bit early in his rookie season, but he showed plenty of promising signs as the season went on to make Chargers fans excited about a potential leap in Year 2. Even though he ranked just 39th in PFF grade among guards on the season, his 70.8 grade over the last seven weeks of the regular season was good for 12th best at his position. Also, his 73.5 run-blocking grade over that span ranked fifth among guards.
Selected No. 17 overall out of Boston College in the 2022 NFL draft, Johnson was thrown into the fire in his first season, filling in as the team’s starting right guard from the get-go.
He appeared in every game, playing 100% of the offensive snaps, except for Week 11 against the Raiders when he came off the field for 11% of the snaps due to a shoulder issue that he experienced.
Johnson experienced rookie growing pains, particularly in pass protection, as he was tasked to go up against elite competition. However, he was steadily strong as a run blocker alongside Trey Pipkins.
Johnson is expected to move from right to left guard, the spot he played in college, where he will play next to the young and talented tackle Rashawn Slater, which should only benefit his play.
Jamaree Salyer talked about the different approaches that are necessary to excel at the guard and tackle positions.
The Chargers need their offensive line to come through in a big way for them in the 2023 season, and Jamaree Salyer is poised to play a key role for the unit after taking on a starting spot as a rookie last year.
Originally drafted as a guard, Salyer played tackle in 2022 following an injury to Rashawn Slater, who held down the left side of Los Angeles’ line early in the season. Now slated to move back to guard in 2023, Salyer talked about the difference in approach between the two positions.
“Tackle, it calls for more explosion, as far as with your feet,” He explained. “Guard, I feel like, is more quick twitch. Things happen a lot faster on the inside than they do on the outside. Most of the time, as a tackle, you blocking, probably, the best pound-for-pound player on the field, he’s a good athlete, but you’re normally just blocking that person for like 70 percent of the game.
“At guard, there are twists, linebackers, nickels that come, safeties that show up on the inside, so you have to think a lot faster at guard, whereas at tackle, you have to play a lot faster, but it’s not as much thinking – most of the time, you’re just kind of out there playing the game.”
Clearly, his experience playing outside of his natural position last year gave Salyer valuable insight regarding the nuance of playing at the tackle position. He would be wise to leverage his newfound versatility moving forward, as his ability to fill in at multiple spots on Los Angeles’ front-five could prove to be a boon for the team if injuries play a role in their 2023 season.
The Chargers locked up their backup center.
The Chargers re-signed center Will Clapp on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Clapp was signed by Los Angeles last offseason after four seasons with the Saints. A seventh-round pick of the 2018 NFL draft out of LSU, Clapp appeared in 34 games, seven being starts.
Clapp started three games while Corey Linsley was out with a knee injury and a concussion. He was strong in pass protection, allowing just four pressures on 252 pass-blocking snaps.
With Clapp staying in the blue and gold, the Chargers have their backup center to Linsley locked up through the upcoming season.
The Chargers offensive line was in the bottom 10 of the NFL in sacks allowed this past season.
In their effort to keep quarterback Justin Herbert upright throughout the 2022 season, the Chargers offensive line struggled mightily, giving up the seventh-most sacks of any team in the NFL.
One of the primary factors to their struggles was not having left tackle Rashawn Slater, who missed 15 games due to a biceps injury he sustained in Week 3 against the Jaguars.
Slater’s replacement, rookie Jamaree Salyer, took over in Week 4 and remained there for the rest of the season, providing to be a viable pass protector to Herbert’s blindside.
There were more injuries, as center Corey Linsley and right tackle Trey Pipkins each missed three games. Pipkins showed signs of growth as a player, but there were moments when his sprained MCL hindered his play.
Left guard Matt Feiler proved to be a solid signing in 2021. But he regressed this past season significantly, allowing 38 pressures and five sacks.
Rookie Zion Johnson, who manned the starting right guard position, dealt with growing pains. While he was strong as a run blocker, Johnson had his fair share of struggles in pass protection, allowing 40 pressures and seven sacks.
When Pipkins missed time, Foster Sarell got the start at right tackle, and he did not show much to warrant the swing tackle job for the foreseeable future. Sarell allowed 18 pressures and two sacks on 186 pass-block snaps.
For once in a very long time, the Chargers won’t be in the market for starters along the offensive line, assuming that they re-sign Pipkins to remain as the starting right tackle. Feiler could be on the chopping block, but it’s presumed that Salyer is a candidate to be the starting left guard in 2023.
