LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Chargers will finish voluntary offseason practices this week, one of the first steps toward setting the foundation for a pivotal season under coach Jim Harbaugh.
Following the second straight year with an embarrassing playoff loss, L.A. has a new offensive coordinator (Mike McDaniel) and a new defensive coordinator (Chris O'Leary).
With McDaniel, the Chargers are retraining how players think about offense, and O'Leary is trying to put his touch on what's been one of the NFL's top defenses.
Here are five things we learned from OTAs.
Mike McDaniel's offensive philosophy is taking shape.
This offseason, general manager Joe Hortiz made moves to build an offense in McDaniel's image. Among the moves: releasing guard Mekhi Becton and signing two players on McDaniel's wishlist: Cole Strange and Keaton Mitchell.
Now the offense is being retrained with a main philosophy of playing faster with conviction.
Similar to when Harbaugh took the head coaching job two seasons ago, many players have begun speaking like McDaniel. Offensive lineman Kayode Awosika and Strange talk about "conviction over perfection," tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater talk about "running off the ball." It's all a mindset shift that McDaniel hopes will take this offense to another level.
"When you come into this building with this coaching staff from the first day, they wipe you clean and say, go with conviction over perfection," said Awosika. "Meaning speed, aggressiveness off the ball and not worrying about the presentation."
"When you're playing, if you're focusing on trying to be perfect, you're going to be awful," said Strange. "You just have to go. So that's kind of what that is, conviction over perfection."
Justin Herbert is having a mechanical overhaul.
In Year 7, and already considered one of the league's best quarterbacks, McDaniel is teaching Herbert new ways to play the position to take his game to another level.
That begins with Herbert's footwork and anticipatory throwing. McDaniel wants Herbert to rely less on his big arm and getting the ball out in 2.4 seconds or less, where he has been successful in his career. That process has manifested with Herbert taking days off from practice to focus solely on his footwork.
Once a week during OTAs and for the foreseeable future, Herbert will use a green water ball to practice throwing motion and only use a football for handoffs and pitches.
"It's only going to help us, getting the ball out in a position where [receivers] can turn up the field and make something happen," Herbert said. " ... It helps with the offensive line. It's going to be good for our offense."
This defensive line's approach is shifting.
Chargers defensive line coach Mike Elston said in May that the emphasis this season will be maximizing positional flexibility for the interior players to give them more opportunities to make plays.
Elston pointed specifically to Teair Tart, Justin Eboigbe and Jamaree Caldwell. Elston said Tart, who signed a three-year, $37.5 million extension this offseason, would play wider than his standard over the center or shaded (0 tech, 1 technique) and from the guard or tackle spots. Eboigbe "really wasn't a focal point" of the third-down package last season, but expects that to change after his breakout year.
Elston also said that they are training Caldwell on the outside (not the edge position, but over the guard or tackle). And that he wants to give all three players more opportunities to make plays. The flexibility of the defensive line was what drew Dalvin Tomlinson, whom the Chargers signed in free agency, to the team. Tomlinson is the Chargers' biggest defensive lineman, listed at 317 pounds.
"I didn't want to sit in one spot and get game-planned the whole game," Tomlinson said of the move to L.A. from Arizona.
"I like the amount of talent we have," Elston said. "Like I said, we've boosted it up with some young guys, guys that can do a lot of things, a lot of position flexibility and I love the way they work and the way they learn."
There have been changes to the offensive line.
As part of McDaniel's hiring, the Chargers are shifting from a gap-and-inside zone running scheme, which prioritized physical lineman blocking downhill, to McDaniel's outside zone scheme, which requires linemen to move fast, laterally and together in space. It's why a player like Strange, who is small for an NFL offensive lineman (6-foot) but very athletic, was an important piece for this offense.
Now, as the ball is snapped at practice, offensive line coach Butch Berry is often yelling "run" loud enough that his face turns red and veins bulge. It's a key emphasis and adjustment to ensure that this offense is effective and a style that many of the Chargers haven't played.
"You got to learn how to run, you got to learn how to run, be in shape for this offense," Alt said, "and learn that the block's not going to happen as soon as you're used to."
The style shift is a welcome one, though, with Slater among the biggest supporters.
"I just think outside zone is so much fun," he said. "... The rule is like just get off and just go destroy everything in your path."
Awosika is in the race to start at left guard.
One of the biggest questions facing this offensive line is who will start at left guard. Zion Johnson, a first-round pick in 2022, had held this spot before the team let him leave for Cleveland in free agency. In March, at the league meetings, Harbaugh said that Trevor Penning would be the team's starting left guard if the season started then.
His comments came a week after the team signed Awosika, but were before the 2026 draft and the selection of four offensive linemen, including second-round pick Jake Slaughter, who the team plans to move to left guard.
The expectation is that Slaughter will eventually be the starter at left guard. Still, throughout camp, he's rotated with Awosika for the group blocking for Herbert. In contrast, Penning, who missed a few practices, has rotated at different spots for the groups blocking for backups Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei.
The reality is that the competition won't truly take shape until training camp in July, when players are in pads and coaches can make accurate assessments. But the rep share for Awosika is notable and a sign that he may have a real shot to compete for that starting gig, which didn't appear to be in the cards for him months ago.
