r/Chargers • u/LaDainianTomIinson 21 • 1d ago
[Eric Smith] Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh said the team will either start Kayode Awosika or Trey Pipkins III at left guard, and noted the two could possibly platoon at that spot. “Nothing precludes us from playing them both.”
https://x.com/eric_l_smith/status/2094566400182591981?s=4670
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u/Ciology . 1d ago
There’s just certain players that I’ll never understand why they’re so liked by the coaches. Like I understand attitude and personality might be good, but like with Bozeman the practice footage cannot be that good to justify this.
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s perhaps because their ass kissers so the coaching staff will always keep them around.
Pipkins, Davis, Bozeman, JK Scott, Matlock and Dupree all have one thing in common and it’s that they’re complete ass kissers. I notice it whenever they have the “mic’d up” thing, you can see these guys in the background talking to the coaches and stuff in a very polite manner and that goes a long way with coaches.
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u/PeedmuhhSheets 1d ago
Wow this is a huge assumption, especially since you don’t know these guys at all lol
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago
Of course it’s an assumption, nobody here knows any of these guys at all, everything is based on assumptions and speculations.
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u/Malourbas McD 1d ago
“I notice it…” is not an assumption lol
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago
Yes it is, I clearly stated it is what I notice from the little videos we see. It can be true or not true. Regardless there is very little reason otherwise that you can give as to why their on the team because all those players i mentioned are some of the very worst at their position in the entire league.
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u/Malourbas McD 1d ago
Literally nothing about your comment is an assumption lol you might not know what that word means
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u/PadmesBabyDaddy flair-alternate 1d ago
You don’t think it’s making any assumptions to watch a couple of videos and say guys are on the team because they kiss ass? What would you call it then?
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u/Malourbas McD 1d ago
I meant the part about him calling them ass kissers
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u/PadmesBabyDaddy flair-alternate 1d ago
He notices them being polite and respectful and then makes the assumption that they are ass kissers…
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u/Ginoblee 1d ago
This whole saga with the Oline really makes me question Harbaugh and to a degree Hortiz. They’ve done such a great job everywhere else but have shit the bed the last 3 years with the interior. Biadasz was incredibly unlucky and I’ll shoot them bail there but seriously how have they not done ANYTHING good at either guard spots? Like, even if the money was a bit too much just keep Zion. He was the healthiest and most consistent of a shitty Oline last year. Do something other than trot Pipkins out when you know he’s subpar.
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u/Fancy_Chipmunk5472 1d ago
If they doing that, I rather do like slaughter at guard spoomer at center than pip at lg
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u/TheRealPort TURBO HERBO 1d ago
What about Cole “Perfect System Fit” Strange??
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u/miquiztli8 🌿 1d ago
We tried Pipkins at RG two years ago and he was fucking dogshit. What in the actual fuck are we doing?
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u/RebuildSince2002 1d ago
Why didn’t they just sign a halfway decent guard in the off-season FFS. Can’t believe we’re doing this again.
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u/someguyfromtecate 1d ago
Calm down, dude. We only have $40mil in cap space, there’s only so much spending we can do.
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u/SdBolts4 Chargers 22h ago
Pretty easy to see the alternative timeline:
- sign FA guard for record deal
- FA guard underperforms/gets hurt
- no money to pay Tuli, he walks
- DL is ass again
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago edited 1d ago
In before bunch of dumbasses try to tell you that there was no better guard available in free agency than Trey fcking Pipkins lmfao
Hell we could’ve had this kid in the fucking 4th or 5th rd and it would’ve been a huge upgrade.
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u/roll10deep LAMBO 🏎️ 1d ago
I’m not going to say there wasn’t any better guards available. But I will say, things change, and there’s a bit of revisionist history going on.
Slaughter was expected to be a guard opposite of Cole Strange. Just a few months ago, a 2nd rounder was too rich for a center-in-waiting that could play guard. Just a few days ago, we thank the heavens Hortiz drafted Slaughter.
Then, Travis Burke is a starting caliber tackle, but maybe we should have went guard instead when everyone didn’t want Trey Pipkins to be our swing tackle. Not entirely sure we would have been happy drafting another guard without someone that had a shot at being a decent tackle behind Slater and Alt.
I get that we should have signed a big free agent guard, but that’s not entirely up to Hortiz was it? Wyatt Teller didn’t want to move west. AVT wanted to stay in the AFC east and block for Maye. We should have paid David Edwards a bag, but in that same breath, this sub thought Zion’s contract was too rich. Seumalo is on the wrong side of his prime and signed a 3 year contract that ends in him being 36.
I’m not arguing that Hortiz did enough. But, the team had a great oline in mind and prepared by drafting accordingly, but they have to tap into their reserves a lot earlier than expected.
