If I had a friend that was a fan of the Los Angeles Chargers and spent the 2025 NFL season out of the country and in a place that doesn't have internet or television, they might return today and ask me to sum up for them what happened in the season that they missed. There would be two big storylines that I would structure my answer around:

Duh. The Chargers offensive line was a train wreck in 2025, mostly due to injuries. Injuries to running backs Najee Harris and Omarion Hampton can't be entirely explained by the Swiss cheese offensive line, but it's a factor. Justin Herbert's broken hand absolutely can be explained by the poor offensive line, and a lot of what happened after that point can be explained by Herbert having a broken hand.

That's a good way to explain how the Chargers offense (which got good production from Quentin Johnston, Keenan Allen, Ladd McConkey, Oronde Gadsden II and Kimani freaking Vidal) finished the season 20th in points scored.

There's a reason why some legendary coaches (like Bill Belichick and Andy Reid) build their rosters from the lines outward, a disastrous year for your offensive line can really sink the rest of the offense just like a disastrous year for the defensive line can make life a lot harder for the rest of the defensive players.

Speaking of the defense...

There is a reason why nobody in or around the Chargers is that worried about Khalil Mack potentially leaving via free agency (or retiring), and that reason is mostly Odafe Oweh.

Oweh picked up 10 sacks for the Baltimore Ravens last season but 5.5 of those came in the final seven weeks of the season, after Oweh was benched and put more into the role of pass rush specialist.

The Ravens traded Oweh to the Chargers after week 5 of the 2025 season, with LA looking for a replacement for the then-injured Khalil Mack, and he blossomed once he landed on the west coast. 

The 27-year old Odafe Oweh picked up 7.5 sacks over 12 regular season games before the NFL Playoffs, where he sacked Drake Maye three times (a team record) and forced two fumbles. He is now one-half of the future of the Chargers pass rush.

The other half is Tuli Tuipulotu, taken by the Chargers with a 2nd round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, who took a major leap this season. The former USC Trojan went from having 4.5 sacks his rookie season to 8.5 sacks in 2024 all the way up to 13 sacks (in 16 games) last season.

Another season like that and Tuipulotu will start be talked about as one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. Hopefully, the Chargers are able to bring Oweh (a free agent) back to make offenses pay when they send extra help at Tuli.

One wrinkle to add into next year's performance is a brand new defensive coordinator, with Jesse Minter headed to Baltimore to become the Ravens head coach. Chris O'Leary was hired for the spot and, outside of his outstanding track record of defensive performance, should make the transition easy on everyone since he was part of Minter's Chargers staff in 2024.