The Chargers finally had a reason to believe Branson Taylor might be part of the answer up front. Instead, his return has turned into another quiet corner of a season already buried under offensive line problems.
Taylor’s path looked like it was bending upward after a rough rookie year. The 2025 sixth-round pick spent most of that season on the practice squad after struggling badly in preseason and failing to crack the active roster.
His only game action came in Week 18 against the Denver Broncos, when the Chargers had no reason to lean on their starters. That game gave him a chance to show progress, but the tape was uneven enough that his future with the team looked shaky.
Then came the offseason, and Taylor suddenly became one of the more interesting storylines on the line. The coaching staff was impressed with how much he had changed, and he got a real shot to compete at guard. He lost that battle to veteran Kayode Awosika, but the fact that he moved from cut candidate to legitimate contender was a major step.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh on LG Branson Taylor: "It's been an incredible offseason...It's carried into training camp.""The reports coming back from Ben Herbert and staff were, 'Branson, wow'."
That momentum hit a wall once the 2026 season began. Taylor opened the year on injured reserve, stopping his push before it ever really got going. The Chargers have kept dealing with offensive line injuries, and the need for bodies has only grown as the season has gone on.
Taylor was designated to return on Oct. 5, giving him a 21-day window. Since then, though, he hasn’t played a snap.
That has been the striking part: even with the line scrambling for help, Taylor has remained on the sideline while the team has leaned on its two rookie sixth-round picks, Alex Harkey and Logan Taylor. Both of them were behind Branson Taylor in the preseason, which makes his current role even harder to read.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh announces they are opening the return windows for LG Branson Taylor and TE Scott Matlock.Not yet for LB Denzel Perryman
So the question is simple: what’s going on here? One possibility is that the Chargers have accepted what this season is becoming and want their rookies to get live reps, banking on one of them building some late-year momentum for 2027. The other is that Taylor still isn’t ready, and the team pushed his activation too soon.
If it’s the second scenario, that raises an awkward question about the front office’s handling of the situation, especially after the team had 100 million in cap space and was clearly desperate for offensive line help.
For now, the most likely ending is that Taylor slides back behind Awosika and gets lost in the depth chart again. He still hasn’t played a snap this season, while Logan Taylor and Harkey have already logged more than 100 snaps apiece. What looked like a neat redemption story for a former sixth-round pick has turned into something a lot stranger.
In Other News...
Chargers Face A Painful Deadline Decision On Their Defensive Bright Spot
Even with a winless start, the Chargers have found one real bright spot under defensive coordinator Chris OLeary: a defense that has been among the NFLs best at forcing turnovers. The unit has done enough to create extra possessions and keep games competitive, even while the run defense has been a problem and left too many holes for opponents to exploit.
That combination of playmaking and fragility has made the coming November 10 trade deadline a tricky one for general manager Joe Hortiz. Several veterans on the roster are the sort of contract-year pieces other teams will ask about, and the Chargers now have to decide whether to treat their defensive success as a reason to stand pat or as the kind of asset base that could draw interest before the deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Bye Week Puts Joe Hortiz Under Pressure To Pick A Direction
With the bye week arriving before the trade deadline, the Chargers are in an uncomfortable holding pattern. They are winless, dealing with significant injuries and staring at two games that could shape how the front office handles the rest of the season. For now, the impression around the team is that Joe Hortiz and the brass are not rushing into moves, preferring to keep their options open rather than chase a quick fix.
Still, this feels like a decision point more than a pause. Hortiz and president of football operations John Spanos have to weigh short-term pain against the value of future draft capital, and the next result could matter more than anything said this week. If the losses keep piling up, the front office may find it harder to stay patient, and the conversation around the deadline could shift fast. [Read more 🡒]
Khalil Mack Just Became A Chargers Trade Deadline Storyline Again
Khalil Mack is back in the middle of trade deadline chatter, and it comes with an old twist for the Chargers. The veteran edge rusher spent four seasons in Chicago before joining Los Angeles, and with the deadline approaching, the conversation around him is picking up again as teams look for help on the edge.
Ian Rapoport mentioned the Bears as a possible fit, which makes for a notable layer here given Macks history with that franchise. Chicago has a need at edge rusher, and for the Chargers, any real discussion around Mack will naturally invite questions about whether a familiar suitor can turn a familiar name into a deadline move. [Read more 🡒]