If there was any kind of bright spot along the interior of the offensive line in 2025, it was that Zion Johnson took a step forward as a run blocker. He was one of the best in the NFL, in fact, but that did not matter when those playing around him were consistently amongst the worst performers each week at their respective positions.<\/p>\n
In contrast to Johnson\u2019s success rate as a run blocker, it was his pass protection that left a lot to be desired. The first-round pedigree has not been matched with his play and that\u2019s why ESPN\u2019s Aaron Schatz believes that Johnson is the pick for a Chargers player that could use a change of scenery in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohnson hasn\u2019t lived up to his first-round potential in his four years with the Chargers. Last season, his 87.4% pass block win rate ranked 62nd out of 65 qualifying guards. There might be another coaching staff out there that knows how to get the best out of him. Johnson is still a strong run blocker, as his 79.3% run block win rate last season ranked second among guards, behind only Seattle rookie Grey Zabel.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always interesting to see how different platforms and grading companies differ on the same player. Above, Schatz notes that Johnson was one of the worst guards in the NFL in their pass block win rate formula. However, Pro Football Focus had Johnson as one of the better guards in pass protection per their pass blocking efficiency rating.<\/p>\n
The thing is, we all have watched him play over the past four seasons and fans are aware what is and is not working. At this point, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised at either outcome. If Johnson is re-signed, I\u2019d agree it was smart in that there\u2019s one less box to check at solidifying the starting group for 2026. If he signs elsewhere, then I\u2019d understand the team wanting to move on and strive for a better option that may also no cost as much.<\/p>\n
But what do you all think? Should the Chargers re-sign Johnson or are they better off letting him walk in hopes of upgrading left guard this offseason? Let us know what you think below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there was any kind of bright spot along the interior of the offensive line in 2025, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,2453,2444,2443,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-760901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","12":"tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-losangeleschargers","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116093296696060283","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760901","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=760901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}