The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Chargers rookie Salyer puts college behind him
COSTA MESA » Chargers rookie offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer hasn’t missed an opportunity to learn from his teammates during his first week in the NFL.
He stopped left tackle Rashawn Slater and center Corey Linsley in the hallway to pick their brains. Salyer also joined fellow rookie guard Zion Johnson to receive pointers from offensive tackle Foster Sarell after the Chargers’ first practice of rookie minicamp Friday.
“It’s crazy to kinda take it all in,” said Salyer, the Chargers’ sixth-round draft pick from Georgia. “Even just walking in right here, it’s just crazy. When you walk out of the locker room for the first time, you just look around you, like, ‘Man, I’m here.’ It’s a special moment, but you gotta make it special fast and get to work.”
It didn’t matter to Salyer that Sarell wasn’t a starting offensive lineman like Slater and Linsley. Sarell has one year of experience in the Chargers’ system, and Salyer made sure to take advantage of the opportunity after he noticed Sarell giving Johnson post-practice instructions.
Salyer probably doesn’t care about status. Once regarded as one of the top tackles in the 2022 draft class, he had to wait until the third day of the draft to receive a phone call from an NFL team.
Salyer won a national championship1 as Georgia’s starting left tackle and delivered memorable performances against stout competition throughout his collegiate career, including an impressive showing against No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson in the College Football Playoff against Michigan. But those college accolades didn’t make him a Day 2 draft pick, like some draft experts expected.
Salyer said he’s enjoying the challenge of starting from scratch and possibly moving from tackle to offensive guard. His bio says he’s a sixth-round draft pick, but Salyer doesn’t view himself that way.
“It’s something that I’ve done before,” Salyer said about playing guard. “I would say that it’s definitely different at this caliber of talent and caliber of players. For me, I like to know that I’m a dominant player and a great player, but I have to go into that at this level. I want to go into that, I want to take the steps, take the baby steps and take the growing pains as they come.”
Salyer’s college achievements didn’t help him in the draft, but it does provide a glimpse into his upside as a possible draft steal for the Chargers if he develops into a quality, versatile offensive lineman.
“I knew the media really hyped it up to be a matchup of the century, our tackles against their edge rushers,” Salyer said about facing Hutchinson in college. “They’re really great players. It wasn’t a perfect game, but had some wins and some losses. We shook hands after the game and went on to win the national championship.”
Lonely D-lineman
Otito Ogbonnia didn’t have much of a first practice because he was the only defensive lineman at the Chargers’ rookie minicamp.
But the former UCLA standout did receive one-on-one coaching from Jay Rodgers, who took over as the Chargers’ defensive line coach after coaching the edge rushers in 2021.
“I really didn’t practice,” said Ogbonnia, the Chargers’ fifthround pick. “It was a little lonely because I was by myself. But it was good that I had that one-onone coaching with coach Rodgers. You can’t beat that to be coached by him. He’s one of the best in the league.”
Ogbonnia wasn’t a high draft pick, but the Chargers are enamored with his upside and his skills as a run stopper could help him see the field often in his rookie season.
Woods sidelined
Third-round safety JT Woods didn’t practice Friday because of a contract issue. He hasn’t been ruled out from participating in the remaining rookie practices.
Woods was the only Chargers 2022 draftee who didn’t participate in the first rookie practice.
The team announced that five of their eight draft picks signed their rookie contracts, including Salyer, Ogbonnia, fullback Zander Horvath and defensive backs Ja’sir Taylor and Deane Leonard.
Woods, Johnson and running back Isaiah Spiller remain unsigned.
6-foot-6 punter
There was a 6-foot-6, 240-pound player with blonde shaggy hair on the field, but it wasn’t star quarterback Justin Herbert.
Ben Griffiths, who resembled Herbert, punted kicks as a nonroster invitee to the Chargers’ rookie minicamp.
The 30-year-old Griffiths already had experience as a professional athlete before becoming a punter at USC for three seasons. The Australian played forward for eight seasons with the Richmond Tigers, an Australian rules football team.
Joint practice with Dallas
The Chargers and Cowboys will have joint practices leading up to their Aug. 20 preseason game at Sofi Stadium.
The Cowboys will make the trip south from their training camp facility in Oxnard to train at the Chargers’ summer home site at Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa. More details to come at a later date.