Chargers might have a serious OL problem amid 5-player competition originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The Los Angeles Chargers are a team that's garnering significant hype for the 2026 NFL season, and rightfully so. Mike McDaniel is a huge addition for the offense; Justin Herbert is still one of the better upside quarterbacks in the league, and the starting offensive tackles are back and healthy. However, there is still one major issue. As ESPN's Ben Solak highlights, the Chargers are currently in the middle of a five-player competition for the starting left guard spot. Such a large group of players vying for a starting job is a bad sign for Herbert and the Chargers. Chargers' 5-player OL competition is a bad sign for Justin Herbert "On Aug. 4, head coach Jim Harbaugh said he'd like to name a starter after the next 10 practices," Solak writes. "That was six practices ago. To this point, no player has taken a lion's share of the snaps." A five-player competition is a sign of some major instability at the position. For the Chargers, this is all about their left-guard spot. That's quite an important position to resolve. Currently competing for that job are rookie Jake Slaughter, Trevor Penning, Branson Taylor, Kayode Awosika, and Trey Pipkins III. None of those players have begun to stand out and run away with this starting job. Considering how the Chargers are past their first preseason game already, not having this competition further narrowed down is a bit worrying. MORE: ESPN analyst predicts Josh Allen is already a Hall of Famer despite lack of Bills playoff success Sure, there might be a favorite, or someone the Chargers have in mind as the starter, but considering this is still a true training camp battle, it's hard to imagine the play from that spot this season will be any good. For Herbert, this lengthy competition is a bad sign of things to come. If the interior of the offensive line struggles, it might be a long season for the Chargers offense, even if they do get Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater back. The Chargers desperately need someone to emerge from this group as even a league-average starting OL. Even someone slightly below league-average would be good enough. But they can't have what happened last year happen again, where the entire OL is near the bottom of the league in run blocking and pass protection rankings. There's time to figure out the LG spot, but this is a real issue to worry about for Chargers fans. More NFL news:
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