San Diego Chargers: Who should start at right guard?

When the smoke cleared in 2014, the San Diego Chargers finished 9-7 but missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. One of their biggest downsides? Their offensive line.

After ranking just 18th a season ago by Pro Football Focus, only two teams in the NFL were ranked worst than the Bolts this past season in terms of offensive line play. San Diego finished 27th in pass-blocking and 26th in run blocking.

As well, Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Focus stated that the Bolts “don’t give you the cleanest pocket and the moves they’ve made haven’t turned them into road graders. D.J. Fluker concerns you with his pass protection and yet he’s arguably the only guy you’d guarantee will be starting for the team next year even if it is at guard. Dude: Pick a guard, any guard. We’ll go with Johnnie Troutman who just didn’t deliver in his 790 snaps. The whole interior is ripe for ripping up.”

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After such a poor performance from the offensive line, General Manager Tom Telesco made it his mission to make this offensive line that much better in 2015 by re-signing left tackle King Dunlap while adding guard Orlando Franklin, tackle Joe Barksdale from the St. Louis Rams and Chris Hairston from the Buffalo Bills to its much-improved offensive line.

As well, the Bolts added former Arena Bowl Champion Michael Huey to add some depth to the right guard position.

With OGs Huey, Johnnie Troutman and Jeremiah Sirles, the San Diego Chargers have a bit of a predicament. They have three offensive guards at the right guard position and no clear winner.

The consensus around Chargers Park is that junior Chris Watt will be the Botls starting center, with Franklin, Dunlap and Fluker starting as well. For the right guard position, Troutman is listed as the current “starter,” but nobody truly knows who will be in that starting slot come week one.

Out of Pennsylvania State University, Troutman was one of the Nittany Lions best offensive tackles and top prospects.

According to his bio via Penn State, Troutman “has made considerable progress over the last two seasons while grabbing hold of the starting job at left guard and is a probable All-Big Ten candidate. Troutman started the final 11 games of last year and has 19 career starts. He was instrumental on a Penn State offensive line that allowed only 12 sacks all season, No. 13 in the nation for fewest sacks allowed. Possessing very good physical attributes, skills and intensity, Troutman will be one of three returning senior starters to the O-Line. The former all-state selection at Pemberton HS, played a critical role in helping Penn State gain 350 or more yards nine times.”

Aug 7, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers guard Johnnie Troutman (63) and offensive tackle D.J. Fluker (76) during the first quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately for the Chargers, Troutman’s pectoral injury kept him out of the entire 2012 regular season. Luckily during 2013 he was able to replace Jeromey Clary and Chad Rinehart and start some games at left and right guard.

Last season, Troutman started 15 games at the right guard position and saw mixed results, suffering a season-ending knee injury in week 16 against the San Francisco 49ers. What is interesting to note is Troutman’s improvement over the 2013 and 2014 seasons where his penalties decreased from eight to just two and his sacks allowed per game started decreased from 3.0 allowed in nine games to 3.5 allowed in 15 games (courtesy of YES Network).

And while those stats are improvements, Troutman was one of the Chargers more porous guards in 2014, helping contribute to the Chargers woes in the running game (ranking second-worst in run blocking according to FootballOutsiders.com).

In all honesty, I would love to see the Chargers go out and sign guard Justin Blalock who remains one of the league’s best free agent guards. In the past five seasons, Blalock has allowed just 2.4 sacks and two penalties per season (according to STATS).

Considering Troutman’s injuries and lack of pass protection, it seems that anybody else would be a better job. If there were anyone I would advocate for, it would be former Arena Bowl Champion Michael Huey.

For those of you who don’t know who Huey is, he was actually on the squad in 2011 before going to the Arena Football League for three years, helping the Arizona Rattlers to three straight Arena Bowl Championships. Huey played his high school ball at Kilgore High School in Kilgore, Texas. He was named first-team 4A all-state by the Associated Press and the Texas Sports Writers Association as well as all-district, all-region, and district 12-4A Lineman of the Year his senior year. Not to mention, Huey was a starter in the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

For a Chargers squad looking to make a Super Bowl run, Huey could be the secret ingredient to another winning season. Huey is taller (one inch taller) and leaner (20 pounds lighter) than the 6’4,” 330-pound Johnnie Troutman. That lean frame could produce some big wins in 2015 if given the chance.

Of course, Huey has no starting experience in the NFL and could have some steep learning curves coming from the AFL. Therefore, I am not yet confident in placing my entire trust in Huey quite yet. I do think he has some upside.

I think the best thing for the Bolts to do is give each one of these guards an opportunity to earn the starting job in training camp and whoever plays the best will get the job. Whoever shows they have the bet combination of work ethic, football IQ and overall playing ability will and should earn the starting job.

As I always say, competition breeds better play and this could not be any more of an indicative case with San Diego.

Next: The Bolts' potential 2016 NFL Draft strategy

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