SEASON PREDICTION 

Last year's playoff exit was a game to forget for the Chargers and a nightmare for Herbert. The Chargers miraculously made the playoffs last year despite their two best offensive lineman being injured. However, New England made sure that those key missing pieces would be exploited in their matchup. Thus, leading to Herbert running for his life, the majority of the game and the offense not being able to muster up a single touchdown. On the bright side as, we enter 2026, both Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt are set to return at 100% health. This will give Herbert his two best blockers back, and moreover he will have one of the best offensive minds calling plays for him. Unfortunately for LA they lost their outstanding defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter to the Ravens. Now they'll have to hope that Chris O'Leary can replicate his success.  

Saying that the Chargers O-line last year was bad is an understatement to say the least. They ended the season ranked as the third worst unit in the league and had a viral clip on Sunday Night Football that showcased just how bad each individual player on the line was.  Fortunately, 2025 is behind them and they can move on to this year with a fresh new slate and they're two cornerstone tackles back in play. As for offseason moves, the biggest acquisition was new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, which is going to be a huge boost replacing Greg Roman. We have seen Herbert have top 10 seasons with mediocre OC's and now he gets to run plays with one of the best offensive gurus in the game. We also saw the breakout of Omarion Hampton in the second half of last season, and I expect him to continue to improve and be a focal point of this offense. The receiving room leaves some questions to be answered especially with how Ladd McConkey will perform in 2026. His rookie year in 2024 was spectacular and his talent on full display in the playoff game against Houston. However, in 2025 he lost his snap share to Keenan Allen, which is concerning considering Allen was an aging receiver in his last year in the NFL. Now with Allen gone McConkey will have the benefit of McDaniel focusing on scheming routes for him which will hopefully allow him to get back to his 2024 form. As for the golden boy Herbert, I'm confident he will continue to perform as a top 10 QB in the regular season considering he was still able to be top 10 in passing yards last year and now has his two best lineman back (no injuries will occur to them due to his articles hypothetical scenario). When it comes to the playoffs, I do have my concerns for Herbert as he has yet to show me that he can win a game when the calendar flips to January.  

Pivoting to the other side of the ball, the loss of Jesse Minter greatly concerns me for this defense. Minter was the main reason why the Chargers were even in the playoffs last season. When he got there in 2024, he led the Chargers to the number one scoring defense and then in 2025 he led them to the 5th best total defense. On top of his departure, they lost one of their best pass rushers in free agency in Odafe Oweh. Furthermore, Khalil Mack will turn 36 this season, and I don't believe he can continue to produce reps at a starter quality level. They also lost some depth in secondary with Benjamin St Jude's leaving in free agency. As for O'Leary, he does have previous experience with the Chargers, having been their safeties coach in 2024. However, this is his first stint as a defensive coordinator which leaves some worries for how well he can perform following Jesse Minter's footsteps. The good news is that the Chargers still have two superstar players on the defense, one of them being Tuli Tuipulotu, who led the team in sacks last year. Then in the secondary they'll have the second best safety lurking the back half of the field. Furthermore, they drafted Akheem Mesidor who in my opinion is the second best pass rusher in this draft class, and he will attempt to fill up that hole that Odafe Oweh left. Albeit losing such a stud DC leads me to expect some regression to come this year for LA's defense.  

Overall, 2026 is an interesting flip of the script for the Chargers. While in 2025 the defense was dominant and helped lead the team to the playoffs, I expect the opposite to occur in 2026. Even though the Chargers defense retains most of their star power, the loss of such a brilliant mind has me believing they won't be one of the top tier defenses in the league this year. On the flip side I see the Chargers offense improving greatly due to the reinstatement of Alt, and Slater along with the acquisition of McDaniel. I have this team finishing 10-7 and securing a playoff spot for the third year in a row. However, when we get to the playoffs all the concern for the defense and all my excitement for the offense will not matter if "IF MAN" himself does not show up.  

*NOTE: This was written before the injury to Tyler Biadesz (pretty ironic they couldn't even stay healthy for enough time for me to post this article). I believe the loss will affect the Chargers negatively, but they have enough depth and coaching skill to maneuver around the loss. Their final record prediction has not changed but I don’t feel as confident in them making a deep playoff run.