At the onset of the offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders were 10 steps behind their AFC West foes. But with every decision that John Spytek and Klint Kubiak put their heads together to make, the Silver and Black crept a bit closer to finally being relevant again in one of the NFL's toughest divisions.
And it doesn't hurt that the Raiders' rivals are already making ill-advised choices during their training camps, namely, the Los Angeles Chargers. They reached for center Jake Slaughter in Round 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft and are asking him to transition to guard, a position he's never played before.
Well, at least that's what they originally planned. Jim Harbaugh is giving Chargers fans a lot more questions than answers with his decisions at training camp, as the Slaughter project is not going according to plan, and those covering the team are starting to get worried about the investment.
The Raiders should revel in this.
Raiders should love Jim Harbaugh botching the Jake Slaughter project at camp
Okay, let's rewind a bit if you aren't caught up on Las Vegas' AFC West counterpart. Los Angeles has two of the best offensive tackles in the NFL in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, both of whom are healthy again, but their interior offensive line was a completely unmitigated disaster last season.
Somehow, they still made the postseason, but they will always fall short in the playoffs or fail to even get there if they can't figure out the three interior spots. So, they signed vet Tyler Biadasz at center and Cole Strange at right guard (another hole, in my opinion), but their left guard spot is up for grabs.
Originally, the plan was for Slaughter, who was drafted in the second round but had a late Round 3 or early Round 4 grade, to fill that void in Los Angeles, even though he is a center by trade and did not play a single snap at guard in college. That's a big gamble for a team in a win-now window.
And now, through a handful of training camp practices, it seems like the Chargers are... abandoning that plan? Not enacting it yet? When camp opened, Harbaugh and Co. put Kayode Awosika with the first-team offense at left guard, a former UDFA with just 883 snaps under his belt in 5 seasons.
Uh oh.
Making matters worse is that Slaughter is not just playing with the second team, but he is playing both center and guard. Why would the Chargers reach for a player in Round 2 that isn't an instant starter? If they're grooming him to win the left guard spot, why is he taking center reps with the 2s?
As Jason Reed of BoltBeat, FanSided's dedicated Chargers page, put it, "this regime has not earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to offensive line evaluation. ... Assuming the Chargers will get it right just because 'they know more than us' is something the team has not earned."
Yikes.
Raiders can massively benefit if Chargers' OL is porous once again
With Rob Leonard taking the defensive coordinator post in Las Vegas after years as the defensive line coach, fans can rest assured that he'll be doing what he can to make life easier for the big boys up front.
This offseason, that materialized by adding more capable bodies to the room so that the rotations on the edge and the defensive interior can be deeper, signing linebackers who can blitz, cover and stop the run, cornerbacks who can guard their yard and safeties who can take the ball away.
Adam Butler, Jonah Laulu and Thomas Booker IV were a surprisingly formidable trio at the defensive tackle position last year for the Raiders, but with Tonka Hemingway also emerging at camp, the Silver and Black could make life rough for opposing offenses, particularly on the interior.
If the Chargers don't figure out what they're doing at left guard, and it simply can't be Awosika, who has only started a smattering of games and never played a full season, then Las Vegas can take advantage of a clear hole in the Los Angeles offense.
Leonard should employ more odd fronts and bring pressure that spreads opposing offensive lines thin, and with everyone on an island, you can't have a weak link. The Chargers have a weak link in Awosika, and yet, their contingency plan of Slaughter or an aging Trevor Penning doesn't seem promising.
Los Angeles is a better team than Las Vegas is. Yes, the Raiders have holes, but they are not in a win-now window, so they can comfortably let young players play through mistakes. Experimentation is not a bad thing, and it is expected for the Silver and Black.
But the Chargers are looking to contend this year, and they will not get over the hump with such a glaring deficiency up front. It is a matchup league, and Harbaugh's failure to stick with the Slaughter project could come back to bite them. As Reed said, they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt.
And that is fine with the Raiders. They want the scales tipped their way.
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