The Chargers Head Coach recently joined 'Chargers Weekly' to dive into the offensive line and where they stand heading into training camp

Omar Navarro

Joe Alt aced his rookie season on all accounts, seamlessly holding down the right tackle spot on the Chargers offensive line to become one of the most exciting young linemen in the NFL.

And entering Year 2, Chargers Head CoachJim Harbaughmade it clear just how high he is on the player he could become.

"I think he's on track for a Hall of Fame type of career," Harbaugh said on theChargers Weekly podcastwith Matt "Money" Smith and Chris Hayre. "I do not feel like I'm going out on a ledge by saying that."

Alt started in 16 games for the Bolts as a rookie, finishing with a 94.3 percent pass-block win rate,according to ESPN, which was the fourth-highest mark among offensive tackles during last regular season.

The tackle also allowed a 6.9 percent pressure rate when aligned at right tackle in 2024, the eighth-lowest among players with at least 200 pass-block snaps at the position, according to Next Gen Stats.

But Alt hasgarnered praise throughout the offseasonabout the work he's put in ahead of his second season, and Harbaugh seconded the glowing reviews.

"As good as he was last year, I'd call him right now one of our most ascending players on the team," Harbaugh said. "He's that much better, that much improved."

He later added: "He is so strong now ascending as much as any player on our team is Joe Alt going into Year 2."

The Bolts got a glimpse of what kind of offensive line the team could have during last week's minicamp.

With Alt at right tackle andRashawn Slaterat left, Harbaugh said it just felt different.

"Great to have Rashawn back," Harbaugh said. "Way better, way different, way good for the Chargers when he's here. That was obvious when he was here at the minicamp, looked great, tremendous shape."

Of course, the Bolts also added to the trenches withMekhi Becton, who has been off and running during his first offseason program with the team.

"Been really excited with Mekhi Becton, just how big we are on the right side of the line of scrimmage," Harbaugh said. "We'll probably be a right-handed type of team."

But perhaps the biggest storyline as the team heads into training camp when it comes to the offensive line is the competition at guard and center.

Harbaugh said both Zion Johnson and Bradley Bozeman, who have beenalternating repsat the two positions, have shown a ton during the offseason program.

While there is still time when the pads come on and the competition gets going, the Chargers Head Coach loves the options at their disposal.

"The versatility that we now have," Harbaugh said. "Maybe the combination is going to be better with Zion at center and Boze at guard, but if it's not, we know we have a great combination with Boze at center and Zion at guard.

"We feel like we're in a really good place," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh also touched on the depth of the group past those five players.

"The exciting thing is there's guys really close to that starting five that will continue to keep having at it and will have a lot of time to show maybe that they could," Harbaugh said. "I don't see them displacing any of those five right now, if all were healthy, but Jamaree Salyer has had a tremendous offseason.

"He is almost all the way there in where he needs to get with his training and his body, and he's healthier than he was last year," Harbaugh continued. "Andre James has been a great addition And Trey Pipkins, who started for us at guard last year, everybody healthy, projecting be the swing tackle Trey.

"Tremendous value, we have a starting caliber offensive lineman who is our swing tackle is our plan right now," Harbaugh added. "That would be a healthy game in, game out, we know we have a swing tackle that if something happens to our two All-Pros, we've got a great player in Trey Pipkins.

Overall, Harbaugh was fired up about the depth and makeup of what's not a much deeper offensive trenches.

"I think we're way better," Harbaugh said. "It takes offensive linemen, most of the time, a year to physically develop, mature and understand the speed and the calls, and everything that goes into offensive line play.

"Our drafted offensive linemen and our free agent-signed offensive linemen, we're better in that 8 to 14 than we were last year," Harbaugh added. "Great guys to work with and develop, because it's rare."

Here are five other topics Harbaugh addressed on the podcast:

On Junior Colson and Justin Eboigbe heading into Year 2:

"With Junior Colson, he had some setbacks early. Appendix, ankle, but he did get on track about middle of the season and played a lot. Played over 300, 400 plays on the season. Right now, he's in the kind of shape where you want him. All of his key performance indicators are five, five, which is as high as you can get. It looks pretty much across the board. Justin has had an incredible offseason. He put on 20 pounds of good, lean muscle mass. He's been doing everything and doing all the extra. I expect really good things from him."

On the coaching staff and what are things that make them successful:

"The top things is what I look for. First, guys that have expertise in coaching aspect of football, position, defensive coordinator or offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator. They've got to be experts at that phase. They got to be tremendous teachers. That's got to be synonymous with coaching, is teaching. They got to be able to motivate players. Those are the big ones. There's others, but that's a people person. Somebody who likes the game of football, loves the game of football and wants to see others have success. They're coming in, humble and hungry to make us better."

On the impact the leaders of the team have:

"I've said it a lot of times, they're the ones who set the culture. I came in and just loved what they were doing. I said, 'Yeah, I want that. I want more of that. How can I be a part of that, what could I do to help. It was instant click like that. Derwin James, to me, it's like looking in the mirror. I see a young Jimmy Harbaugh every I watch him. It's like two peas in a pod as my grandma Marie Harbaugh used to say. If you're Derwin James, if you like football, you're going to like Derwin James and Derwin James is going to like you back. Then we're going to roll."

On what he's looking forward to the most in competition at training camp:

"It's never one thing. If I had to boil it down to one thing, I would say I feel like we are better at, name a position group. I think we're better depth-wise, competition-wise, those waters will be heated. In some cases, they're going to be hot. I could go through them, defensive line I think we're better, we're bigger. Offensive line as a group, it's just more talented, better depth. Wide receiver is another one. As good as running back was, I think we're better there going into camp. The secondary, been really excited about Donte Jackson, what he's shown in the offseason, Ben St-Juste, a position where you can really see things before the pads come on as opposed to edge rusher or even running back. It's tougher, you got to see it when the pads are on with the backer position, the offensive line position and the defensive line position."

"We're in a better place. I think we're in a good place, really good place. I think we're a better team because of the training that we've had, the additions. So thankful to Joe Hortiz and the entire personnel staff where they went to go and find these guys and brought them to us to coach and be a part of our team, plus the draft. We're better, we're going to need to be. The schedule is going to be tougher and all focus is on that opener against the Chiefs in Sao Paulo."