Rashawn Slater (born March 26, 1999) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats and was selected by the Chargers in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Rashawn Slater
refer to caption
Slater with the Chargers in 2021
No. 70 – Los Angeles Chargers
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1999-03-26) March 26, 1999 (age 25)
Sugar Land, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:315 lb (143 kg)
Career information
High school:Clements (Sugar Land, Texas)
College:Northwestern (2017–2020)
NFL draft:2021 / round: 1 / pick: 13
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 9, 2024
Games played:43
Games started:43
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Slater grew up in Sugar Land, Texas and attended Fort Settlement Middle School and Clements High School. He was named first team All-District as a junior and senior, when he was also named second team All-Greater Houston.[1] Slater was rated a three star recruit and committed to play college football for the Northwestern Wildcats over offers from Illinois, Kansas, Wyoming and Rice.[2]

College career

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Slater with Northwestern in 2018

As a true freshman, Slater started 12 games at right tackle and was named Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team.[3] He was rated the best freshman offensive lineman in the nation by Pro Football Focus.[4] As a sophomore, Slater was named to the third team All-Big Ten by the league's coaches after starting all 14 of Northwestern's games.[5][6] Slater was named honorable mention All-Big Ten after allowing zero sacks in 11 starts as a junior.[7]

Entering his senior year, Slater was named a preseason All-American, preseason All-Big Ten and to the Outland Trophy watchlist.[8] Following the early announcement that Big Ten would postpone their 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Slater announced that he would be preparing for the 2021 NFL draft.[9][10] He remained enrolled at Northwestern and graduated with a degree in communications in December 2020.[11]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 4+14 in
(1.94 m)
304 lb
(138 kg)
33 in
(0.84 m)
10+12 in
(0.27 m)
4.88 s 1.68 s 2.89 s 4.45 s 7.48 s 33.0 in
(0.84 m)
9 ft 4 in
(2.84 m)
33 reps
All values from Pro Day[12]
 
Slater blocked Washington Football Team defensive line, Chase Young in 2021

Slater was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft.[13] He signed his four-year rookie contract on July 27, 2021.[14]

As a rookie, Slater was named the Chargers starting left tackle and was named to his first Pro Bowl as a starter. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.[15]

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3 of the 2022 season, Slater ruptured his biceps tendon, which ended his season.[16]

On April 29, 2024, the Chargers picked up the fifth-year option on Slater's contract.[17]

Regular season statistics

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Legend
First Team All-Pro
Second Team All-Pro
No type penalty
Bold Career high
Year Team Games Offense
GP GS Snaps Pct Holding False start Decl/Pen Acpt/Pen
2021 LAC 16 16 1,116 100% 3 3 0 6
2022 LAC 3 3 175 86% 1 0 0 1
2023 LAC 17 17 1,158 100% 7 0 1 8
Career 36 36 2,449 11 3 1 15

Personal life

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Slater is the son of former NBA player Reggie Slater.[18] His older brother, RJ, was an offensive lineman for the United States Air Force Academy from 2014–2017.[19][20]

He is married.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Marrion, Jack (August 22, 2016). "Clements, Dulles take leadership change into season". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  2. ^ Bushnell, Henry (January 27, 2016). "Three-star 2017 offensive guard Rashawn Slater commits to Northwestern over Illinois". InsideNU. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  3. ^ Kroeger, Garrett (December 14, 2017). "Rashawn Slater named PFF's best freshman offensive lineman". Saturday Tradition. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Citak, Matt (February 16, 2021). "Bucky Brooks' top five non-QB draft prospects". Giants.com. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Wilson, Aaron (July 10, 2020). "Northwestern OL Rashawn Slater adapts to Big Ten's conference-only format". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Koch, Curtis (October 29, 2019). "Left Tackle Rashawn Slater: 'We've got to attack the process.'". WGN. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  7. ^ Coleman, Adam (August 20, 2020). "Northwestern lineman, Clements product Rashawn Slater declares for 2021 NFL Draft". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Assimakopoulos, Lia (August 20, 2020). "BREAKING: Rashawn Slater opts out of 2021 spring college football season, declares for NFL Draft". InsideNU. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  9. ^ VanHaaren, Tom (August 20, 2020). "Northwestern OL Rashawn Slater to skip senior season, enter NFL draft". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  10. ^ Kosko, Nick (September 24, 2020). "Rashawn Slater not returning to Northwestern this fall". 247sports.com. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Vaccher, Louie (February 24, 2021). "Slater is not an underdog anymore". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  12. ^ "Rashawn Slater, Northwestern, OG, 2021 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  13. ^ Hayre, Chris (April 29, 2021). "Chargers Draft OT Rashawn Slater with 13th Pick". Chargers.com. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  14. ^ "Roundup: Chargers' first-round OT Rashawn Slater agrees to terms on rookie deal". NFL.com. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  15. ^ "2021 NFL All-Rookie Team". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  16. ^ Shook, Nick (September 26, 2022). "Chargers LT Rashawn Slater suffers ruptured biceps tendon, expected to miss rest of 2022 season". NFL.com. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  17. ^ Insdorf, Alex (April 29, 2024). "Chargers pick up fifth-year option on Rashawn Slater". Chargers Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  18. ^ Greenstein, Teddy (August 30, 2017). "A fresh approach". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  19. ^ "R.J. Slater – Football". Air Force Academy Athletics. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  20. ^ Popper, Daniel (August 2, 2021). "Chargers rookie Rashawn Slater's football love affair: 'The sacrifices only made it grow fonder'". The Athletic. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  21. ^ Miller, Jeff (May 16, 2022). "Chargers' young star Rashawn Slater working hard to improve — even on his honeymoon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
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