Official 2025 Chargers Discussion | 2025 Roster Build | In-Season

[Chargers8491]

Ok that's fair, but why do you think there were no holes at all in the run game the first few games? Chief run defense could be one good reason

I think part of improvement might be that Hampton is just finding his footing in the NFL. There was a play yesterday he was hit in the backfield like many times this year, but he beasted his way through tackers for 18 yards.

The big thing is that the Giants were not biting on the play action pass. The DEs were pinning their ears back and coming after Herbert. They were not even trying to hold the edge. This game was screaming run the ball. The play calls were playing right into the Giants strength and the Chargers biggest weakness with their 3rd string OLT and 2nd string ORT. Just so frustrating.....

[wu-dai clan]

IMO it’s a coaching issue with the Oline. Devlin’s seat is the hottest of any coach. Also they haven’t invested in the mid rounds on Oline. I think that changes next draft with a C and a G being drafted between rounds 2 and 5. I personally want either Cs Connor Lew, Logan Jones, Jake Slaughter or Bryce Foster. As far a Gs, my guys are Keylan Rutledge or DJ Campbell. I think they should resign Zion if he keeps playing the way he’s played thus far and also bring in some vet competition for swing tackle and G as well.

Colts invested within the first three rounds in Nelson, Kelly, Raiman, Bradon Smith, and reinforced that with numerous midrounders. Danny Dimes flourishes. Hmmm.

I still like the idea of tone setting. We all remember the Dielman effect.

[wu-dai clan]

I do not want an offensive lineman whose first name is "Gottlieb" !

[wu-dai clan]

Put some ice on it.

[Boltinloudguy]

Colts invested within the first three rounds in Nelson, Kelly, Raiman, Bradon Smith, and reinforced that with numerous midrounders. Danny Dimes flourishes. Hmmm.

I still like the idea of tone setting. We all remember the Dielman effect.

Exactly! Something Chargers haven’t done yet is build the depth through the draft on the Oline. That’s why I think that changes on the next draft and free agency.

[Boltnut]

Exactly! Something Chargers haven’t done yet is build the depth through the draft on the Oline. That’s why I think that changes on the next draft and free agency.

LT (1st round)
RT (1st round)
Swing tackle (3rd round)
LG (1st round)
swing guard (6th round)
5 out 8 OL were draftees... 3 of them being 1st round picks.

[wu-dai clan]

LT (1st round)
RT (1st round)
Swing tackle (3rd round)
LG (1st round)
swing guard (6th round)
5 out 8 OL were draftees... 3 of them being 1st round picks.

Maybe the problem is that we have no glass eaters to provide leadership.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Someone today said the Chargers pro beat writer has good insight and access.....well Popper seems to agree with what I have been saying. They cannot subject Herbert to this.



Chargers leaky pass protection, now without Joe Alt, is putting Justin Herbert at risk


By Daniel Popper
Sept. 29, 2025 4:43 pm PDT


EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers are living in a worst-case scenario along their offensive line. Some of it was avoidable. Some of it was not.

The bottom line: The pass protection cannot continue to perform at this debilitatingly poor level. Not if the Chargers want to win football games. Not if the Chargers want to make the playoffs. Not if the Chargers want to keep Justin Herbert, their star quarterback and most important player, healthy for an entire season.

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The plan for the Chargers offensive line has been blown up into smithereens. The engine of the group was supposed to be the league’s best tackle duo. Left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending knee injury in training camp. And now Joe Alt, who moved from right tackle to left tackle after Slater’s injury, is dealing with a right high ankle sprain, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.



Alt had imaging done Monday, coach Jim Harbaugh said. Alt left Sunday’s loss at the New York Giants in the first quarter. He did not return. Alt reappeared on the sideline after halftime with a walking boot on his lower right leg.

“He’s working through an ankle,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what I know.”

The Chargers have gone from the best tackle pairing in the league to a below-replacement-level pairing. Austin Deculus, whom the Chargers traded for in August, replaced Alt at left tackle against the New York Giants. Deculus allowed six pressures and was no match for Giants rookie edge rusher Abdul Carter.
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Trey Pipkins III took over right tackle after Slater’s injury. Pipkins has allowed 12 pressures in the past two games, including nine in a Week 3 win over the Denver Broncos.

The issues extend to the interior, which was disastrous at times last season. The Chargers made one offseason move to improve that phase of the team: signing right guard Mekhi Becton in free agency. Becton has played 50 percent of the Chargers’ offensive snaps through four weeks. He missed parts of the season-opening win over the Kansas City Chiefs because of food poisoning. He suffered a concussion in the first half of a Week 3 win over the Broncos, and he did not play against the Giants. Becton, according to Harbaugh, remains in the concussion protocol.

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With Becton out, the Chargers have been playing the same interior trio that struggled in a playoff loss to the Houston Texans last season: left guard Zion Johnson, center Bradley Bozeman and right guard Jamaree Salyer. Those three players are still displaying so many of the same deficiencies. On top of losing off the ball, Johnson, Bozeman and Salyer cannot pick up stunts with any consistency. The Giants’ edge rushers — Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns — repeatedly attacked the Chargers with twists to the interior, and they created immediate pressure after immediate pressure on Herbert as a result.

“Working on it, and working to get better,” Harbaugh said of picking up stunts.

Salyer allowed five pressures against the Giants, according to TruMedia. Bozeman allowed four.

