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Trey Pipkins III Is Impressed With Chargers Center Jake Slaughter's Intelligence
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- Trey Pipkins III Is Impressed With Chargers Center Jake Slaughter's Intelligence
In a matter of weeks, Los Angeles Chargers rookie Jake Slaughter has gone from competing for the starting left guard position to gaining the starting center spot.
Ordinarily, NFL teams seem understandably reluctant to start a rookie on their offensive line unless he is a first-round draft pick, but the second-round draft pick out of the University of Florida has apparently done plenty of the right things this summer.
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New Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said he's "excited" about Slaughter because the 23-year-old "wants to be corrected" and "responds well to adversity." Quarterback Justin Herbert also had complimentary things to say about Slaughter, via the Los Angeles Times .
"He's been awesome," Herbert said. "He's done such a great job of picking up the offense and playing like a veteran out there. Great to have a guy like that. He's playing a lot earlier than I think he would have thought, but that hasn't slowed him down."
Offensive lineman Trey Pipkins III was more specific in his praise.
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Pipkins feels Slaughter has another wonderful quality
"He might be one of the smartest rookies I've ever seen," Pipkins said.
Pipkins is going into his eighth NFL season, so he has been around plenty of rookies by now. If he feels Slaughter is among the smartest rookies he has seen, that is some very strong praise.
The Gators product received a run-blocking grade of 80.2, a pass-blocking grade of 84.1 and an overall grade of 79.3 from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) for last season. Upon arriving in Los Angeles , he was projected to be a possible starter at left guard, while free-agent signing Tyler Biadasz , who was a Pro Bowler in 2022, was going to start at center.
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But when Biadasz suffered a season-ending knee injury a few weeks ago, it threw a monkey wrench into the Chargers' plans for the interior of their offensive line. Slaughter was switched over to center, while Kayode Awosika , who was with the Detroit Lions the last four seasons, eventually won the starting LG job.
The team's first game this season is this Sunday versus the Arizona Cardinals , and while they have Josh Sweat , a capable defensive end, the rest of their defense seems unimpressive. But Slaughter and the Chargers will start to be tested in Week 3 when they go up against the Buffalo Bills in Upstate New York, and that will be just the first of seven consecutive games against contenders.
Slaughter will need every bit of his intelligence and ability to respond well to adversity to perform well during that rough stretch of L.A.'s schedule.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Sep 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
