NFL analyst plots how Chargers can fix OL in 2025 NFL free agency

Chris Roling | Oct 8, 2024

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers have had some issues along the offensive line in front of Justin Herbert to start the Jim Harbaugh era. 

As expected, this is true along the interior, with Harbaugh and the Chargers waiting for notables like Zion Johnson and Trey Pipkins III to emerge or, at the very least, gel into a cohesive unit. 

Given the lukewarm start, it would be easy to see Harbaugh spending big assets in the trenches again next offseason though, especially in free agency. 

Bleacher Report has already looked ahead to that point, suggesting the Chargers go after Arizona Cardinals guard Will Hernandez: “They've already spent a lot of draft capital on the offensive linemen. Right guard might be one spot where they look for a value option. Will Hernandez would be a sneaky good addition. He's the kind of mauler that they would love in the run game and has the experience to not be a complete bust.”

Hernandez, unfortunately, just suffered a season-ending injury in Arizona. Barring something unexpected, though, he still projects as a top option next offseason after reviving his career in Arizona as the Cardinals’ top lineman over the last two seasons. That, after a so-so start as a second-round pick of the New York Giants in 2018. 

Not that the Chargers will just give up on the guys they have. But Zion Johnson, a first-round pick from 2022, earned a 57.6 PFF grade last year and hasn’t found his footing just yet. After being cut in Carolina last summer, starting center Bradley Bozeman is off to a 53.1 PFF grade this year. And right guard Trey Pipkins, a former third-rounder, sits at 59.4. 

On paper, the Chargers are set with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt on the edges of the line. But early draft assets don’t figure to address the interior, so proven veterans like Harnandez indeed top the early list of free agents to watch. 

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