{"id":289848,"date":"2025-08-15T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/289848\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T10:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:30:13","slug":"why-rashawn-slaters-absence-will-pose-a-massive-test-for-justin-herbert-and-chargers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/289848\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Rashawn Slater’s absence will pose a massive test for Justin Herbert and Chargers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chargers<\/a> were blindsided in the truest sense.<\/p>\n

Eleven days after signing a contract extension that made him the NFL\u2019s highest-paid offensive lineman in history, Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater<\/a> went down in training camp with a knee injury that ended his 2025 season.<\/p>\n

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It was the latest crushing blow to a franchise with a withering track record of losing key players at the most inopportune times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a gut punch to the solar plexus,\u201d coach Jim Harbaugh said<\/a> in the aftermath of the July 27 injury. \u201cTakes the wind out of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where coaching and creativity kick in. It\u2019s musical chairs along the offensive line as the Chargers scramble to protect the blind side of franchise quarterback Justin Herbert<\/a> without handcuffing their offense by committing too many resources to doing so.<\/p>\n

The challenge is profound but not unique. Teams have navigated these choppy waters before.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe basis of your pass [protection] basically is, you pay a ton of money to somebody that\u2019s just going to lock down that end, the blind side,\u201d retired NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck<\/a> said. \u201cThe blind side. They made a whole movie about it. That\u2019s where you spend your money.\u201d<\/p>\n

When quarterback Rich Gannon<\/a> was preparing for an opponent, the first offensive meeting of the week was about protections. How are we going to block these guys?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d start by drawing five guys on the board, our offensive line,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cYou\u2019re just like, ‘OK, we\u2019re going to build an offensive line.’ And we\u2019d start with the left tackle, right? We\u2019d just draw a big dollar sign. That\u2019s the guy you have to pay. That\u2019s the guy you have to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of the Chargers, erase that dollar sign from the board.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you lose a guy like that, there\u2019s a trickle-down effect,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cYou have to find someone to replace him. Now, what does that mean for our protection plan?<\/p>\n

\u201cVery few teams have a guy that can step in without a drop-off. And you\u2019re talking about a Pro Bowl-caliber player at left tackle, there\u2019s usually a significant difference when the backup goes in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chargers<\/p>\n

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, left, and offensive tackle Rashawn Slater walk off the field after a win over the New Orleans Saints in October. (Ronald Martinez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Even in this abysmal situation, there are flickers of positivity for the Chargers. First, they are moving Joe Alt from right tackle to left, where he spent his illustrious college career at Notre Dame. The Chargers used the fifth overall pick in 2024 on the 6-foot-8, 322-pound Alt, who Harbaugh says has Hall of Fame potential. Having Alt in the mix is a huge bonus for the club.<\/p>\n

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Still, switching from right to left tackle is no small feat.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think it\u2019s just easy to play on the offensive line, and if you\u2019re a right tackle you should be able to play on the left, but it\u2019s not the same,\u201d Hall of Fame defensive end Dwight Freeney said. \u201cEverything is different. You have muscle memory and different repetitions that you\u2019ve done constantly. Doing something the same way all the time. One way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to pick up, switch your feet and go to the other side. The guard positions and center are more interchangeable, but when you start messing with your tackles, especially your left tackle, that\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

More good news for the Chargers is that swing tackle Trey Pipkins is a blocker who can play on both ends of the offensive line. He too is returning to a familiar spot, as he was a right tackle at the University of Sioux Falls.<\/p>\n

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The Chargers will be tested right away. Their first three games are against division opponents, and their third is against Denver, which led the NFL last season with an average of 3.6 sacks per game.<\/p>\n

Read more: Chargers’ Ladd McConkey can finally learn from Keenan Allen in person<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to have to start the season making sure you\u2019ve got a back over there on the left side, or a tight end in passing situations just to make sure the quarterback doesn\u2019t get whacked,\u201d said Mike Tice<\/a>, the onetime Minnesota Vikings head coach whose specialty is coaching offensive lines. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to have a plan going into the season. If you don\u2019t have a plan going in, you\u2019re truly [doomed].\u201d<\/p>\n

Gannon said the Chargers are especially fortunate to have Greg Roman as their offensive coordinator, because Roman showed exceptional creativity in Baltimore beefing up their front with extra linemen and fullback Patrick Ricard, nicknamed \u201cPancake Pat\u201d for his ability to flatten people in his path.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey dressed it up with the Ravens,\u201d said Gannon, an analyst for Sirius\/XM NFL Radio. \u201cSeven offensive linemen on the field. You\u2019d get the defense to go big, then throw it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gannon sees the versatile Scott Matlock<\/a> playing the Ricard role for the Chargers. Matlock, listed on the roster as a fullback, is 6-4 and 296.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis role is going to expand,\u201d the retired quarterback predicted. \u201cThat\u2019s how you do it. That\u2019s how you build in protection when you\u2019re down a left tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: Chargers vs. Saints takeaways: Trey Lance closing the gap in backup QB race<\/a><\/p>\n

And though Harbaugh described the setback as a gut punch, Hasselbeck noted there\u2019s a thread of a silver lining.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom the front-office part of it, this is actually not the worst timing,\u201d he said. \u201cNot that there are great left tackles on the street, but at least you can do something now in training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as dire as losing your star guy on Friday before Week 1, or losing him during Week 1. Also, when guys get hurt early in the year and you lose them for the season, they\u2019re more ready to go earlier in the offseason the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big blocker. Small consolation.<\/p>\n

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chargers were blindsided in the truest sense. Eleven days after signing a contract extension that made him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[184,241,258,10230,7,1012,5661,1159,1014,262,2444,2443,1016,259,55,6,1482,453,18505,1526,34625,32857,55529,5340,8401],"class_list":{"0":"post-289848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-chargers","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-dwight-freeney","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-jim-harbaugh","14":"tag-joe-alt","15":"tag-justin-herbert","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","18":"tag-losangeles","19":"tag-losangeleschargers","20":"tag-matt-hasselbeck","21":"tag-minnesota-vikings","22":"tag-new-orleans-saints","23":"tag-nfl","24":"tag-offensive-line","25":"tag-offensive-lineman","26":"tag-patrick-ricard","27":"tag-rashawn-slater","28":"tag-rich-gannon","29":"tag-scott-matlock","30":"tag-the-blind-side","31":"tag-the-chargers","32":"tag-trey-pipkins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115032321256192878","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}