The Chargers have their 53-man roster in place, but one key spot is still up in the air: left guard.
Jim Harbaugh made it clear Monday that the job hasn’t been settled yet, and he pointed to Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins III as the two main names in the mix.
"I would say it's really two. Yodi and Trey Pipkins and I'm you know I'm not so sure that nothing precludes us from playing them both, you know.
So that's a possibility too. But great option there," Harbaugh said.
That’s where things stand now, even though the competition has shifted over the course of camp and the preseason. Early on, rookie Jake Slaughter and second-year player Branson Taylor were also in the mix.
But with Tyler Buiadasz out for the season, Slaughter has taken over at center, while Taylor has been placed on IR and will miss the first four games. That leaves Awosika and Pipkins as the most realistic options for the starting nod at left guard.
Harbaugh’s comment about potentially using both players is the most intriguing part of all this. The Chargers already cycled through 32 different offensive line combinations last season, so if they can avoid adding more chaos up front, that would seem to be the better path.
Awosika and Pipkins both bring experience, and both have had uneven stretches in their careers. Still, there’s at least a case to be made that one of them could turn this into a real opportunity and post a career year.
Awosika’s 2025 season with the Lions included three sacks allowed, 10 pressures, and one penalty. He was a useful rotational piece, but if he’s going to handle a starting role for the Chargers, he has to give Justin Herbert steady protection.
Pipkins, meanwhile, played a heavy role for the Chargers last season, logging 606 snaps because Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater missed most of the year. His 2025 numbers at tackle were rough: a 47.2 overall PFF grade, a 58 pass-blocking grade, and a 42.7 run-blocking grade, along with 27 pressures, four sacks, and seven penalties, per PFF.
He was working at tackle, not guard, but the inconsistency is still part of the evaluation. Moving inside won’t erase those issues unless Pipkins has clearly taken a step forward.
For now, the Chargers are still sorting it out. Whether Awosika or Pipkins wins the job before Week 1, or whether this one stretches into the season, left guard remains one of the last unresolved pieces on the roster.
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