Chargers training camp 2026: every storyline before Houston

Eleven practices into camp at The Bolt, the Los Angeles Chargers are a week from their season opener against Arizona and hours from the next real test: Thursday night in Houston.1 The pads have been on. The first unofficial depth chart is out. And the story of this camp is no longer abstract scheme talk — it is who is winning left guard, who is missing practice, and how hard Chris O'Leary's defense is hitting Mike McDaniel's new offense.

Monday, Aug. 10, was a light jog-through day with no pads. The Chargers practice once more Tuesday, travel Wednesday, and open the preseason against the Texans on Thursday.1

Herbert is already throwing the new offense around

If you only watched the first few days, the main takeaway was simple: Justin Herbert looks comfortable. On Day 2 he hit Keaton Mitchell deep in 7-on-7, dropped a roughly 25-yard ball to Quentin Johnston between two defenders, then found Tre' Harris and Ladd McConkey in sequence before finishing with a deep cross to rookie Brenen Thompson.2

By Week 2, ESPN's Kris Rhim reported that Herbert — and the other quarterbacks — had settled into McDaniel's timing. Receivers were getting the ball early and in space.3 That does not mean the offense "won" camp. On Day 10, the longest practice of the summer (nearly two hours in full pads), the defensive line controlled the day and stuffed the red zone.3 4

McDaniel's standard for Thursday is not clean football. It is convicted football.

"I just want to see convicted play, not mistake-free," McDaniel said Monday. "But I don't want to see hesitancy or a soft-natured mindset as they approach the big stage because that's each and every day in the National Football League."5

He will call plays from the sideline. So will defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary.5 Both new coordinators want game tape that practice cannot manufacture.

On the backfield, McDaniel has already sketched the regular-season usage: Omarion Hampton, Kimani Vidal, and Keaton Mitchell should all play in "probably every game," with the split depending on the opponent and the hot hand.3 Hampton is the RB1 on the first depth chart; Mitchell and Vidal are listed as the next tier.6

The left guard job is still a tournament

No Chargers position battle has eaten more camp oxygen than left guard.

Five names have taken first-team snaps between Rashawn Slater and center Tyler Biadasz: Kayode Awosika, Jake Slaughter, Trevor Penning, Trey Pipkins III, and Branson Taylor.7 8

Early on, Harbaugh said Awosika was "in the lead," while still listing Pipkins, Slaughter, and Taylor in the mix and aiming to name a starter after roughly ten more practices.3 9 Taylor then seized full first-team left-guard work on the first true padded day (Day 8) and kept showing up in the rotation.3 Harbaugh's offseason praise for Taylor got louder once pads arrived: the second-year lineman was "the talk of the offseason," and "now everyone has seen it."10

Slaughter, the rookie drafted to start at guard after playing only center in college, had slipped behind Awosika and Taylor before getting first-team padded reps on Day 9. He pancake-blocked Dalvin Tomlinson on one snap and got beaten badly by Justin Eboigbe on another — a mixed tape that fits a true open competition.3 Penning has largely worked with the groups in front of DJ Uiagalelei.3

McDaniel's Day 11 line was blunt: "No one's eliminated themselves from the tournament."7 He wants the next ten days — games included — to settle lateral range against twists and, just as much, how the winner communicates with the rest of the line.7

The first unofficial depth chart lists left guard as Awosika OR Taylor OR Slaughter.6 That is the staff refusing to crown anyone before Houston.

Slater's left leg is the quiet fear

Rashawn Slater is still the starting left tackle on paper.6 The worry is usage, not the depth chart.

On Aug. 4 in San Diego, Slater went to the medical tent after 11-on-11 work on the same left leg that tore a patellar tendon last camp and wiped out his 2025 season. He did not return that day, though he was full the next day in a walkthrough and told Herbert he wanted to be out there.3 11

Harbaugh framed the subsequent rest days as ramp-up, "right on schedule" and "going by the book."10 ESPN still had Slater missing a third straight practice Monday along with corner Tarheeb Still — and noted that three straight absences make a pure "veteran rest" explanation harder to take at face value.3 Pipkins and Taylor have been the left tackle fill-ins; Cam Hart has taken the bulk of outside corner snaps with Still out.3

Joe Alt, back from the ankle injuries that wrecked stretches of 2025, has been the opposite story. McDaniel called him an "over-the-top pleasant surprise," yelling across the field after Alt sealed Khalil Mack on a screen — something the offense had struggled to do all camp.3 7

O'Leary's defense has been the loudest unit

Full pads arrived in Week 2, and O'Leary's group made the noise. After the first padded sessions he said the defense started "a little too physical" and had to turn it down — then immediately added that the edge is something they need to keep stoking.9 Tuli Tuipulotu's pop on Omarion Hampton set an early tone.9

Tuipulotu's camp started as a limited-participation story while he headed into the final year of his rookie deal. Harbaugh called it "handled internally" and a "ramp up"; neither side publicly labeled it a hold-in.3 Once he was back in full-team padded work, the production matched the reputation. On Day 9, Mack and Tuipulotu opened a starters period with back-to-back TFLs, then combined for a would-be sack on Herbert.10 On Day 10, Tuipulotu spun inside on Tyler Biadasz and was in Herbert's lap before the throw could leave — a microcosm, Rhim wrote, of a day the defensive line owned.3

