The Los Angeles Chargers will have to play the entire season without star left tackle Rashawn Slater, but the team has options when it comes to mitigating his absence. Jim Harbaugh laid out the team’s plan to replace Slater during media availability Friday.
Slater tore his patellar tendon in practice Thursday, which means the two-time Pro Bowl tackle is done for the year. Harbaugh called the loss of Slater a “gut punch,” according to Eric Smith of the official team website.
Fortunately for the Chargers, they have another former first-round pick with plenty of experience at left tackle. Harbaugh said Joe Alt, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 draft, will move to left tackle. Backup Trey Pipkins, who started 15 games at right guard last year, will replace Alt at right tackle.
“We know that our best five, right now, is Joe Alt, Zion (Johnson), Brad (Bozeman), projected Mekhi Becton and then Trey Pipkins,” Harbaugh said, per NFL.com. “That’s what we’ll start (with). Nothing set in stone, but that’s where we’re at.”
Alt played the entirety of his rookie season at right tackle, but he spent almost all of his college career at left tackle. In his three seasons with Notre Dame, Alt made 32 of his 33 career stats at left tackle, and he played extremely well at the position.
In 2022, Alt was named a first-team All-American. The next year, he was a unanimous All-American and a finalist for the Outland Trophy as college football’s best offensive or interior defensive lineman.
Chargers star LT Rashawn Slater to miss 2025 season after suffering torn patellar tendon in practice
Austin Nivison
Pipkins, a third-round selection by the Chargers in 2019, has shown some versatility throughout his career. While Pipkins spent all of last season at right guard, he has played tackle for Los Angeles in the past, making a total of 56 starts along the offensive line.
Despite the loss of Slater and the shuffling along the offensive line, Harbaugh said his team is prepared to overcome this early adversity.
“I know my team. I know they’re gonna step up,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t go with the cliché. It would be embarrassing to tell them ‘next man up’ or that we all have to step up for [each other] even more when you have a great player that is lost for the season. I wouldn’t embarrass them with telling them that because I know they’re gonna do it.”
If the Chargers are going to take another step forward in spite of Slater’s injury, Alt and Pipkins will play pivotal roles.