Official 2026 Chargers Roster Discussion | Roster Build | Free Agency

[beachcomber]

Josh Simmons looked pretty good last year. Strange was healthy and mobile. A torn *****lar tendon is not a career ender anymore.

not exactly sure what your inference is, and.... Strange apparently does not have the core strength to hold up against IDL bull rushes, he does get out and wall off defenders to create creases as running lanes.... the issue was that Herbert did not have time enough to make throws downfield.... is Strange the guy to remedy that deficiency ??

and Caleb Lomu would look pretty good this year me thinks/suspects.... he would ensure that Rashawn could work his way back in @guard, and w/sufficient depth behind him, not to push him if he gets behind schedule, or has any sort of dingleberry along the way.

Alt is not 100 percent either, and so counting on the both of them avoiding any sort of rerun is a nice thought, and.... god forbid there was a rerun of our last go 'round w/them, sure would be nice to know Lamu is already acclimating out there and that we have plenty of depth to buoy any choppy seas w/the either or both of Alt or Slater.

it's not just a matter of their physical health/well being, as it's also the psyche of knowing your season is again in the balance, and dependent upon two guys who have missed significant time of late.

there is a way to mitigate the risk factor, and that is to go LT @22.... save that there is a quality starting one there for us.

[CanadianBoltFan]

FA, not perfect. We can't blame Najee's fireworks on Hortiz though. Tear Tart was excellent.Perryman good, Unc very good.
I have no Excuse for Bozeman. Zion was inherited, Bechton swing and miss. Draft pick Alt was awesome.(When healthy) Slater was excellent (when healthy).

Re; Cart before the horse? A+? You didn't get that from me. Two 11 win seasons aren't exactly one and done. We've been better than average. That's not the A+ goal. A Lombardi Trophy and repeat SB appearances is. We've improved with Hortiz. That's good, not great. Yet.
Let's play 2026 before I'll grade him.

Hortiz's low budget FA signings have been quite successful on defense...not so much on offense.

[CanadianBoltFan]

not exactly sure what your inference is, and.... Strange apparently does not have the core strength to hold up against IDL bull rushes, he does get out and wall off defenders to create creases as running lanes.... the issue was that Herbert did not have time enough to make throws downfield.... is Strange the guy to remedy that deficiency ??

and Caleb Lomu would look pretty good this year me thinks/suspects.... he would ensure that Rashawn could work his way back in @guard, and w/sufficient depth behind him, not to push him if he gets behind schedule, or has any sort of dingleberry along the way.

Alt is not 100 percent either, and so counting on the both of them avoiding any sort of rerun is a nice thought, and.... god forbid there was a rerun of our last go 'round w/them, sure would be nice to know Lamu is already acclimating out there and that we have plenty of depth to buoy any choppy seas w/the either or both of Alt or Slater.

it's not just a matter of their physical health/well being, as it's also the psyche of knowing your season is again in the balance, and dependent upon two guys who have missed significant time of late.

there is a way to mitigate the risk factor, and that is to go LT @22.... save that there is a quality starting one there for us.

I am not freaking about Alt and Slater, i think they should come back fine...but I am not complacent or dismissing the injuries either. Slater is missing more and more time in his career, that is just the truth.

I agree with the many that would have liked to see an aggressive Super Bowl mentality of covering the bases more. Rather than just counting on the tackles coming back, getting a decent center, rolling the dice at guard and depth and hoping it all works better this time...I would have liked to see more aggressive moves and more investestment to make sure we never see last year again

[dmac_bolt]

not exactly sure what your inference is, and.... Strange apparently does not have the core strength to hold up against IDL bull rushes, he does get out and wall off defenders to create creases as running lanes.... the issue was that Herbert did not have time enough to make throws downfield.... is Strange the guy to remedy that deficiency ??

and Caleb Lomu would look pretty good this year me thinks/suspects.... he would ensure that Rashawn could work his way back in @guard, and w/sufficient depth behind him, not to push him if he gets behind schedule, or has any sort of dingleberry along the way.

Alt is not 100 percent either, and so counting on the both of them avoiding any sort of rerun is a nice thought, and.... god forbid there was a rerun of our last go 'round w/them, sure would be nice to know Lamu is already acclimating out there and that we have plenty of depth to buoy any choppy seas w/the either or both of Alt or Slater.

it's not just a matter of their physical health/well being, as it's also the psyche of knowing your season is again in the balance, and dependent upon two guys who have missed significant time of late.

there is a way to mitigate the risk factor, and that is to go LT @22.... save that there is a quality starting one there for us.

his point was he expects Slater is an excellent starting LT this year. I do too.

Do you have secret intel on Alt that nobody else has? how do you know what % he’s going to be at by TC? That’d be great if you’d share - thx in ad*****.

[Boltjolt]

think Harbaugh's biggest mistake would be to trot out a hobbled Rashawn Slater as his starting LT.... def of the mind that Slater needs to start out @guard and see where things/his health goes from there.

and signing a hobbled/injury prone RT to back up your coming off of injuries, pair of tackles, is just bad business.... we need to draft a LT @22, no three ways about it.

Why do we assume that? We are not around him at all to know how he feels. They will know that when he is cleared to be on the practice field. Till then i think its silly to assume he needs to start out at OG. Maybe he will but i also think that if they think he isnt ready to practice at OT, he wont be out there til he is. They sure arent singing any OTs as if thats what they will do. Pipkins is a backup and was bad at LT when he had to play there.

