Adding Cole Strange and Tyler Biadasz as surefire starters up front, the Chargers are also returning Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt from injuries. Only one spot is up for grabs up front, and Los Angeles has a few contenders vying for the job.
L.A.’s left guard derby continues into mid-August. From an asset perspective, second-round rookie Jake Slaughter is the most notable name here. While he looks to have a future as a starter at either guard or center, the Florida product is in the middle of a five-man competition that also features Trey Pipkins, Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning and Branson Taylor, ESPN.com’s Kris Rhim notes.
Last week, Jim Harbaugh said Awosika — given a one-year, $2MM deal ($300K guaranteed) — had impressed the most early in camp. But Mike McDaniel indicated this week no one has been eliminated from the competition.
That said, Penning’s chances appear to be fading. He has worked with the Chargers’ third-team offense recently, Rhim adds. Harbaugh wants this position settled soon, and Rhim points to the second preseason game as a relative deadline here. Teams rarely conduct five-man position battles in training camp, making this one stand out.
This is the first we have heard of Taylor’s inclusion in the competition. A 2025 sixth-round pick, Taylor played in one game last season and was never on the Bolts’ 53-man roster. Waived after last year’s training camp, Taylor latched on with the team’s practice squad and was elevated to the gameday roster on two occasions. His only game action came via a start in Week 18, when the Chargers sat many of their regulars against the Broncos.
It would be quite the leap for Taylor to jump from season-long practice squad lineman to starter, but that is not an unprecedented move. But the Pittsburgh product appears to have made major strides during the spring and summer.
The Chargers re-signed Penning, a deadline acquisition, to a fully guaranteed $3.5MM deal, and we heard earlier this summer he was in the LG mix. That figure would turn into dead money if Los Angeles releases the former New Orleans first-rounder. Harbaugh’s above-referenced assessment of the team’s LG competition included a nugget that the third-year L.A. HC views Pipkins as one of the team’s best five O-linemen. Clubs often construct “best five” configurations up front, and Pipkins has a guard past. Though, he has been better at tackle as a pro.
Pipkins has taken more than 3,300 snaps at right tackle during a seven-year pro career; that is by far the former third-rounder’s most familiar position. The Chargers tried Pipkins at right guard in 2024, but the experiment did not pan out as Harbaugh’s staff hoped that year. The Bolts then gave Mekhi Becton a two-year, $20MM deal to take over in 2025. Becton did not live up to the deal and is still without a team after a March Bolts release. Three-year LG starter Zion Johnson‘s defection to Cleveland has opened up this crowded competition, as Strange settles in at RG.
Pipkins and Penning’s pasts at tackle — Penning was given extensive time at both tackle spots with the Saints — make them logical swing backup candidates. Of this quintet, Pipkins is tied to the largest contract — two years, $10MM ($4.58MM fully guaranteed) — but he has also seen time at tackle during camp.
Slaughter started at center during the Chargers’ preseason opener, and The Athletic’s Daniel Popper notes he shifted to left guard during the first half. Taylor received the LG start.
While saying this five-way battle’s conclusion is hotly anticipated may be a bit of a stretch, the Chargers have several options about how they will configure their O-line two-deep. That is better than last year, when they cycled through a few options at both tackle positions amid another rash of injuries.