Jake Slaughter has been the Chargers' lone bright spot this season
Grade: B+
In what has been a disaster of a season, the Los Angeles Chargers do have a silver lining offensively in Jake Slaughter. And of course, it was kind of by accident.
The Chargers drafted Slaughter, a college center, to be the starting guard next to Tyler Biadasz, who they gave a three-year contract to. Slaughter, Biadasz, and Cole Strange were supposed to solve Los Angeles' interior offensive line problems for the next few years.
But Biadasz injured his knee in the summer, and Slaughter was forced to slide over.
Slaughter is the perfect fit for offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, which made the potential move to guard make sense during the draft. But whatever position he plays and whoever his coach is next year, Slaughter has proven he's going to be a good NFL starter.
Slaughter is a tall and athletic interior offensive lineman, which really allows him to make an impact in space as a run blocker. And despite not being the heaviest player (303 pounds), he brings a lot of power and violence to the game.
In the last two games, Slaughter has delivered clean snaps and gotten right to work against defenders. He gets his hands up quickly and immediately puts them to use with hand fighting or a strong punch. And he uses his length to create a strong anchor despite being a lighter player.
He gets push in the run game and creates run lanes by turning defenders in either direction. And his athleticism shows on runs to the outside or screens, where he's really comfortable moving out in space.
Once he's out in space, he's a bit inconsistent. Sometimes he delivers a great block, and other times he ends up on the ground.
Usually, a lineman on the ground a lot is a huge red flag, but since this has been out in space instead of at the line of scrimmage, and doesn't seem to happen for any one reason (lack of strength or coordination), I'm willing to chalk it up to a fluke for now.
The other thing to clean up is that, on some run plays, Slaughter will occasionally whiff on a block due to his aggressiveness, but it has happened only a handful of times.
Final verdict: Whoever is the coach, quarterback, or surrounding linemen, Jake Slaughter looks like he could be the Chargers' franchise center for years to come. His blend of athleticism, technique, and physicality is exactly what teams should want in the middle of their line.
That makes Slaughter the highest-graded rookie in this group and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise frustrating season for Los Angeles.
Simon's final say: Overall, this group of AFC rookie offensive linemen has looked pretty good through the first half of the season. There are still some things to clean up, especially for Rutledge and Proctor, but all five have shown they belong on an NFL offensive line.
Slaughter looks like a long-term answer for the Chargers, while Benson may be the biggest surprise of the group. And for teams looking to build their offensive lines for the future, that's a pretty good return on their investments so far.
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