[beachcomber]

his point was he expects Slater is an excellent starting LT this year. I do too.

Do you have secret intel on Alt that nobody else has? how do you know what % he’s going to be at by TC? That’d be great if you’d share - thx in ad*****.

got it, as had to reread his post, as was getting cross interference w/recalling that Strange had that same injury, no ??

and yeah, and as I mentioned.... would be nice if we could sail into week 20 next season w/the both of Alt and Slater healthy, and....

no, don't have any intel to speak of, just my sense from reading between the lines, and as just don't feel overly comfortable w/overly counting on the both of 'em, and 'specially w/Pips as their backup plan.... ??

we still have close to a month to go, and.... am getting more clear that would feel more comfortable than not w/Lomu @22 rather than ED3 or OG whatever.

[beachcomber]

Why do we assume that? We are not around him at all to know how he feels. They will know that when he is cleared to be on the practice field. Till then i think its silly to assume he needs to start out at OG. Maybe he will but i also think that if they think he isnt ready to practice at OT, he wont be out there til he is. They sure arent singing any OTs as if thats what they will do. Pipkins is a backup and was bad at LT when he had to play there.

agree, and.... just raising the flag, as you can look good on paper, and then again you can take action, which by my take would be best served by going LT @22, Lomu willing and available.

and agree, 'tis an assumption on my part, and.... once burned/bitten.... twice shy.

[Bolt4Knob]

Hortiz's low budget FA signings have been quite successful on defense...not so much on offense.

But the signings this year -- all they are doing is keeping the status quo. The defense is worse than last year. And I don't mean just losing Oweh. Mack was fine to bring back but why the need to bring back Perryman and Jefferson. Both are not getting better Why not try to IMPROVE one of those positions. He had the bleeping money and the costs of LBs and Safeties can be pretty economical.

Again, the record will tell the story but his off-season at present, for me, has been underwhelming.

[gzubeck]

But the signings this year -- all they are doing is keeping the status quo. The defense is worse than last year. And I don't mean just losing Oweh. Mack was fine to bring back but why the need to bring back Perryman and Jefferson. Both are not getting better Why not try to IMPROVE one of those positions. He had the bleeping money and the costs of LBs and Safeties can be pretty economical.

Again, the record will tell the story but his off-season at present, for me, has been underwhelming.

Wait until after the draft kind of thing. Let's see who we get in the draft and go from there. We couldn't compete with the Raiders for Linderbaum so nothing we could do there.

[AK47]

think Harbaugh's biggest mistake would be to trot out a hobbled Rashawn Slater as his starting LT.... def of the mind that Slater needs to start out @guard and see where things/his health goes from there.

and signing a hobbled/injury prone RT to back up your coming off of injuries, pair of tackles, is just bad business.... we need to draft a LT @22, no three ways about it.

Yeah like a LT/G at #22 would be nice in terms of the BPA+Need+depth trifecta.

I'm not sold on a TJ Parker for instance at 22. Dude only had 5 sacks in 2025. He's a slightly better prospect at best than our 4th round pick Kyle Kennard whom has 34 inch arms, 11.5 sacks in 2024, and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. First-team All-SEC.

[Javia]

got it, as had to reread his post, as was getting cross interference w/recalling that Strange had that same injury, no ??

and yeah, and as I mentioned.... would be nice if we could sail into week 20 next season w/the both of Alt and Slater healthy, and....

no, don't have any intel to speak of, just my sense from reading between the lines, and as just don't feel overly comfortable w/overly counting on the both of 'em, and 'specially w/Pips as their backup plan.... ??

we still have close to a month to go, and.... am getting more clear that would feel more comfortable than not w/Lomu @22 rather than ED3 or OG whatever.

I should have explained that Simmons, Strange and Slater all had the same injury, so I'm not very worried about it.

As far as Utah Ts, I love Fano and I'm okay with Lomu. If Hortiz thinks that Lomu can be a quality LG then I'm all for it.

[electricgold]

not exactly sure what your inference is, and.... Strange apparently does not have the core strength to hold up against IDL bull rushes, he does get out and wall off defenders to create creases as running lanes.... the issue was that Herbert did not have time enough to make throws downfield.... is Strange the guy to remedy that deficiency ??

and Caleb Lomu would look pretty good this year me thinks/suspects.... he would ensure that Rashawn could work his way back in @guard, and w/sufficient depth behind him, not to push him if he gets behind schedule, or has any sort of dingleberry along the way.

Alt is not 100 percent either, and so counting on the both of them avoiding any sort of rerun is a nice thought, and.... god forbid there was a rerun of our last go 'round w/them, sure would be nice to know Lamu is already acclimating out there and that we have plenty of depth to buoy any choppy seas w/the either or both of Alt or Slater.

it's not just a matter of their physical health/well being, as it's also the psyche of knowing your season is again in the balance, and dependent upon two guys who have missed significant time of late.

there is a way to mitigate the risk factor, and that is to go LT @22.... save that there is a quality starting one there for us.

Good to read a little common sense on the situation, something that seems to be lacking on how Hortiz has addressed our oline so far this off season.

When Slater was drafted pre-draft he was described as a Swiss army knife player. Probably time to maybe take advantage of this trait since we're paying him boat loads of money.