When the Chargers used their second-round pick on Florida center Jake Slaughter, it was the assumption that he would make the transition to left guard immediately and fight for that spot.
I mean, why else would you use such a high draft pick on a player at a different position when the need is so great elsewhere? Well, luckily Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz assured the fan base that that was the plan. They believe Slaughter’s skillset fits well in Mike McDaniel’s system and his transition shouldn’t be all
that difficult.
Now fast-forward from the draft to the second week of OTAs and we’ve got some notable observations regarding the interior offensive line at this point in the offseason.
If you’ve been following the beat reporters in attendance, you’ve likely seen the updates about how the first-team offensive line has looked through the first 10 or so days of OTAs. The biggest one in particular is that Kayode Awosika, one of the Chargers’ free-agent signings from this offseason, has been getting the majority of the reps at left guard with the starters. He began OTAs playing with the first group and that continued into week two.
Per Rhim, Slaughter has been working in at left guard with the second-team offense while veteran Trevor Penning, whom the Bolts traded for last year and signed back this offseason, has been with the third-stringers, although he’s been seeing time at right guard over left guard.
So this is all still early in the process, but the consistency of Awosika maintaining his place in the pecking order from one week to the next tells us that he’s likely been impressing the coaching staff enough thus far and you’ve got to think that puts him in the driver’s seat early on before Slaughter really begins to grasp playing his new position.
Awosika has had stints with the Eagles and Lions since entering the NFL in 2021. Both teams have had dominant offensive lines over the last half decade and it shouldn’t be all that shocking if that experience has given him the edge over a rookie and an underwhelming first-rounder pick on his second team.
And yes, it’s still so very early in the offseason to make assumptions. But if there’s anything noteworthy at all coming out of OTAs so far, it’s most definitely how the most-troublesome position group from a year ago is faring.
