Believe it or not, the Los Angeles Chargers haven’t exhausted every option open to them when it comes to fixing the offensive line.
Sure, the trade deadline has passed, free agency is generally filled with unfavorable options and no teams will let good players go on the waiver wire.
But the Chargers could still look inward and find a possible solution to the issues in front of Justin Herbert as they leave the bye week.
One such idea has been very popular with fans for a while now and just got picked up and broadcast on a much bigger scale.
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Should Chargers take a risk at left tackle in front of Justin Herbert?
Los Angeles Chargers guard Jamaree Salyer
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The idea comes from The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, who floats starting Jamaree Salyer at left tackle as a possible solution:
“The first possible fix: starting Jamaree Salyer at left tackle. Salyer has played the most consistent football of his career at left tackle. The Chargers will lose some athleticism in the run game. But they have to find a player who can hold up more often in pass protection. Salyer is their best option in that regard.”
Fans have banged the table about this idea for a while now. Salyer, a sixth-rounder in 2022, has stuck with the Chargers and started 36 games there since. He was good in college, though understandably, when a franchise has a chance to add Joe Alt to a line that already has Rashawn Slater, it takes that chance.
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Athleticism woes and otherwise explain the Chargers’ reluctance to make this move at even the worst of times. That even includes trading for and starting Trevor Penning.
But the Penning plan blew up in their faces and could again. With Omarion Hampton coming back soon, is favoring one side of the line over the other in the running game that big of a deal if it means Salyer better protects Herbert?
As Popper notes, Herbert has already been pressured 182 times this year. It’s a wild stat and he’s hobbled off or even gone to the blue medical tent in back-to-back games now.
If Penning struggles again, it sure feels like the Chargers will need to make the Salyer compromise.
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