He played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats and was selected by the Chargers in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.

[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] As a true freshman, Slater started 12 games at right tackle and was named Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team.

[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.

[18] His older brother, RJ, was an offensive lineman for the United States Air Force Academy from 2014–2017.