Tag: Chargers right tackle

Chargers name Trey Pipkins starting right tackle

The fourth-year player won the starting right tackle job for the Chargers.

The Chargers have their starting right tackle for the 2022 season.

Trey Pipkins was deemed the starter over Storm Norton, head coach Brandon Staley announced before practice on Tuesday.

Selected by Los Angeles in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft out of Sioux Falls, Pipkins was tabbed as a developmental tackle with the potential to grow into a starting role.

However, the product on the field suggested otherwise, and he was being written off amid his struggles in his first two seasons. Pipkins made eight starts, with five of them coming in 2020. In that action, he allowed 42 pressures, 24 hurries, nine quarterback hits, and nine sacks.

When Bryan Bulaga went down in the first game of the 2021 season, Norton was plugged in as the starting right tackle. Meanwhile, Pipkins came on the field in jumbo packages, but it wasn’t long after that that he was inactive for four straight games due to lackluster play.

In Week 15 against the Chiefs, however, Pipkins got the chance to start at left tackle when Rashawn Slater was placed on the COVID-19 list. It was the best game of his career.

Two weeks later, he was called to start at right tackle against the Broncos while Norton was still inactive on the COVID-19 list. Pipkins did not allow a single pressure in 67 offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

In those two games, Pipkins displayed a player of much more confidence, an improvement from a technical standpoint in pass protection, and a never-before-seen brand of strength and physicality as a run-blocker.

Knowing he could carry his momentum and earn the starting spot over Norton, Pipkins spent the summer working with Slater and renowned offensive line trainer Duke Manyweather to further develop his game.

Pipkins rose to the occasion, allowing just one pressure in three preseason games and faring well against edge rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack during practices.

Keeping Justin Herbert upright is imperative, and Pipkins will have his work cut out for him in a division that now has new additions, Chandler Jones (Raiders) and Randy Gregory (Broncos), to go with Maxx Crosby and Bradley Chubb. Also, the Chiefs return Frank Clark and Chris Jones.

Chargers’ Trey Pipkins separating himself in right tackle competition

The Chargers’ right tackle competition seems to be concluding with a definitive winner.

It appears the separation day at right tackle is approaching.

According to Daniel Popper of The Athletic, fourth-year tackle Trey Pipkins took every first-team rep at right tackle in practice on Monday. Before practice, head coach Brandon Staley also indicated that a decision in the competition was looming.

Earlier this month, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said of Pipkins:

“I feel like there’s confidence. More consistency, understanding that you have to come out every day and be ready to go. I haven’t seen some of the dips, maybe, that we saw last year in his performance. A lot of consistency. He’s a talented guy. He’s been playing more like what you would expect from him so far in camp. I just see more confidence and consistency.”

In Los Angeles’ preseason game against the Cowboys Saturday night, Pipkins did not give up a pressure in 12 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Norton, meanwhile, allowed one pressure in his 13 snaps. Unfortunately, that lone pressure may have been the separation the coaching staff has been looking for all offseason.

Pipkins has not been a world-beater at right tackle, nor did we expect him or Norton to be going into this competition. But his growing consistency and solid performance against Dallas’ second-teamers are encouraging signs for his development. Pipkins spent the summer working with Rashawn Slater and renowned offensive line trainer Duke Manyweather, leading many to predict a breakout for the 25-year-old. It may be time to stop calling him a developmental tackle as he enters his fourth season, but it’s also looking like it’s about time to start calling him the starter.