Nonetheless, Los Angeles still needs depth.
At center, Linsley’s backup from this season, Will Clapp, will be a free agent. Brenden Jaimes is the only backup guard. Also, bringing in competition for the swing tackle spot with Storm Norton and Sarell would be beneficial.
Kellen Moore oozed confidence when talking about his offensive line during his introductory press conference.
The Los Angeles Chargers have assembled a highly effective offensive line in recent seasons, and their new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore seemed almost giddy to work with his front five in comments made during his introductory press conference.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Moore made it clear to reporters that despite not having met with the offensive line group yet, he is well aware of the elite talent he has at his disposal.
“I’m still in the process of going through that,” Moore said when asked about his line. “I’m really excited. We haven’t had an offensive staff meeting yet to really dig into this stuff. Certainly, the investment has been huge. Having a guy like [C] Corey [Linsley] as the center — you guys certainly probably feel it, but some people I think don’t recognize the importance of a veteran center and a guy who really runs the show. Corey has been one of the best in the NFL for a number of years. That is really exciting.
“I think that helps the quarterback. It relieves some of the workload and the volume that a quarterback has to do pre-snap. Having a guy like Corey run the show has been great. Certainly, there has been a lot invested there from a youth standpoint. Tons of younger players have had an opportunity to play. I’m excited to just see those guys continue to develop. They’re young players. Their future is skyrocketing right now. I’m just really excited to work with those guys.”
Certainly, the benefit of having a capable offensive line to protect the Chargers’ franchise quarterback will prove to be a huge advantage to Moore in his first year in Los Angeles. Keeping Herbert upright and well-protected in the pocket should enable Moore to utilize aggressive play calls in his game plans and should help the Chargers become a force in the stacked AFC next season.
Highlighting the good and bad from the Chargers’ loss to the Broncos.
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The Chargers came up short on Sunday, falling 31-28 to the Broncos in a bizarrely managed game that involved three-quarters of Los Angeles starters, despite having their playoff spot and seed secured.
Here’s who has momentum leading into the playoffs and who will need to bounce back.
Stud: Keenan Allen
Allen extended his streak of games with at least five receptions to seven with eight receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, the second of which came from backup Chase Daniel as the Chargers pulled within one possession. It felt, as it often has this season while Allen has been healthy, as though the veteran was open every time the ball came his way. Granted, Allen was matched up with Ja’Quan McMillian, a corner playing his first NFL game, for the majority of the contest. Still, it’s a nice way to ramp up for the regular season, and is only the second time this year Allen has gone over 100 yards.
Dud: Roster management
The fact that the Chargers played their starters into the fourth quarter in a meaningless game, given their injury luck this season, is strange. What makes it stranger is that Joey Bosa exited the game for some time after seemingly reaggravating his groin injury and Mike Williams (back) had to be carted off the field, and then the Chargers still left the rest of the starters out there. You want your starters to carry some momentum into the playoffs and beat a divisional rival. But LA has struggled with injuries all season, and you’d think that heading into the tournament as healthy as possible would take precedence over getting to 11 wins on the season. Beyond the broad scope of things, there are smaller roster decisions to peer at. Why was rookie running back Isaiah Spiller inactive in a game where you had an idea that backups might get some action? With quarterback Easton Stick a pending free agent, why not make him the active backup, with Chase Daniel likely to retire after the season to evaluate the backup spot going into the offseason?
Stud: Kyle Van Noy
Van Noy has come alive to end the season, finishing with a sack in each of his last five games, including Sunday’s contest. The return of Joey Bosa has opened up Van Noy’s role in the last two weeks as well, which partially spurred a game on Sunday in which Van Noy was able to both sack Russell Wilson and tip a pass that resulted in a Sebastian Joseph-Day interception. With all three of Bosa, Khalil Mack, and Van Noy healthy for the playoff run, the Chargers should be able to scheme up one-on-one matchups for each of them. With the way he’s playing, that bodes well for a Van Noy playoff breakout game.
Dud: Deep defense
Russell Wilson completed three passes that went for 50 or more yards on Sunday, a severe departure from the quarterback Broncos fans have seen for most of the season. Perhaps you can chalk things up to the Chargers rotating players on defense, which broke down communication between defenders used to seeing other faces next to them on the back line. But ultimately, those plays indicate a Chargers defensive identity that the team had seemingly buried after the bye week but is beginning to re-emerge down the stretch. With a gauntlet of quarterbacks beginning with the ascendant Trevor Lawrence and likely involving one or more of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and/or Joe Burrow looming, the Chargers need to get their act together if they’re going to make a run.
