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Chargers benching key starter needed to happen a week ago and it’s crushing them

Originally posted on Los Angeles Chargers on SI
By Chris Roling | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 9:38 AM ET

Jim Harbaugh prides himself on being a trenches guy, as does offensive coordinator Greg Roman, but the Los Angeles Chargers seem unwilling to bench players in front of Justin Herbert who can’t live up to that reputation.

Veteran center Bradley Bozeman is subject No. 1 in this conversation right now coming out of a game in which Justin Herbert ran for his life while the Chargers suffered a blowout loss at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts.

There was brief hope for Chargers fans that when Andre James received first-team reps in practice leading up to the game that Harbaugh and Co. were ready to try something new.

Instead, it turns out Bozeman had an illness and Harbaugh even trotted him out as a captain to midfield for the pregame coin toss.

Not long after, Bozeman popped up in lowlights such as this one, appearing to miss his initial pop on a defender and going to a knee while Herbert took a hit:

Please look at this pass pro snap for the #Chargers by Bozeman & Zion:

- Bozeman makes slight contact with Buckner and ends up on his knees instantly

- Zion gets a love tap and gets shoved to the side and proceeds to block absolutely nobody.

- Result of the play is a sack pic.twitter.com/GmZJCug2Ac
— ChargersWorld (@ChargersWorld) October 20, 2025

That’s just one example and we admittedly don’t have insider knowledge about assignments on a given snap. But Bozeman was a near-bottom-50-ranked center in the NFL at PFF entering the week.

Herbert was pressured endlessly, resulting in notes like this:

We had DeForest Buckner with 12 pass rush wins today.

That's the most by an interior defender since Dexter Lawrence in Week 8 of 2023 (vs. Jets). pic.twitter.com/cVWXNmJdDk
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) October 20, 2025

It’s a no-win situation for the Chargers. If James comes in and is the better starter in front of Herbert, it means they wasted seven games on Bozeman. And if James is worse, Harbaugh managed to find two of the worst centers in the league.

There are other things that go into the struggles for Bozeman, no doubt. Injuries, scheme, opponent, poor, rotating guard play around him. But the Chargers need to try something, especially with the season falling apart.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Chargers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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