The Bolts are at The Bolt.

Chargers veterans are slated to report for the 2024 edition of training camp Tuesday to join rookies (who arrived last week) as well as Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff at the team's brand-new facility.

The Bolts kick off camp Wednesday with a 9 a.m. (PT) non-padded practice, the first big step toward the 2024 season.

Here are five question on our mind as camp opens:

1. What does the offense look like?

By the time the Chargers wrapped up minicamp in mid-June, we had gleaned some decent info on where the Bolts offense was at.

The offensive line of Rashawn Slater, Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, Trey Pipkins III and Joe Alt appears set.

Joshua Palmer is set to lead a wide receiver group that includes rookie Ladd McConkey, who developed a strong rapport with Justin Herbert this spring.

But there is still much more to learn, as the Bolts primarily focused on installing and learning Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman's offense the past few months.

"Greg has done a great job of installing it and demonstrating what he wants to see from the offense," Herbert said in June. "It's definitely a complex and difficult offense to learn but our guys have shown up every day and done our best to learn and pick it up.

"A lot has been thrown at us the last couple of months, but the way people have attacked it and picked it up, looking forward to running it," Herbert added.

It's now time to see what it looks like as a new cast of characters get ready for their first training camp with the Bolts.

Running backs Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins will be focal points of a physical ground game that should provide some juice now that the pads are about to come on.

Tight ends Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst are also fresh faces who will be expected to help both the run and the pass.

Other newcomers include Bozeman, DJ Chark and a handful of rookies including Alt, who has moved to right tackle as Pipkins kicked inside to guard.

Herbert, of course, will be at the center of it all as the Chargers try to get their offense up to speed for Week 1.

"We have a lot of work yet to do, but I'm really happy with how the guys are working, how they're buying in and the progress that we're making," Roman said in June. "I know we're not in pads yet. We all know that, but we've really made a lot of strides toward where we need to go going into training camp."

2. Can the edge rushers lead the way?

As it stands now, many of the Bolts defensive position groups are out to prove themselves.

That's certainly the case along the defensive line and at linebacker as well as a new-look cornerback group.

The collection of Chargers edge rushers, on the other hand, appear stacked and should be a catalyst for how the defense performs this season.

On any given play, the Bolts can trot out the duo of Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree. And that doesn't taken into account when three of those players are possibly on the field together.

"They are strengths of our defense, let them affect the game, do things that they do really well and try to let them have the best years that they've had and thrive in our defense," Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter said in June.

Mack is coming off a season in which he tallied a career-best 17.0 sacks, a mark that tied a Chargers single-season record and helped him eclipse the 100.0-career sack mark.

Bosa battled injuries for the second straight year but was effective when on the field, and his absence helped Tuipulotu develop quickly into a key player after being a 2023 second-round pick.

Dupree adds a veteran presence with 53.0 career sacks and can help spell any of the three players above if they need a break.

In fact, it's not hard to imagine Minter drawing up packages where two or three of those players are not only on the field together, but on the same side of the formation to confuse opposing quarterbacks and offensive lines.

This group has more than 225 combined career sacks. If they can stay healthy to be a dynamite group and reach their full potential, that will make life miserable for opposing offenses while making things easier for the rest of their teammates.

"I'll be looking forward to getting between the lines with my guys and seeing how it is when the battle scars come and guys get nicked up and what they're going to be able to fight through, all those different things," Mack said. "So we could talk about what we're going to be and all that different stuff but that's never my approach or my mindset. I want to show off and go out and do it. I know these guys want to do it as well."

3. How does Derwin James impact the defense?

Derwin James, Jr.'s standing as a team captain and emotional leader in the locker room is unquestioned.

And in a year where the Bolts have a ton of new faces, James will be among the constants on the roster and on the field.

But it will be fascinating to see how Minter uses James to try and help the three-time Pro Bowler can get back to the elite level he's been at before.

James will be the first to tell you he wasn't at his best last season as the Bolts defense struggled overall.

The tools and traits, however, are certainly there, including James' ability to line up anywhere and eveywhere on the field.

Minter was downright ecstatic this offseason when describing the role James could play in his scheme.

"I'm going to try over the summer to clone him and make three of him. I mean, he does everything well," Minter said. "It's still sort of just where he can be most be effective in a certain game, in a certain type of matchup. He can do it all, but as I said before, you got to be careful of not overloading him.

"He's picked up everything, he's picked up multiple positions, he's repped at a bunch of different positions," Minter continued. "There's times where he's really good back [deep]. He's an elite tackler, so sometimes when that guy is coming over the middle of the field as your last line of defense, you feel pretty good about it.

"Then there's times where he's blitzing off the edge and he's causing havoc. There's times where he's locking up a slot receiver or locking up a tight end," Minter added. "His versatility, I think he has an opportunity to, as I told him, 'Let's retake the claim of you being one of the best safeties in football.'"

That will be the goal for both James and Minter this season, and it begins this week in camp.

4. Which rookies shine in camp?

Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz turned over the Bolts roster this offseason as household names departed and an influx of rookies and undrafted free agents arrived.

The Chargers 2024 draft class now consists of nine players, all of whom have a chance to make an impact in Year 1.

Alt is in line to start at right tackle while McConkey could carve out a big role for himself on offense. Colson, as we mentioned above, could also earn a starting spot.

Fourth-rounder Justin Eboigbe has upside and figures to slot into the defensive line rotation while a pair of fifth-round cornerbacks — Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still — will provide both depth and special teams ability. (Still, by the way, flashed in minicamp and could be a sneaky starting option at slot cornerback).

The final three draft picks of running back Kimani Vidal (sixth round) and wide receivers Brenden Rice and Cornelius Johnson (seventh round) could work their way into the mix with strong camps. Of the three, Vidal could end up playing the most given how often the Bolts want to run the ball this season.

Looking for an undrafted free agent to keep an eye on?

Tight end Zach Heins hails from South Dakota State and has plenty of size at 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds.

He turned some heads this spring and could end up claiming one of the final roster spots with a strong camp.

5. How does the new kickoff rule take shape?

Chargers Special Teams Coordinator Ryan Ficken has revitalized the third phase of the game for the Bolts, taking it from being a liability to one of the strongest anchors of the entire team.

Ficken has had some help, of course, whether it's from assistant special teams coach Chris Gould or the strong trio of Josh Harris, Cameron Dicker and JK Scott — all of whom are back for another year in powder blue.

And while special teams sometimes get overlooked in camp practices or in the preseason, that won't be the case this year. Not when an altered NFL kickoff rule is expected to drastically increase the number of kickoff returns going forward.

In recent years, the kickoff had become almost an afterthought given how many touchbacks there were. That's no longer the case.

"Ultimately what it's going to do is give an opportunity to keep some plays in for special teams, make that kickoff return a viable play," Ficken said in April. "I think it'll be an exciting play for the fans and for the players, I think they wanted it, too.

"I think it's a great opportunity for them to go out and continue to make a big impact on the game," Ficken added.

Time will tell how the new kickoff ruled affects the regular season, but you can expect it to be a point of emphasis for all teams in the weeks ahead.