The Los Angeles Chargers have a lot going for them heading into the 2026 season. Justin Herbert is still there. Mike McDaniel is now running the offense. The roster got bigger and meaner, which is exactly what Jim Harbaugh wants. But the thing that might actually push this team over the top? It’s not the quarterback or the rebuilt offensive line. It’s the tight ends.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated pointed out something a lot of people missed this spring. The Chargers completely revamped their tight end room, and he thinks it could matter more than most fans realize.
“One under-the-radar spring takeaway from me: The Chargers’ tight end makeover could be a bigger difference-maker than people think,” Breer wrote.
The roster now looks like Harbaugh chiseled it himself. Big back in Omarion Hampton. Rugged receivers in Quentin Johnston, Ladd McConkey and Tre Harris. Massive tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. A line of hard-playing edge rushers with Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu and Akheem Mesidor. And then there’s the tight end group.
Harbaugh has a history with tight ends
This is not new for Harbaugh. Go back through his coaching career and you’ll find talented tight ends everywhere. Colston Loveland is doing it in Chicago. A.J. Barner is making plays in Seattle. Those are guys Harbaugh coached before they got to the NFL. He knows what to do with the position.
The Chargers brought in David Njoku and Charlie Kolar during free agency. Njoku is the big name here — a proven athlete who can stretch the field and block. Kolar is more of a wild card, but he fits the mold of what Harbaugh likes. If both of them click in McDaniel’s system, the offense gets a lot harder to defend.
More than just a safety valve
Breer summed it up this way: the group gives the Chargers more versatility, more ways to attack, and makes them tougher to game plan against. “And a little more like what Harbaugh, over his 20-plus years as a head coach, has gotten pretty used to having,” he wrote.
It’s not just about catching passes. It’s about what the tight ends let the rest of the offense do. They can help in the run game. They can create mismatches down the seam. They can pull linebackers away from the middle of the field. A good tight end room makes everyone else’s job easier.
Training camp will tell us a lot. But if this group looks sharp in August, don’t be surprised if people start talking about the Chargers’ tight ends a lot more than they did back in March.
Leave a Comment