The Chargers are allowing Justin Herbert to get hit and pressured way too often this season.Al Bello / Getty Images

The Chargers were also overmatched against the Broncos’ defensive front in Week 3. Herbert’s off-script heroics lifted the team to a third straight victory. But that is not sustainable. They were overmatched again against the Giants, and the offense was ineffective as a result. Herbert has been hit 26 times in the past two games. He has been pressured on 47.4 percent of his dropbacks in that span, according to TruMedia.

Over the past two weeks, Herbert has been pressured on 46 dropbacks. The quarterback with the next-most pressured dropbacks over the past two weeks is the Cleveland Browns’ Joe Flacco with 35.

Herbert dealt with injuries in three straight seasons heading into 2025. He suffered fractured rib cartilage in 2022. In 2023, he broke bones on both his hands, including a fractured finger on his throwing hand that required surgery and ended his season. In 2024, he battled through a right high ankle sprain, a left ankle sprain, a thigh contusion and knee swelling.

Keeping Herbert healthy and playing must be the top priority for the Chargers. They are putting Herbert at risk with the current state of the pass protection.

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Herbert is on pace to be hit 140 times this season. He has never taken more than 109 hits in a season, which came in 2022. The Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins took 131 hits in 2022, the most hits a quarterback has taken in any season in TruMedia’s database.

“That’s part of the game,” Herbert said Sunday night, “and you got to be ready to get hit.”

Herbert is on pace to be pressured on 295 dropbacks. His previous high in a season was 272 pressured dropbacks. In 2013, the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan was pressured on 290 dropbacks, the most pressured dropbacks for a quarterback in any season in TruMedia’s database.

Herbert is being pressured on 40.6 percent of his dropbacks this season, according to TruMedia. He has never been pressured on more than 36.7 percent of his dropbacks in a season. That rate came in his rookie year in 2020.

“As competitors, you want to learn from it and grow and move forward in a lot of areas,” Harbaugh said of the pass protection. “That’s where we feel like we come out of that game chasing perfection. So we’ll continue to do that.”

Where do the Chargers go from here? Alt could end up on injured reserve, a move that would force him to sit out four games. Alt is getting second opinions, according to Russini. If Becton has to miss more time with his concussion, the Chargers do not have many options. They could give Andre James a shot at center or guard. Otherwise, the depth is limited. They were banking on Becton playing. He is not. They waited until the sixth round to draft a lineman. That player, Branson Taylor, was waived on cutdown day and is on the practice squad.

The Chargers could not have predicted losing both of their All-Pro-caliber tackles. They could have predicted playing without Becton for parts of the season. They could have used earlier draft capital to build out offensive line depth. Second-round receiver Tre’ Harris and fifth-round receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith combined to play 19 snaps Sunday against the Giants.

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The Chargers worked out four offensive linemen on Monday: T/G Gottlieb Ayedze, T/G McClendon Curtis, G/C Michael Dunn and G/C Jaylon Thomas. If Alt and Becton miss this week’s matchup with the Washington Commanders, the Chargers will need to add an offensive lineman to have eight active on game day.

“Joe Hortiz and our personnel staff is always looking at all positions,” Harbaugh said.

Once Becton returns at right guard, the Chargers have the option of playing Salyer at left tackle in place of Alt. Salyer played the best football of his career at left tackle while filling in for an injured Slater in 2022.

“We’ll work through those options as we go and do the best thing for our team,” Harbaugh said.

There are no ideal answers. Teams do not part with functional offensive linemen. They are a valuable asset because they are very difficult to find.

The only realistic hope is that the Chargers somehow cultivate improvement internally.

“I just have faith in this unit,” Johnson said in the locker room Sunday. “I have faith in everybody on this offensive line. And I know that a game like this, you learn from and you come back even stronger.”

[jamrock]

Colts invested within the first three rounds in Nelson, Kelly, Raiman, Bradon Smith, and reinforced that with numerous midrounders. Danny Dimes flourishes. Hmmm.

I still like the idea of tone setting. We all remember the Dielman effect.

Maybe convert Tear Tart. He'd be a tone setter

[DerwinBosa]

So who can Hortiz trade for ?

He already missed the boat on Cam Robinson and Willie Lampkin. Just imagine how awesome our offensive line would be right now if we had a veteran offensive tackle who's been benched, made inactive, and traded for nothing in the last three weeks and an undersized undrafted rookie who was placed on injured reserve two days after the Eagles picked him up following his release from the Rams.

Maybe Hortiz should look into trading a draft pick for Evan Neal. I mean, he's been a complete bust with the New York Giants and is currently their third-string right guard, but hey...he was drafted in the first round!

[jamrock]

Maybe the problem is that we have no glass eaters to provide leadership.

Choir boys and a computer science major

[Boltx]

Even if Becton returns and Salyer fills in admirably at LT, I think the duo of Zion and Bozeman will ultimately hold this team back from either making the playoffs or advancing in the event that they even make it.

Even if Alt and Becton return you're still looking at the trio of Zion/Bozeman/Pipkins. They just give up way too much pressure way too easily. The Bronco and Giants games were not anomalies, they will be replicated by teams that will twist/stunt us to death. You simply can't operate an offense this way, much less keep your franchise QB alive. At this point we need to hope Herbert doesn't pull an Andrew Luck and say it's just not worth it. If that Popper article is true, he is on pace to set the record for number of QB hits taken....by a lot. Fuck.