The Chargers struck gold when they took Joe Alt with the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Because as the offensive tackle gets ready for Year 3 in the league, he's already among the best players at his position across the NFL.

Alt was recently tabbed at No. 9 in ESPN's offensive tackle rankings, which is made up of votes from league executives, coaches and scouts. More than 70 voters were called upon in the annual rankings, which is in its seventh year and was compiled by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

Here is what the panel noted about Alt:

Those who listed him -- including several seasoned evaluators -- believe his star turn is coming.

"He will be the next Lane Johnson at right tackle," an NFC executive said. "Rare combo of size, strength and agility."

Alt's second NFL season was cut short due to a right ankle injury that required surgery. But through the first nine games, Justin Herbert had a QBR of 80 with Alt on the field and 56 without him. Alt missed the final nine games due to the injury, which had taken him out of two games previously.

"He's going to be a problem for a long time," an AFC executive said. "He's got everything you need."

As mentioned above, Alt's second season was limited to just six games due that ankle injury.

But the 6-foot-8, 322-pound tackle was superb in the six games he started, ranking sixth among all tackles with a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of 82.3. The Chargers went 5-1 in games where Alt started, with the lone loss coming in Week 4 when he was injured after playing just 10 snaps.

Alt said earlier this offseason that he enjoyed spring practices after having to watch games from the sideline in 2025.

"It's so good to be on the outside of the building working on the field without sitting and watching from the inside," Alt said on Tuesday.

"I've always been a guy who wants to take it day by day and improve," he added. "Being able to do that again has been a lot of fun."

While Alt's full voting breakdown wasn't revealed, he did receive votes as high as fourth overall among all offensive tackles.

The 23-year-old was a Honorable Mention in last year's ranking, which is where Rashawn Slater landed on the 2026 list.

Fowler spoke with an NFC executive who noted that "he's absolutely a top-10 tackle. He'll be back on it next year, I believe."

Slater, of course, missed the entire 2025 season with a torn patellar tendon suffered in training camp.

But he was a monster in 2024 as he had the highest PFF offense grade of any season in his career with a 91.1. The number was also good for the second best among tackles in the NFL and first in the AFC. He also allowed 22 pressures in 2024, which was the fewest he's allowed in a full season.

Slater said last month that he's looking forward to being back to work in training camp.

"I'm not sure exactly what kind of limitations there will be, I know I'll be cleared," Slater said. "Whatever precautions they want to take will be purely based off of that. As far as how I feel, I feel fantastic."