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Good Morning Stormcloud! Over the next few weeks we’re going to be looking at evaluating how the Chargers have addressed each position since this time last season. Whilst we are not going to be reviewing the incumbent starters there is plenty of turnover to get through, this evaluation will therefore include:
- Returning players who signed a new deal with the team
- External free agents who signed before the May 1st compensation pick exemption deadline
- Players who were added in any of the seven rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft
- Undrafted free agents (UDFA) who signed deals with the team after the draft
- Unsigned players who are listed as camp invites in media reports
Note: If a player has an asterisk after their name (*) this means that they were added during the 2024 season and have been retained
We have made it to the offensive line, first up it’s the tackles!
Outgoing players
- Foster Sarell (Washington Commanders)
- Tyler Smith (Carolina Panthers)
The new look OT room
- Incumbent (3) : Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater, Tyler McLellan
- Returning (0): n/a
- In (2): Corey Stewart, Savion Washington
- Camp invites (1): Jimmy Bell Jr
UDFA
The Chargers were never going to take a Tackle only prospect with any of their picks given the flexibility they have built into the offensive line group so it wasn’t a surprise to see them wait until after Mr Irrelevant was picked to find some camp bodies. The first thing you noticed about Savion Washington is his size, he is a massive 6′ 9″ and 340 lbs. The former Orangemen has climbed the ladder from Kent State to Syracuse via Colorado, playing at a progressively better school at each turn however this many transfers raises questions. He is a right sided pass blocker type with experience in both zone and gap schemes, so he could be a natural backup to Joe Alt given their similar size.
Corey Stewart is a slightly smaller tackle out of Purdue where he spent his final year after three seasons at Ball State. He is a pass first type too with some impressive games at left tackle including against an Oregon front where he gave up zero sacks or hits despite playing against three defensive lineman who got drafted in the first three rounds last week. He has a bit of a weakness as a run blocker and with his slightly smaller arms he’d need to show outstanding technical upside to make an impact in the NFL.
Camp Invites
The lone camp invite at Tackle is a unique one as Jimmy Bell Jr is a 6ft 9, 330 lbs basketball player out of Mississippi State. This will be an interesting camp story as we could be seeing the start of a story like Antonio Gates’ path to the NFL Hall of Fame. It’s unlikely of course but that’s the beauty of sports, you always see the legend ahead.
“During the 2023-24 season, Bell averaged 5.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and shot 46.9 percent from the floor over 35 appearances with the Bulldogs.”
https://www.si.com/nfl/chargers/chargers-shock-nfl-undrafted-free-agency-basketball-star
Position Reset Evaluation
Tackle is one position where the starters were never going to change no matter what happened this off-season so I won’t dwell on this too long. The position itself has arguably gotten worse with Foster Sarrell, a useful reserve leaving and only UDFAs used to replace him. However the key element to consider here is that the backups may look weak but we have three other offensive lineman with significant starting experience at Tackle in Mehki Becton, Trey Pipkins and Jamaree Salyer.
The final roster spots at this position will therefore be reduced however I think the Chargers will at least keep one of Tyler McClellan, Savion Washington or Corey Stewart to be a true tackle without needing to learn two parts of the playbook. Tyler has the upper hand with a full year under his belt on the team and both alternatives are poor athletes relative to their position with their RAS scores below 4.0 which could limit their upside.
I thought McLellan was great last pre-season. Dude is huge – 6’8″, 355 LBS. If his injured knee is sound, I think he’s the kind of player this team wants to keep around.
Washington: How does a 340 lb dude only get 19 reps on the bench? In my 30s, I could do far more than that, and I weighed 190. If that guy wants to hang around, he needs to spend a LOT of time with Ben Herbert.
Overall, I think OT is the strongest position group on the team. 2 potential all-pro starters. 3 vets with average (Pipkins, Becton) to good (Salyer) NFL tackle experience. One player with the physical traits (McLellen) to develop.
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