Can a new-look Chargers offensive line better protect Justin Herbert?

EL SEGUNDO — If all goes as planned, then the Chargers will open the season on Sept. 13 against the Arizona Cardinals with five different offensive linemen playing in front of quarterback Justin Herbert than the five who failed to protect him during their AFC wild-card loss to the New England Patriots last January.

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Herbert was sacked six times during that 16-3 loss, a defeat that prompted the firing of offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin only days after the Chargers’ season ended with a second consecutive playoff dud and the third in the past five seasons.

It’s expected that Rashawn Slater will start at left tackle. Kayode Awosika will be at left guard, although second-round draft pick Jake Slaughter will battle him during training camp starting next month. Tyler Biadasz will start at center, flanked by Cole Strange at right guard and Joe Alt at right tackle.

Those five will replace left tackle Jamaree Salyer, left guard Zion Johnson, center Bradley Bozeman, right guard Mekhi Becton and right tackle Trey Pipkins III. Of the five, only Pipkins remains on the roster. Slayer and Johnson signed elsewhere as free agents, Bozeman retired and Becton was cut.

The biggest upgrades for the Chargers’ offensive line will come from inside their training room, where Slater and Alt spent last season after suffering season-ending knee and ankle injuries. Slater is expected to be cleared to participate fully in training camp. Alt has already been cleared.

“I feel fantastic,” said Slater, who tore his left patellar tendon during a routine drill during training camp last August and did not play during the 2025 season. “(Sitting out) was pretty brutal, especially at first. As time went on, it became, ‘OK, this is what I was dealt and what are you going to do?’”

So, Slater dived headlong into his recovery and rehabilitation.

“I just went about stacking day after day,” he said. “It’s been a progression.”

Alt injured his ankle in a Week 4 game against the New York Giants and again during a game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 9, the second one knocking him out for the rest of the season. Alt’s injuries weren’t as serious as Slater’s, but they still required plenty of rehab.

“Ankle is doing great,” Alt said. “I was just saying it’s so good to be outside of the building, working on the field rather than sitting on the inside, watching from the inside out. I’ve always been a guy who wants to take it day-by-day and improve, and being able to do that again has been a lot of fun.”

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Awosika, Biadasz and Strange were key offseason free-agent signings Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz made in order to fill the gaps between Slater and Alt and better protect Herbert, who was sacked 54 times during the 2025 season, the most in any of his five previous NFL seasons.

Slaughter, a University of Florida standout, was one of four offensive linemen Hortiz selected with his seven picks over three days in late April. Hortiz also picked tackle Travis Burke from Memphis (fourth round), Logan Taylor from Boston College (sixth) and Alex Harkey from Oregon (sixth).

New offensive line coach Butch Barry spent the past three seasons with new Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel with the Miami Dolphins, and that should ease the transition to a new, higher-tempo offensive game plan. Strange also is a former Dolphin who knows McDaniel’s schemes well.

A faster pace, with a goal of having Herbert delivering his passes within 2.4 seconds or less of receiving the snap from Biadasz, should keep defenders out of Herbert’s face this coming season. Herbert was hit more times by opposing defenders than any other quarterback in 2025.

The game plan is to hit first, before the defense can react and adjust, something the Dolphins often did well with McDaniel as their head coach, Barry coaching the offensive line and Tua Tagovailoa quarterbacking an up-tempo offense. The quick-strike philosophy is one Barry honed over the years.

Now, the challenge is to make it work with Herbert and the Chargers.

“I think you have choices to be reactionary or proactive, right?” Barry said. “So, do you want to be reactive to everything or do you want to be proactive to everything? There’s always a reactive part of it. I’m not saying there isn’t, but let’s take advantage of the things we are in charge of. Let’s do that. So, we think in those terms.”

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