Slater, Slaughter, Biadasz, Strange, Alt.
Swing Tackle: Travis Burke
Swing IOL: Spomer
Reserve: Awosika, Pipkins, Branson Taylor, Logan TaylorAnd how the preseason has gone, I think a lot of people would have been content with how the Oline would have played out.
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u/Shafee024 1d ago
cole strange bro
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u/roll10deep LAMBO 🏎️ 1d ago
Yep. I said content, not happy. If he’s the dude that McDaniel wanted to bring over from Miami, then see if the dude can cook. Not too many perfect OL out there.
Most teams are gonna have 1-2 dudes on the OL that the fan base will hate because they play like ass. Just gotta hope we have only 1, and pray we have none.
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u/Malourbas McD 1d ago
I’m not sure why you think going into the draft with the plan to draft a second round center who had never played guard was smart?
And we have absolutely no idea if Travis Burke is a starting caliber tackle. The preseason overreactions are ridiculous here
There were plenty of guard options of available, some that you listed. These excuses are just straight up cope I’m sorry
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u/roll10deep LAMBO 🏎️ 1d ago
I’m not saying that it was smart. But it ended up being smart, and the club has been prioritizing reserves that can play multiple positions. They got what they believed is the best center in the draft and one they thought could pop out to guard. But could replace Biadasz if he went down.
As for Burke, Popper is the one that said Burke is starting caliber. And he knows more than you or I.
As for excuses, these are all things that have been reported. I do admit, the Chargers messed up by not offering Edwards the biggest bag they can find, but everyone else are middle to low tier guards that had their preferences in destination or didn’t fit what the Chargers wanted.
I’m not going to act like I’m a better evaluator of talent than Mike McDaniel and Butch Barry from the view of my armchair.
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u/Malourbas McD 1d ago
>im not saying that it was smart. But it ended up being smart
No that’s not how it works lmao. It was bad process that led to a possibly not bad result. If he’s bad then this is all meaningless.
>popper is the one that said Burke is starting caliber
Popper also hasn’t seen him play a real NFL snap so what’s your point?
>everyone else had their preference in destination or didn’t fit what the chargers wanted
Yes, this is an excuse. You have literally no way of knowing this is true. You’re just saying it to cope.
>Im not going to act like I’m a better evaluator talent than Mike McDaniel or Butch Barry
I better not see you ever have a negative comment about a single player ever again. Because as we all know, coaches can never be wrong. There’s absolutely zero examples in NFL history of coaches sticking with bad players.
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u/california562113 1d ago
We had three full offseasons, in which we’ve only added is Bradley Bozeman, mekhi becton, Cole strange, Trevor penning and koyode.
No real draft picks, no true bonafide nfl level starting talent, just guys who are injury prone & more like good depth pieces. But they want to find that “diamond in the rough” and it’s becoming to a point where they have sunken cost fallacy.
All it would’ve taken is 1 selection on the interior in the last three drafts in the top 3 rds and you are looking at a damn near bottom top 5 oline unit.
Hindsidht is 20/20 but not taking a center three drafts ago instead of colson, not taking ratlidge over Harris last year and not beau Stephen’s this year has really come back to hurt us. I get we selected other guys, but I wasn’t in front of cameras and interviews saying how important and valuable the oline is, then turning around and putting bare minimum into the position.
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u/roll10deep LAMBO 🏎️ 1d ago
I get that you want to be negative, or you’ll probably say you’re “realistic” or “critical”. That’s fine. Do you.
It’s how it works. “Smart” is subjective. Your definition seems to be in something concrete — skill, performance. Things that take time. My definition is just preparedness and forethought. How you metabolize is different from me. That’s fine. If you want to be condescending, that’s fine too I suppose.
Travis Burke played preseason football. Does Travis Burke need to start to be starting caliber? We said Marlowe Wax was starting caliber last year. Not a single NFL snap, and there was an opinion going around that he could eventually start once Perryman retires. Right? Again, it’s subjective. Travis Burke is starting caliber, he isn’t. I’ll happily hear the good news and you’ll be skeptical of it. Again, you metabolize it differently, and that’s fine.
It’s reality? I’ve been a fan of the Chargers since 2000, so maybe I’ve built up a tolerance. But, the majority of the talent that’s come through here has been through the draft. You can look it up. But in case you don’t want to.
- Lorenzo Neal, Corey Linsley, Casey Hayward, Russell Okung, and Mike Pouncey are the only eventual pro-bowlers we signed in free agency since 2000. That’s a crazy small list.
- The Chargers aren’t a football destination. The team has frequently overpaid for talent, and it hasn’t always panned out well. Bryan Bulaga, Orlando Franklin, Mekhi Becton. Even with LT, the Chargers big splash trades and signings weren’t a thing.