Stud: Austin Ekeler
Ekeler’s stat line isn’t sexy – 11 carries for 34 yards with a lost fumble, four receptions for 36 yards – but think of this as a season achievement award. With four catches on Sunday, Ekeler passed Keenan Allen for the most receptions in a single season by a Charger with 107. This number is also tied for second in receptions by a running back in a single season with 2018 Christian McCaffrey. The former undrafted free agent also holds a three-touchdown lead over Detroit’s Jamaal Williams going into Sunday Night Football, so there’s a good chance Ekeler ends the regular season as the total touchdown king.
Dud: Alohi Gilman
Gilman has been phenomenal over the past few weeks as he’s filled in for an injured Derwin James or cycled in with Nasir Adderley. Still, Sunday’s performance represented somewhat of a returning to Earth moment for the third-year player. There was the deep shot to Jerry Jeudy at the end of the first half, on which Gilman seemed to slow up as if the play was over before realizing that Russell Wilson had launched the ball in his direction. It’s the second very visible time that Gilman has declared a play over before the referees do: against Miami, he celebrated his forced fumble while Tyreek Hill scooped it out of the rugby scrum and took it in for a touchdown. Gilman did redeem himself later on Sunday when he recovered a punt muffed by Denver’s Brandon Johnson, but after the way he’s performed lately, Sunday was still an underwhelming showing.
Stud: Offensive line
Denver only hit Chargers quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Chase Daniel twice in this game, one of which was Baron Browning’s fifth sack of the season when he took down Herbert. Otherwise, I thought the offensive line was outstanding in this game, especially compared to some of their recent performances. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the team squandered the performance, with two lost fumbles and a number of costly drops that stalled drives that have normally been stopped by offensive line penalties. On the bright side, if the line comes into the playoffs playing like this, and the rest of the offense executes, the Chargers should put up points in bunches as they try to make a run.
Dud: Run defense
Giving up 205 yards to the Broncos on the ground is suboptimal, of course, but what I find more concerning is that Latavius Murray averaged 6.9 yards per carry on 15 rushes that all seemed to find cavernous holes on the offensive line. Again, there are some caveats to be made with the rest patterns of the starting players. But Murray stayed under 7 yards a carry primarily because the second-level defenders for LA were speedy enough to catch the 32-year-old. Next week, the Chargers will have to contend with Travis Etienne, a true burner who will not give LA as many opportunities to make mistakes without being severely punished. At this point, we know the Chargers aren’t going to field a top-tier run defense, but they’ll still need to be better than what they showed on Sunday to get by in the playoffs.
Rashawn Slater has been out since Week 3.
The Chargers are primed for the playoffs. They are red-hot, winning their last four games. But they’re still without a key player that could ensure they make some serious noise.
Left tackle Rashawn Slater has been out since Week 3 after rupturing his biceps. Slater’s injury was initially thought of as a season-ending blow, but there is a chance of returning.
“He is still working through his return to play,” Brandon Staley said. “He’s working through things and progressing well. If he returns to play, I think that you guys will sense that momentum, in terms of how we will handle it.”
Slater has been in the facility rehabbing from his injury.
Having Slater back would be pivotal, as L.A. will be relying on Justin Herbert heavily in the playoffs, and having his blindside protected is imperative. Additionally, Slater is a major component in the run game.
However, the Chargers have to factor in his long-term health, and they don’t want to take the chance of re-injury if Slater comes back too soon.
If the team ultimately plays it safe, it will continue to be Jamaree Salyer’s job. Salyer has played 100% of the offensive snaps since Week 4. While he has had rough moments, particularly against speed rushers, Salyer has been plenty reliable for a rookie.
We now wait and see if Slater will be designated to return off injured reserve ahead of their wild-card matchup, which will take place next weekend.
Highlighting the good and bad from the Chargers’ win over the Rams.
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The Chargers beat the Rams on Sunday to improve to 10-6.
Here is a look at the good and not-so-good from Los Angeles’ victory.
