Chargers training camp: Justin Herbert set to

A 12 months after racking up more miles than any group in the NFL, the Chargers are homebodies.

For the first time in their 10 seasons in Los Angeles, they are going to open with back-to-back video games on their home subject — against Arizona and Las Vegas.

What’s more, one of their away video games will probably be at SoFi Stadium, against the host Rams on Nov. 1.

Who is aware of if less time in an airplane will make a distinction, but a franchise that hasn’t received a postseason sport since the 2018 season will look for something to change that trajectory.

It’s price noting that Jim Harbaugh received his group to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, and he has a historical past of turning around franchises in faculty soccer and the professionals.

And, as they’ll show in training camp, the 2026 Chargers have made some vital adjustments.

Here are 5 issues to watch in training camp:

Justin time

It’s the seventh season for Justin Herbert, and the star quarterback is on his fifth offensive coordinator. Will former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel be the play-designing architect to push him over the top and get him that elusive first playoff victory?

Already, McDaniel has carried out some tinkering and fine-tuning, tweaking Herbert’s footwork out of the shotgun formation to permit him to get the ball out of his arms a fraction of a second earlier. That ought to permit his receivers more time to flip up the sector and bump up their yards-after-catch numbers.

The ball is popping out even before the receivers have turned their heads for it, and McDaniel has warned them the ball might hit them in the face if they’re not prepared. It’s a method to neutralize the move rush, too.

“If you’re getting the ball out quickly, there’s really nothing they can do about it,” Herbert said of defenders. “You’ve got to find a way to slow them down, and I think that’s just [McDaniel’s] way of taking them out of the game.”

Herbert has absorbed a lot of hits over the years, and he has leaned closely on his arm strength too.

“In years past, you rely on your arm strength to put the ball exactly where you need to,” he said, “instead of trusting it and just throwing it to a spot and letting them go and get it.”

Next man up

Chargers defensive coordintor Chris O’Leary speaks at a news convention on June 17.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Jesse Minter did such a stable job as defensive coordinator of the Chargers that he was employed as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. So in steps his protege, Chris O’Leary, who coached under him at Georgia State and Notre Dame before spending the 2024 season teaching Chargers safeties. Then it was off to Western Michigan for O’Leary last season, where he was defensive coordinator — a 12 months of expertise in that job before returning to change the departing Minter for the Chargers.

If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it. That’s anticipated to be the philosophy of O’Leary, who tutored his Western Michigan gamers by exhibiting them tapes of the Chargers.

That said, he’s in all probability not going to comply with Minter to the letter. He possible can have the same coverage schemes and rely just as a lot on All-Pro security Derwin James, but his defenses may blitz more than Minter’s (the Chargers have been close to the underside of the league in that class in 2026) and will look to flip first-round choose Akheem Mesidor into a pass-rushing star.

Odafe Oweh, acquired during the 2025 season in a commerce with Baltimore, will play for the Washington Commanders this season. Mesidor, a linebacker who performed collegiately at West Virginia and Miami, was chosen twenty second general.

It’s all on the road

Chargers offensive sort out Joe Alt participates in a drill at minicamp in June.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The Chargers have enormous draft capital invested in their offensive line — including spending first-round picks on bookend tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt — and that was supposed to be a strength of the group last season. That went off the rails early, however, with the group dropping Slater to a season-ending injury in training camp and Alt soon after the season began.

The line wound up being a catastrophe with a reshuffled forged nearly every week. One of the few fixtures was heart Bradley Bozeman, who Pro Football Focus rated fortieth out of 40 gamers who certified at that place. He retired after the season.

The Chargers have a new heart in Tyler Biadasz, who was launched by the Commanders in a cost-cutting transfer, and Alt (ankle) and Slater (knee) are cleared and prepared to go. If this unit can keep healthy, it is going to look a lot different — and a lot better — than the 2025 model.

Beginning of the ends

Chargers tight end David Njoku speaks during a news convention on May 19.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

In the not-too-distant past, the Chargers had one of the NFL’s premier tight ends in Antonio Gates, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer season. Since, the group has had more downs than ups at the place, although it noticed some flashes last season from rookie Oronde Gadsden II, a gifted move catcher.

The Chargers received another infusion of promising tight ends in the offseason, buying free brokers David Njoku and Charlie Kolar, both of whom thrived elsewhere.

Njoku was a gifted receiver and blocker in Cleveland, catching 81 balls and scoring six touchdowns in 2023. His numbers dropped off last season, though, as the Browns cycled through 5 different quarterbacks.

Kolar was more blocker than receiver in his 4 years with the Ravens, and he did that very effectively. When he did see passes thrown his method, he did a good job of reeling those in.

Oh my, Omarion

Chargers working back Omarion Hampton speaks at a news convention during minicamp on June 17.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The rookie grade for working back Omarion Hampton? Incomplete. The 2025 first-round choose from North Carolina received off to a good start, including a 128-yard dashing efficiency at the New York Giants in Week 4, before sustaining a fractured ankle the next week that sidelined him for two months.

In his sophomore season, he ought to be working behind a far better line and enjoying for an offensive coordinator with a historical past of teaching working backs to breakout seasons. Look what De’Von Achane did under McDaniel in Miami, where he ran for 1,350 yards and caught 67 passes last season.

If Hampton can come close to that, he’ll be a widespread fantasy pickup.