Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Chargers brought back Lance on a one-year deal. After stepping in as the backup throughout 2025, including a start in the regular-season finale, Lance gave the team reliable insurance behind Herbert. New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel is familiar with Lance from their time together with the 49ers. Uiagalelei rounds out the room after spending his rookie year on the practice squad and earning a futures contract.<\/p>\n
Running Back<\/p>\n
Starter: Omarion Hampton<\/p>\n
Depth:\u00a0Keaton Mitchell,\u00a0Kimani Vidal,\u00a0Jaret Patterson, Amar Johnson<\/p>\n
Hampton heads into the 2026 season as the clear-cut starter and featured back after an impressive rookie year, despite suffering an injury that kept him sidelined for a few games. Behind him, the room is a well-balanced mix of complementary pieces. Mitchell, who was signed to a two-year deal, brings explosive speed and big-play ability. Vidal is coming off a career year. He offers reliable change-of-pace work and receiving skills.<\/p>\n
Fullback<\/p>\n
Starter:\u00a0Alec Ingold<\/p>\n
After spending the past four years with the Dolphins, Ingold joins McDaniel in Los Angeles. He excels as a lead blocker, short-yardage contributor, and reliable pass-catching option out of the backfield. Meanwhile, Scott Matlock, who served as the fullback last season, will likely revert to playing exclusively as a defensive tackle.<\/p>\n
Wide Receiver<\/p>\n
Starters:\u00a0Ladd McConkey,\u00a0Tre\u2019 Harris,\u00a0Quentin Johnston<\/p>\n
Depth:\u00a0Derius Davis,\u00a0KeAndre Lambert-Smith,\u00a0Luke Grimm,\u00a0Dalevon Campbell,\u00a0JaQuae Jackson<\/p>\n
The Chargers are excited about the potential of his position under McDaniel.\u00a0Leading the charge McConkey, who took a step back last season due to the presence of Keenan Allen. With Allen gone, McConkey should return to his rookie-season form and then some. Johnston\u00a0enters a pivotal fourth season. After a productive 2025 campaign, the team must soon decide on his fifth-year option. Johnston is also a candidate for trade. Harris should see an expanded role as well. He flashed as a rookie with 30 catches for 324 yards and impressed as a blocker. The Bolts could look to the draft to get a wideout with speed and is at their best after the catch.<\/p>\n
Tight end<\/p>\n
Starter:\u00a0Charlie Kolar<\/p>\n
Depth:\u00a0Oronde Gadsden,\u00a0Tanner McLachlan, Thomas Yassmin<\/p>\n
Kolar signed a\u00a0three-year, $24.3 million deal. Known as one of the NFL’s premier blocking tight ends, Kolar should boost the running game. He has shown untapped potential as a pass-catcher, which McDaniel will hopefully unlock. After a solid rookie season in 2025 where he recorded 49 receptions for 664 yards,\u00a0Gadsden\u00a0should continue to offer reliability as a receiver. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chargers look to add a versatile tight end to round out the group.<\/p>\n
Offensive line<\/p>\n
Starters:\u00a0LT\u00a0Rashawn Slater, LG\u00a0Trevor Penning, C Tyler Biadasz, RG Cole Strange, RT\u00a0Joe Alt<\/p>\n
Depth:\u00a0Trey Pipkins III,\u00a0Kayode Awosika, Branson Taylor,\u00a0Josh Kaltenberger,\u00a0Ben Cleveland<\/p>\n
All of the starting interior offensive linemen from this past season departed. Bradley Bozeman retired, so the Chargers signed Tyler Biadasz to a three-year deal. Inked to a two-year, $13 million contract,\u00a0Strange is slated to start at right guard, formerly played by Mekhi Becton. The starting left guard spot is currently up in the air. Trevor Penning is penciled in there as of now, but the Bolts will likely add one in the draft for competition at the very least. They could also draft a backup center to Biadasz, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated April 12, 2026, 10:54 p.m. PT With the draft near, now is an excellent time to review…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[202558,64,63,593,85,243484,243485,244202,293989,203469,293994,244195,293988,293992,293991,240899,293996,293985,243487,293983,293987,243486,203146,203142,223433,202563,293986,293990,203139,293993,293984,293995,202561],"class_list":{"0":"post-603651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-sstssportsnflchargers","14":"tag-sstsnchargers","15":"tag-tag2026-nfl-draft","16":"tag-tagalec-ingold","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagben-cleveland","19":"tag-tagbradley-bozeman","20":"tag-tagcharlie-kolar","21":"tag-tagderius-davis","22":"tag-tagjaret-patterson","23":"tag-tagjustin-herbert","24":"tag-tagkayode-awosika","25":"tag-tagkeaton-mitchell","26":"tag-tagkeenan-allen","27":"tag-tagkimani-vidal","28":"tag-tagladd-mcconkey","29":"tag-taglos-angeles-chargers","30":"tag-tagnational-sports","31":"tag-tagnfl","32":"tag-tagnfl-draft","33":"tag-tagoverall-positive","34":"tag-tagquentin-johnston","35":"tag-tagscott-matlock","36":"tag-tagsports-news","37":"tag-tagtrevor-penning","38":"tag-tagtrey-lance","39":"tag-tagtrey-pipkins-iii","40":"tag-typestory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}