The Chargers open training camp on Thursday after veterans reported to the Bolt on Wednesday, starting their preseason program a week early due to their inclusion in the Hall of Fame Game on July 31.
Los Angeles hopes their offense will outperform last year’s with Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman at the controls again. But a few major questions about the unit remain.
Let’s go through them, position by position.
QB: Can Justin Herbert stay healthy through the offseason?
The face of the Chargers franchise has dealt with some sort of nick in each of the last two offseasons, as he was recovering from labrum surgery in 2023 and then dealing with plantar fasciitis last offseason. While Herbert has barely ever missed time with injury, his durability has been one of the only questions about his status among the league’s best quarterbacks. He enters training camp healthy this season and will need to get as many reps as possible with so many new projected starters on offense.
RB: When will Najee Harris be back, and will it even matter?
One of those projected starters will likely not be on the field to start training camp, as general manager Joe Hortiz told the media Wednesday that running back Najee Harris will likely be placed on the non-football injury list after suffering a minor eye injury in a fireworks incident. Harris was penciled in as the Week 1 starter in the backfield, but his absence will also open the door for first-rounder Omarion Hampton to develop a stranglehold on the starting job and relegate Harris to more of a complementary role.
WR: When will Tre Harris sign his rookie deal?
30 of the 32 second-round picks from this year’s draft class remain unsigned, with Harris the first to take a stand by holding out largely because of the timing of the Chargers starting camp. Picks 33 (Browns LB Carson Schwesinger) and 34 (Texans WR Jayden Higgins) received fully guaranteed contracts, while Pick 65 (Giants DL Darius Alexander) received only $1.5 million guaranteed on his rookie deal. That’s caused a bottleneck on both ends of the second round as they all wait for the league to blink first on the guarantees. But with Mike Williams opening training camp on PUP with a minor injury, having Harris signed and ready to go would’ve gotten the rookie valuable first-team reps.
TE: Can Oronde Gadsden II shake up the depth chart?
Los Angeles figures to play Tyler Conklin and Will Dissly the majority of the time at tight end, with jumbo package blocker Tucker Fisk working his way in as well. But Gadsden was the star of OTAs, and neither Conklin or Dissly are so good or expensive that they should block the fifth-rounder from seeing the field more frequently if the rookie continues to ascend.
OL: Who’s starting on the interior?
The million dollar question of the offseason is who – and where – the Chargers are going to start at left guard and center in front of Herbert. OTAs seemed to suggest that it will be Zion Johnson and Bradley Bozeman for the second year in a row, but it still remains to be seen whether the two will switch positions (Johnson at center, Bozeman at guard) or remain the way they lined up last season. Trey Pipkins, who was the better guard last season on the right side but has been pasted over by free agent signing Mekhi Becton, could get back into the competition at left guard, but the Chargers seem more inclined to let him be the swing tackle.