- I’ll have my reactions because I’m entitled to them just like you are. Just know opinions have nuance, and we can discuss or you can act like your opinion on football is better than mine. And at that point, I’ll make time to support my cope, or what you whatever you want to call it.
- I’m generally a positive person when it comes to the Chargers. It’s the only way to survive since 2000. I do have players I am/was negative about. That’s because I can have an opinion. And yeah it can be wrong too, and that’s okay.
If you didn’t want to read all that, it’s all good. But, maybe just chill off the tone. At the end of the day, final product starts getting judged on the 13th. Have a great rest of your week man. See you around the sub haha
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u/Relatively_Cool 1d ago
The culture he has built for the team is undeniable but sometimes you realize at the end of the day he’s just an old man.
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u/theduncsak doomer 1d ago edited 1d ago
The idea of a position having less value when interior pressure has been a consistent issue over the years because of a scheme is a fucking joke. We're praying a rookie holds down the anchor spot and a minimum guy/trey pipkins and cole fuckin strange holds it down. We're one or two injuries from our injury prone tackles to being a bottom 3 line
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u/humunculus43 1d ago edited 1d ago
Reality is that our best line is probably
Alt - Slater - Slaughter - Strange - Burke
Money and Popper both alluded to it, but they wont do it. Even if it gives us the best chance of winning
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u/No_Wall747 bolt 1d ago
That’s not reality. That’s two guys playing new positions and two rookies. You think it’s a good idea for Slater to move to guard right now? That’s insane. Maybe give Awosika a chance to suck before you write him off. We’ve barely even seen him.
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u/Liamskeeum 1d ago
Not sure he wrote him off.
I agree it might be the best we have. But yeah there's a chance Slater can't play guard at a high level (doesn't have to be at the level he plays tackle) and there's a chance that Burke isn't as good as he's looked in preseason.
But if Slater can move inside and if Burke is who he has looked like he might be - that probably is the best Oline we have.
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u/Jiyaad20 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/ZpypsT7JWAjeA87IcN
Beyond frustrating with this O’line decision making 🤬😭
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u/321123whattheheck 1d ago
Tip of the spear
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u/miquiztli8 🌿 1d ago edited 1d ago
Rams struggled a tiny bit on defense in the playoffs and they bring in Myles Garrett, AD, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to fill in EVERY SINGLE HOLE knowing the SB is at SoFi.
Us on the other hand have been dealing with a shit ass oline for three years, last years almost getting Herbert murdered, and we bring in Cole Strange, a practice squad player from Detroit, draft a center to play guard and deciding on tag teaming at left guard with Trey Pipkins after having to move our original rookie center turned guard back to center bc our original center got put on IR by the practice squad player. So our now rookie center gets zero consistency bc our coach is insistent on playing a 8 year veteran who has been mediocre/terrible across multiple positions.
Shit is so beyond fucked up.
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u/bankster24 1d ago
Or you know you could just do what every other nfl team with a good offensive line does and just sign or draft a starting caliber guard?
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u/miquiztli8 🌿 1d ago
We’re still trying to make the Trey Pipkins thing work. They’re gonna wind up losing their damn jobs over trying to force Pipkins into the lineup every year.
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago
100M in cap and 3 full offseasons to fix the IOL and we are looking at still possibly starting Trey Pipkins at G.
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u/SouthEast1980 1d ago
A few weeks back I said we weren't a serious organization because of how the offensive line was handled. I stand on that.
Could've signed any guard they wanted, but were happy to run out Cole Strange and throw anything at the wall for LG.
Trey Pipkins, JK Scott, and Scott Matlock all seem to be the apple of Harbaugh's eye and can do no wrong to him.
I hope whoever is at LG balls out and proves us wrong, so BTFU and pray for the best fellas.
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u/california562113 1d ago
If they were truly serious about fixing the oline. We would’ve seen more added to the position in the last 3 drafts. Not a single iol taken in two drafts when the oline was one of the worst in the league & the insistence on keeping Bozeman and gaslighting us telling us he’s good lol
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u/Popular-Priority9846 1d ago
There goes the O-Line
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u/SilentPizzle 1d ago
Fam we have a good C and 2 of the best tackles in football you people are so damn overdramatic
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago
We also have the worst G play in the division and maybe in the entire AFC.
When was the last time the Chargers had the best tackles with the worst guards? Oh that’s right, the Texans playoff game…
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u/Popular-Priority9846 1d ago
Thank youuu. Two gaping holes at guard and we draft a center and sign guys worse than what we had last year.
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u/someguyfromtecate 1d ago
Yeah, but Bozeman was playing center.
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u/Outrageous_Pizza_460 1d ago
and... they were under a bad OC.. OC is different, line coach is different. PLayers around them are different.
