We're a week away from free agency, which means each team's roster will shape and shift over the next few months.

The Chargers have a bevy of needs, something Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz agreed with last week at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.

"We have 26 free agents so honestly, there's a lot of needs," Hortiz said. "At the end of the year, you take your roster — I got all these magnets — I take them all down, all the guys that are free agents, I take them off the board and you look up there and you're like, 'We got a lot of needs.'

"So to say there's one need here, one need there — we have a lot of needs," Hortiz added. "So we've got to address it, trying to re-sign as many of our guys that we can and then supplement free agency and then attack the draft."

As Hortiz alluded to, the Bolts have 26 internal players slated to hit free agency next week.

But if we dive deeper, the interior of the offensive line was a hot topic in Indianapolis last week as various analysts joined the Chargers Weekly podcast.

Of course, there was the news that Zion Johnson, who spent the past three seasons at guard, could potentially move to center this season.

Bradley Bozeman, who started every game at center last season, is among the group of pending free agents.

"Hortiz talked about potentially Zion moving to center," ESPN's Mina Kimes said. "That would solve, I think, my biggest question which is where would they get a center.

"In the draft there's a lot of guards, not a lot of centers. And free agency there's not a lot of options either," Kimes continued. "I guess Drew Dalman [or Ryan] Kelly. I think it's going to be a mix of trying a different position, drafting and being active in free agency.

"If I'm them, I throw a ton of resources," Kimes added. "They can't play football the way that they want to unless they fix that interior of the offensive line."

Let's say Johnson does indeed move to center for the 2025 season.

That would create a hole at left guard, meaning the Bolts would need to address that spot in either free agency or the draft.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who knows Hortiz well, made a prediction that the Bolts attack that spot in free agency.

"You want to let the draft fall to you. That's what Hortiz has grown up on, the Baltimore way of doing things," Jeremiah said. "You go get a guard in free agency. Now, you have to find what you're comfortable with value-wise."

Jeremiah cautioned that he also expects a competitive market for interior offensive linemen in free agency.

"There's a lot of people shopping in that market," Jeremiah said. "So, I think it's you can look at the depth of in free agency and say maybe you're going to get a value with [someone like Kevin] Zeitler.

"Well, I could give you five teams that are going to think that pretty darn good value is probably gone. I think that those prices and teams have more money," Jeremiah added. "There's more space. I think you're going to see. I think you're going to be shocked at what some of these guys get."

But what if the Bolts do choose to draft an offensive lineman in April?

Alabama's Tyler Booker has been a popular projection among draft pundits.

"Booker is wired the way you want him to," said Lance Zierlein of NFL.com. "He's big like [Chargers Head Coach Jim] Harbaugh likes him and he's strong and physical.

"Booker should be one of the guys who's at the very top of their list because he's also considered to be the leader at Alabama … the leader is a guard, of the team," Zierlein added. "Now you got a guy in a room that's already got a strong, you got a lot of football character now with [Joe] Alt, [Rashawn] Slater, Booker and Zion Johnson."

ESPN's Matt Miller added about Booker: "He's a mauler. His ability to control guys in front of him in the run game is really impressive. But then he's athletic enough to scrape and get to the second level. He arrives with violence, which I love from a guard, but he's also so athletic that he gets there and he's under control and then he just erases guys. His agility in space is really, really impressive."

Miller and The Athletic's Dane Brugler also noted that there is solid depth in April's draft.

Miller threw out a pair of other names from the SEC who could be interior line options on Day 2 in the draft.

"Does it look like there's value in those middle? I think there will be. And I like two guys from Georgia: Tate Routledge and Dylan Fairchild," Miller said. "And they're not being talked about as Top 75 picks for some reason. I think that might be due to injury.

"I watched the tape on both guys, especially in 2023. They both look like plug-and-play starters to me now," Miller continued.

"They have three years of starting tape in the SEC and they were all-conference performers in the SEC. That's a pretty good indicator," Miller added. "You're going to be okay at the next level. So I think both those guys have starter potential."

Brugler concurred that the Chargers might able to find a solid player on Day 3, too.

"When you talk about outside the Top 100 picks, it's a deep group," Brugler said. "I think if you need guard help, if you're looking for interior offensive line help — center might be tough — but guard is going to be much better."

Hortiz and Harbaugh have routinely talked up the importance of building a strong offensive line as part of their identity.

That includes protecting Justin Herbert, of course, but also to help pave the way in the run game and also simply set an overall culture standard of toughness and physicality.

"We look at offensive linemen as weapons," Harbaugh said after the Chargers drafted Alt fifth overall in 2024.

Time will tell if the Bolts take a similar approach in the 2025 NFL Draft, or if the Chargers beef up their offensive line in free agency.

Zierlein said he expects Hortiz and the Chargers to be active in the trenches this offseason.

"You're not that far off if you're the Chargers, so your approach needs to be pretty aggressive," Zierlein said.