The young edge room is not waiting politely behind those two. First-rounder Akheem Mesidor beat Alt clean with a spin in 1-on-1s on Day 10, stacked more wins, and split a sack with Justin Eboigbe.4 Kyle Kennard had one of his best days of camp the same afternoon. Undrafted Nadame Tucker — whom O'Leary coached at Western Michigan — kept winning late 1-on-1s and recording run stops and sacks against reserves.4 O'Leary likes the linebacker room too: Henley, Perryman, and the depth group have been "pushing each other" downhill and on blitz timing.9

Interior names that keep showing up: Jamaree Caldwell, Dalvin Tomlinson, Teair Tart, and Eboigbe, who has turned Year 3 into a real camp.3 4

Rookies and depth pieces who forced the camera over

Fourth-round wideout Brenen Thompson has been hard to miss. Through five practices he kept drawing Herbert targets, including early deep connections, while admitting the jump from one-word college calls to McDaniel's long verbiage was real work.12 He is also taking punt and kick-return reps despite almost no college return history; special teams coach Ryan Ficken praised the willingness and the speed.12 On Day 9 he added a toe-tap sideline catch that got the crowd.3

Undrafted corners Avery Smith and Rodney Shelley stacked pass breakups and picks in Week 1; Smith kept showing up later as a blitzer and coverage piece.1 3 Rookie safety Genesis Smith has already intercepted Herbert (off Charlie Kolar's hands) and drawn a McDaniel shout for a breakup on David Njoku.3 4

Tre' Harris has been active in team periods.3 On the other end of the spectrum, KeAndre Lambert-Smith's quiet start was interrupted by a contested downfield catch.3 Backup QB DJ Uiagalelei even uncorked a roughly 50-yard touchdown to Derius Davis on Day 9.3

What the first depth chart actually says

Released Sunday, Aug. 10, the chart is "unofficial" and built in 21 personnel on offense and a 3-4 on defense.6 The clearest lines:

Spot	Listed starters / co-starters
QB	Justin Herbert (Trey Lance, DJ Uiagalelei)
RB	Omarion Hampton
WR	Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston
TE	Charlie Kolar OR Oronde Gadsden OR David Njoku
LT / RT	Rashawn Slater, Joe Alt
LG	Kayode Awosika OR Branson Taylor OR Jake Slaughter
C / RG	Tyler Biadasz, Cole Strange
IDL	Jamaree Caldwell, Dalvin Tomlinson, Teair Tart
Edge	Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu
ILB	Daiyan Henley, Denzel Perryman
CB	Tarheeb Still; Donte Jackson OR Cam Hart
S	Derwin James Jr., Elijah Molden
KR / PR	Derius Davis

Source: Chargers.com depth chart.6

The OR tags matter. Tight end is a three-way split on paper. The second corner is not locked. Left guard is the open job everyone already knew about. Mesidor, Bud Dupree, Tucker, and Kennard sit behind Mack and Tuipulotu on the edge depth.6

Preseason plan: most starters sit Thursday

Harbaugh put numbers on the three-game plan Saturday:

About 15 veterans/starters will warm up in Houston and not play.
About 27 players will play in preseason Week 1.
Starters are targeted for one series in preseason Game 2 and two series in Game 3.13

He did not name which 15 sit. That is the fog around Herbert's Thursday status — and around anyone still competing for a job who needs live snaps more than a starter does.

Monday's light practice still carved out special teams: Davis, Thompson, Luke Grimm, McConkey, and Devonte Ross fielded punts; Cameron Dicker went 7-for-8 on the narrow practice uprights from 26 to 45 yards, missing only a 43-yarder off the right post.7

One roster move before kickoff week

On Aug. 10 the Chargers signed outside linebacker Andre Carter and waived wide receiver Mante' Morrow.14 Carter, an undrafted 2023 entry out of Army, has bounced through Minnesota, Las Vegas, Detroit, Miami, and a Washington offseason stop. He will wear No. 51.14 It is a depth add into a room that is already deep on paper — and a reminder that the edge competition is not finished just because Mack and Tuipulotu are healthy.

What still has to get settled

Camp has answered some things. Herbert and McDaniel are not fighting the install. Alt looks like himself again. The defense under O'Leary has teeth in pads. Thompson, Mesidor, Tucker, Kennard, and a pair of undrafted corners have made the roster math harder.

It has not answered the ones that decide September:

Who starts at left guard — and whether the winner is still sharing snaps after Houston.
How carefully Slater is managed after the left-leg scare and the multi-day absences.
Still's availability at outside corner, and how long Hart holds the first-team outside snaps.
How much Tuipulotu's contract situation still shadows the edge room once games count for evaluation, not just practice notes.

Thursday in Houston will not solve all four. Harbaugh already said most of the true starters will only warm up.13 For the 27 who do play, McDaniel's bar is the right one for August: play like you mean the call, even if the tape is messy.

The Chargers open the regular season against the Cardinals after this three-game preseason slate.13 Between now and then, the open jobs have a deadline the depth chart still refuses to write down.