LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Chargers will begin mandatory minicamp this week for their final three days of practice before training camp in July.
There's a major position battle on the offensive line, significant offensive and defensive changes and a rookie class that coach Jim Harbaugh will need to contribute in Year 1 as this team looks to win the franchise's first Super Bowl.
Here are five questions for the Chargers as minicamp begins:
How much progress has Justin Herbert made in Mike McDaniels offense?
They have only been together for a few months but the two have remained lockstep in adjusting how Herbert plays the quarterback position.
One of the first proper looks at that shift will be during minicamp. McDaniel wants Herbert to get the ball out quicker, throwing with more anticipation to get receivers the ball in space and more opportunities to get yards after catch. In turn, McDaniel said this offseason that the entire Chargers wide receiver corps can expect career highs in receiving yards.
"It's been a better mesh than I even thought it would be," said Harbaugh.
Minicamp could illuminate how much Herbert's mechanics have already changed, or if there is a noticeable difference in how fast he's hitting receivers on average. McDaniel wants Herbert to get the ball out in under 2.4 seconds, where he's been effective throughout his career.
In an Instagram video, ESPN college football analyst Max Browne pointed out that Herbert has already been practicing different footwork, shifting from a stance with his right foot ahead of his left in the shotgun to his left foot just slightly in front of his right.
What's different about Chris O'Leary's defense?
O'Leary, who was the Chargers' safeties coach in 2024, left the team ahead of last season to become the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan. There, his defense ranked ninth in the FBS and second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring (17.4 points allowed per game).
Now O'Leary is tasked with replacing his mentor and former defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, who is now the Baltimore Ravens coach, and for two seasons turned around a Chargers defense that was one of the league's worst into one of its best.
O'Leary got his start in coaching under Minter as a graduate assistant at Georgia State in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, when Minter was the school's defensive coordinator. The defense O'Leary ran at Western Michigan was very similar to the one Minter ran in Los Angeles in 2025, making for somewhat of an easy transition for this unit.
But there will be changes, the biggest of which has been clear already. Starting with the interior defensive line, Teair Tart and the rest of that group will play more wide across the interior, freeing them up for more opportunities to make plays, defensive line coach Mike Elston said earlier this offseason.
As for the rest of the defense, players have been tight-lipped on what's new, but minicamp could show how O'Leary is putting his stamp on this unit.
"You can already tell the differences between him and Jesse in terms of schematics," outside linebacker Khalil Mack said in May, before declining to get into the specifics about those differences.
Is there a three-person race for left guard?
Free-agent signee Kayode Awosika was a surprise at the optional offseason program, as he was among the group of five blocking for Herbert during the practices open to the media.
Before the offseason program, that job appeared to be a competition between second-round pick Jake Slaughter and Trevor Penning; but now it seems that Awosika is firmly in the mix.
The truth about this position battle -- perhaps the biggest on the team -- is that we won't get a true sense of where each player is until the pads are on in training camp.
But time on task matters, and the fact that the Chargers have chosen to play Awosika next to Rashawn Slater more than Slaughter or Penning, who was on the team last season, is significant, and if that continues through mandatory minicamp, it signals that this is a true competition between these three players.
Which rookies will stand out?
It's somewhat difficult to evaluate line play at this point in the offseason without pads. The Chargers' top two picks, edge Akheem Mesidor and Slaughter, both play on the line which means this portion of the offseason offers a limited scope on their impact.
Still, some rookies have popped throughout the offseason program like undrafted edge rusher Nadame Tucker, who put moves on last year's sixth-round pick, guard Branson Taylor multiple times in team play. But because of the nature of this time of year, no pads, this will likely be a time where receivers pop, and for that reason, Brenen Thompson is a name to watch.
At 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, he's the Chargers' smallest player but also their fastest, with 4.26-second 40-yard-dash speed, who dominated the SEC with league-leading 1,054 receiving yards last year. On paper, he is a perfect fit for McDaniel's offense, which prioritizes speed and yards after catch.
Will Tuli Tuipulotu get a contract extension?
General manager Joe Hortiz made Derwin James Jr. the highest-paid safety in NFL history this offseason, and the next player in line for a big day is Tuipulotu.
Tuipulotu, a second-round pick in 2023, is heading into the final year of his rookie contract following a season where he ranked sixth in the NFL in sacks (13). Hortiz has said since early this offseason that he has had conversations with Tuipulotu's agent about an extension, but the two sides haven't yet agreed to terms.
There has been no indication that Tuipulotu will hold out of minicamp or training camp for that matter, and he is scheduled to speak to the media during minicamp this week.
Still, an extension for Tuipulotu, one of the cornerstones and the future of this defense, remains among the top priorities for Hortiz ahead of the 2026 season.
