With Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt manning their offensive tackles, Los Angeles has “two great ones,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh.
Los Angeles signed Mekhi Becton to a two-year, $20 million contract as a free agent in March, putting a 2024 Super Bowl winner into the Chargers’ lineup at right guard.
But when Los Angeles became the first NFL team to have a full-squad training-camp practice for the 2025 season on Thursday, the Chargers still had a decision to make at the other two offensive-line positions, even though they return a starter at each spot.
Los Angeles is trying to decide if the offense will be better with Bradley Bozeman staying at center and Zion Johnson remaining at left guard or if it would be beneficial to switch their positions. Each player is working at both spots.
“I don’t know how many days it’ll go like that until we lock it in,” Harbaugh said on Thursday. “We know we got a trusted agent, known friend in Brad Bozeman at center, and we know he could be a really good guard and has been a really good guard. Zion, known friend, trusted agent, starting guard. Will it be a better combination with him at center and Boze at guard, or it’s going to be better with Zion at guard and Boze at center? Hey, let’s find out.
“And how’re we going to know? Like we do everything. They play the best, so we’ll get them in the best position for them and for our team.”
Johnson has started at guard for the Chargers since joining the team from Boston College in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
In his first season with Los Angeles, Bozeman made every offensive snap in 16 of the Chargers’ 17 games in 2024. He missed 10 snaps in the other contest. In his past 45 games, those are the only offensive snaps that Bozeman has missed out of 2,795.
Bozeman could have become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Instead, he stayed with Los Angeles for a two-year, $6.5 million contract.
Bozeman made the transition from college center to NFL guard and back to center.
A former Handley High School standout, Bozeman served as Alabama’s starting center in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, capping his career in the Crimson Tide’s 26-23 overtime victory against Georgia in the CFP national-championship game.
As a sixth-round rookie, Bozeman played 214 offensive snaps in 14 games with one start for the Baltimore Ravens in 2018. But during the next three seasons, he hardly came off the field for the Ravens offense.
With Bozeman at left guard, the Ravens rushed for more than 3,000 yards in the 2019 and 2020 seasons – two of the six times that had been accomplished in NFL history.
Bozeman shifted to center for Baltimore in 2021 and has played that position exclusively since then.
The Chargers will play in the first game on the NFL’s preseason schedule. Los Angeles will take on the Detroit Lions in the annual Hall of Fame Game on July 31 in Canton, Ohio. The Chargers also will play the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 10, Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 16 and San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 23 in preseason games.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OURNFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.