The Chargers’ guard situation has been messy enough all season to make even the latest injury shuffle feel like a temporary fix, not a solution.
That was true when Los Angeles came into the year with cap space and a pile of draft picks, yet still couldn’t clean up the spot. It was true when the team opened training camp with about five names in the mix for the starting guard job. And it was still true in Week 1, when Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers leaned on a “rotation” at left guard with Trey Pipkins and Kayode Awosika.
Now that approach is gone, at least for the Week 2 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders. According to ESPN’s Kris Rhim, Harbaugh will not use the “rotation” at left guard against the Raiders.
That doesn’t make the picture any prettier. The Chargers are still dealing with injuries, and the line is still awkwardly assembled.
Pipkins is in the starting mix next to a rookie center, with a free-agent addition on the other side. Even with Tyler Biadasz injured, the Chargers are left trying to patch together a unit that includes a backup swing tackle, a journeyman free agent they do not seem fully comfortable starting, and Branson Taylor, a former practice-squad player who is now on injured reserve.
The Biadasz injury clearly complicated matters, but it did not create the whole problem. Even if he were healthy, the Chargers would still be starting rookie Jake Slaughter at left guard, despite Slaughter being a college center.
That is why the Week 2 setup feels less like a clean answer and more like a pause. Awosika could play well against the Raiders.
But if Pipkins gets healthy and Taylor returns from IR, the same questions come right back. And that leaves the Chargers facing the same criticism they brought on themselves with how they handled the offseason.
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