Welcome back to the Chargers Mailbag!
We'll run a Mailbag each week during the regular season. Send in submissions for the Mailbag on Twitter @EricLSmith or by email at eric.smith@chargers.nfl.com.
Off we go...
A fun question from Ed to start us off as we're at the midway point of the 2025 season.
In terms of a 1-10 scale, I think a 7.5 is a fair assessment of Jim Harbaugh's squad. And if we were handing out letter grades, a solid 'B' would be accurate.
Here is what Harbaugh himself said about the Chargers earlier this week when I asked him how he looks at the Bolts entering Week 9.
"Just building and getting healthier, I think that's a big component," Harbaugh said. "Then all the things we're working on football-wise as a team. The situations, complimentary football, reducing turnovers, reducing penalties, precision on offense.
"Really like the way our defense played [Thursday]," Harbaugh added. "Big improvement, no explosive plays, stopping the run, all those things. Just chipping away and building at as we go."
The Chargers have endured a bit of a rollercoaster season to date. A 3-0 start (against the AFC West) turned into 3-2 before the Bolts have rattled off wins in two of their past three games.
Harbaugh's last line in that above quote stood out to me the most.
Are the Chargers a perfect team? No.
But have they shown the potential to compete with any team if they play up to their standards? I'd say so.
With Week 9 on the horizon, the goal for the Bolts right now is to stack as many wins as possible while getting a little bit better and better each week.
No team wants to be peaking around Halloween or even Thanksgiving. The mission is to be playing your best ball in December so that you're primed for a potential deep playoff run in January.
A quick refresher that the 2025 NFL trade deadline is Tuesday.
And a reminder that the Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz already made a sizable move earlier then month when he acquired edge rusher Odafe Oweh in a trade with the Ravens that sent Alohi Gilman to Baltimore. Oweh, by the way, has a pair of sacks in three games with the Bolts.
So, what would the next week look like for the Hortiz and the front office?
For starters, there's no guarantee that a trade will happen. But there's zero doubt that Hortiz and his staff will be working the phones with every other NFL team to see what is percolating on the trade market.
If you look across the league, NFL pundits have thrown out the possibility of the Bolts adding at running back, along the defensive line or at offensive tackle.
Those positions all make sense given injuries have hit the Chargers at each of those spots.
In the backfield, Omarion Hampton is on Injured Reserve and Najee Harris is out for the year. Defensive linemen Da'Shawn Hand and Otito Ogbonnia are both on IR. And while Joe Alt and Trey Pipkins III are getting healthier, Austin Deculus is now banged up and Jamaree Salyer has missed time of late.
As always, it takes two to tango so Hortiz won't make a deal unless he feels like there is fair compensation involved.
Another thing to consider, the Chargers only have five 2026 draft picks at their disposal. That doesn't mean the Bolts won't trade them, or perhaps dip into their 2027 picks, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind.
It could be an active week for the NFL in terms of trades. We'll see if the Chargers get involved.
It could be accurate. I personally haven't asked Gadsden, who is listed at 236 pounds on the Chargers roster, how much he weighs.
Given that Gadsden has now been with Ben Herbert for the past six months, a solid weight gain wouldn't be surprising.
But what is not surprising is Gadsden's incredible production over the past month.
I can't emphasize enough how much promise the rookie tight end showed in the spring and summer, whether it was in helmets and shorts at OTAs or in full pads at training camp.
Gadsden now ranks fourth on the team in catches (27), receiving yards (385) and receiving touchdowns (two) despite being inactive for the first two weeks of the season.
After another stellar performance in primetime in Week 8, the fifth-round pick became the third rookie tight end since 1970 to have over 300 receiving yards across a three-game span with 306 yards from Weeks 6 through 8.
The 22-year-old is turning into a star right before our eyes and could be a dynamic weapon to pair with Justin Herbert on offense for the next decade.
Who's been a pleasant surprise for you so far this season? (Julian via email)
A handful of players come to mind but I'm going to go with Justin Eboigbe.
The second-year defensive lineman has been an integral part of the Chargers defensive line, which has been especially important given the injuries to that group we mentioned above.
Eboigbe played just 53 total snaps as a rookie (27 on special teams and 26 on defense). This year, he's up to 209 on defense and 59 on special teams.
The 2024 fourth-round pick has shown a knack for making big plays in kickoff coverage but has also developed into a key player on defense.
He's been solid against the run and has also racked up 4.0 sacks, the second-most on the team behind Tuli Tuipulotu.
Eboigbe did have 7.0 sacks in 2023 at Alabama, so his pass-rush production shouldn't be too surprising.
But his development is also another reminder that young players take different paths early in their careers.
Credit Eboigbe for his hard work this offseason — plus the coaching of Jesse Minter and Mike Elston — for making the 24-year-old a valuable piece on defense.
