Pipkins Joins the Left Guard Mix, and the Chargers' Interior Is Still a Work in Progress

Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are both active — I've noted that twice now, and it remains the good news. The bookend tackles are in camp, and that matters. What's less settled is everything between them. Trey Pipkins III has entered the competition at left guard, and per reports from Friday's practice, he was taking first-team reps there. That makes at least three players in the mix for one starting interior spot, which is either healthy competition or a sign that nobody has grabbed the job.

This has been the through-line of the Chargers' offseason: the tackles are fine, the interior is unsettled. The offensive line was the team's most visible vulnerability coming out of 2025, and the left guard situation heading into the final weeks of camp doesn't suggest that's been resolved so much as managed. Pipkins is a veteran presence, which helps, but veteran presence and a locked-in starter are different things.

Herbert is ranked 39th on the NFL Top 100 — his highest placement in six years — which means the league is starting to take him seriously as a top-tier quarterback. That makes the line question more pointed, not less. A quarterback ascending in the league's estimation needs a front that can hold up in October, not just in August walkthroughs. The Chargers ran their 2025 season on close-game execution and got away with it until they didn't. The left guard competition is a small thing. It's also exactly the kind of small thing that compounds.