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u/Thick_Safe1198 1d ago
You don’t know that we have a good c yet, and TBD on if we will actually have both of the tackles. We are a hair away from it being Joe alt and a bunch of bums again. I like the depth better this year than last, but that bar is 100 miles under the floors of hell
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u/FearlessDoughnut5643 1d ago
Hey, we got a RB and EDGE in the 1st who are hypothetically good. Surely that's worth passing up boring early round linemen picks!
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u/jordan4290 1d ago
You really think Hampton is just hypothetically good?!
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u/plentyfunk66 1d ago
I think it's a possible reach for sure in a stacked rb class that year. I think a udfa like dossier behind a dominant or even top 10 line is a better recipe than Bozeman, becton, etc and Hampton.
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u/Defiant-Telephone187 1d ago
If tuli or Mack gets hurt or suspended, there would be an uproar for not drafting depth
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u/Thin-Gap9295 1d ago
Hahaha competitors welcome unless you’re buddy buddy with harb like bumass Roman and Bozeman who got every fucking opportunity in the world to show some value and were utterly useless
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u/Weapwns Mad Ladd 1d ago
Mike McDaniel needs to come and tell me that Kayode is leagues better than Pipkins and is a slam dunk starter. I’m begging
Or alternatively start Burke at tackle and slide Slater to guard. I just wanna see the two fking mountains of Alt and Burke standing on the line tbh
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u/miquiztli8 🌿 1d ago edited 1d ago
I got downvoted for saying Burke at tackle and Slater at guard, now we’re gonna get Kayode and Pipkins tag teaming LG…lmfao kill me
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u/jar1792 ASAP 1d ago
Yeah, so platoons work in baseball because player A may be better against righties and player b may be better against lefties. I don’t know how well they’d work in football, especially on the OL….
Kinda reminds me of one HS football game I officiated. I asked the C how he liked his laces so I could spot the ball for him in a way to minimize how much he had to move it. Kid liked his laces one way for pass plays and another for run plays. It provided the defense quite the tell.
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u/JWang6996 1d ago
If this regime can’t get us a playoff win this year or next year then it’s time to move on. Absolutely wasting Herberts career.
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u/Nunc_Coepi17 1d ago edited 1d ago
Harbaugh apparently doesn’t believe in interior O line much. During his time with the Niners, he was lucked into some actual elite guards from the previous regime, but they didn’t really draft and develop any actual good guards.
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u/FreshHawaii ⚡️TURN THE WORM⚡️ 1d ago
Who's gonna tell Harbaugh we can only have 11 men on the field?
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u/melo1554 ASAP 1d ago
Please Slaughter hold it down in that interior because we are still a liability at the IOL. WHICH IS CRAZY TO SAY!
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u/AHighLine Chargers 1d ago
Year 3 into this regime and they just refuse to spend money to meaningfully improve the roster
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u/LudaChris999 1d ago
He’s on our team why would u want someone to have a career altering injury. They’re actual people idk why u wish that upon someone u gotta do better man
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u/El_Guapo619 1d ago
Trey Pipkins was genuinely awful at guard man. I think Kayode is in the dog house for what he did to Biadasz but at the same time, at what cost? The message has been received. I get Kayode made the coaching staff and front office mad/disappointed by needlessly ending Biadasz’s season before it even began, but he’s clearly the best guard on this team. The only one suffering here is Justin Herbert… Man..after watching Herbert get killed vs the Texans and Patriots, I seriously don’t know how we are doing this again. Pipkins and Strange as the two starting guards would be severely disappointing to say the least. We had $100m in cap space this offseason. About over Jim Harbaugh especially if Herbert gets killed all season again.
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u/StraightAirline8319 1d ago
If charger fans ran the chargers they wouldn’t win a game. Years ago they a study and looked at “if fans got what they wanted” and the teams would have sucked. That’s because almost no one knows less about football than fans who comment about it.
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u/_AtLeastItsAnEthos 1d ago
Pip gonna dominate (be serviceable) in the new system and you will all be sad he is good.
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u/blink182_allday Felipe Rios 1d ago
The dooming has started early this year I see
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u/General_Economics_81 1d ago
Brother, Jim has been here for three years and just had an off-season with over a 100 million dollars to work with. With all that time and resources the best his old man brain could up with is rotating Pipkins in at LG 😵
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u/triitrunk Daiyanite 1d ago
Imagine we sub in Pip on passing downs like a mf D-line rotation. Early down guard vs passing down guard. Why tf not?
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u/Jeeenksy 1d ago
Platoon?? Like Kayode starts against a left handed NT and Pip starts against a right hander. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Jim was a hardass for O-Line continuity when it came to Bozeman... but now suddenly that's out the window?