Stud: Austin Ekeler
What a game it was for Ekeler, who had the longest run of his career on the second quarter 72-yard touchdown scamper. He also became the third running back to haul in at least 100 catches and score at least 15 touchdowns from scrimmage in a single season, joining LaDainian Tomlinson and Christian McCaffrey. Ekeler was virtually impossible to tackle all game, turning 14 total touches into 161 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. It was a stellar performance against a Rams rushing defense that came into the game ranked top ten in DVOA and had not allowed a 100-yard rusher the entire season.
Dud: Run defense
Giving up 6.4 yards per carry to a team with five offensive linemen on injured reserve that’s also starting a player they were trying to get rid of less than three months ago is…bad. What’s worse is that the defensive line was pretty frequently moved right off the ball when the Rams chose to run, which represents a disappointing downturn from the past few weeks. Cam Akers himself took 19 carries for 123 yards, good for a per-carry average of 6.5 that feels much more like Akers getting 6.5 every time rather than a few big runs with a few stuffs mixed in. The Chargers don’t have a high-quality run defense; this season has been evident of that at every turn.
Stud: Mike Williams
Williams had maybe his best game of the season, converting ten targets into seven receptions for 94 yards. There was the trademark Williams plays, namely an astounding one-handed catch on the sideline that dropped the jaws of the collective football internet. But there were also new wrinkles: screens to the bigger receiver, deep curls where Williams juked defenders to generate extra yardage after the catch, etc. It was an all-around phenomenal performance that made the game feel, at times, as though the entire offense flowed through Williams and Ekeler. That’s a good sign for the Chargers, who seemed on Sunday to finally find a way to consistently get their stars the ball and score 30+ points for the first time since Week 5.
Dud: Kenneth Murray Jr.
Like we said earlier, much of the struggle with run defense on Sunday came from the push the Rams’ offensive line generated. Still, that doesn’t mean the second-level defenders are without blame, and Murray, in particular, seemed to have a rough go of things. When Akers found himself wide open in space only to have a throw bounce off his fingertips, Murray had fallen down trying to meet him in the flat. As with the defensive line, it’s a disappointing showing for the linebacker, who had strung together a few quietly fairly good games. Sunday, unfortunately, represented a coming back to Earth for the former first-rounder.
Stud: Morgan Fox
The book on Baker Mayfield is pretty widely distributed: make him feel pressured, and he will make mistakes. The Chargers were able to do that on Sunday, racking up three sacks and four QB hits, one of each of which came from Fox. The former Ram has continued to be perhaps the best free-agent acquisition of the year for the Chargers and perhaps across the entire league when you consider value. Fox is constantly disrupting the pocket and redirecting runners when given the opportunity to do so, and he’s proven to be a key cog in the Chargers’ defense.
Dud: Open-field tackling
One of the reasons Cam Akers was so successful was that he’s a bigger, more powerful running back who can break tackles with relative ease. Against players like that, you have to be sound as a tackler to limit them effectively. On Sunday, the Chargers were far from sound: every run from Akers seemed peppered with flailing Chargers defenders and ended with him dragging defenders a few extra yards. Tackling has been an issue for this defense dating back to the preseason, and those issues have continued to rear their heads throughout the year. Whenever Derwin James, who missed Sunday’s game with a concussion, is off the field, the deeper levels of the defense lose most of their teeth.
Stud: Offensive line
After a series of down games from the offensive line unit, Sunday’s performance was sterling. Justin Herbert was not sacked for the first time since the Falcons game. He was only hit twice, the lowest number since the Falcons game. The Rams presented a bounce-back opportunity as soon as Aaron Donald was ruled out, especially because the recent downturn in offensive line play had a lot to do with going up against elite interior pass rushers in recent weeks. On the ground, we’ve already given some credit to Austin Ekeler, but kudos are also for the group blocking for him. The Chargers could largely match the push the Rams got, giving Ekeler space to find a hole and then navigate from there, which is when he’s at his best.
Dud: Big play defense
The few times the Rams were able to move the ball down the field, it was primarily because they generated at least one big play on the Chargers’ defense. The 13-play, 81-yard field goal drive was catalyzed by a 42-yard Cam Akers rush. Baker Mayfield had a 39-yard completion to Van Jefferson on the ensuing drive. The Rams’ lone touchdown came on a 23-yard untouched run from Malcolm Brown. The Chargers were able to limit this tendency in the second half. Still, it’s concerning to give up those sorts of plays to an offense as anemic as the Rams when you’re staring down the barrel of an AFC gauntlet that includes Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. It’s also a return to earlier versions of this defense, which gave up big plays routinely before finding solutions over the bye week.
