It's a new era for the Los Angeles Chargers in more ways than one. This offseason, the club made a splash at the head-coaching position as they were able to lure Jim Harbaugh back into the NFL after winning a national title at Michigan. On top of a new masthead atop the coaching ranks, the roster saw a bit of an overhaul, particularly at the offensive skill positions. More specifically, the backfield is going to look different with Austin Ekeler no longer with the franchise.
Ekeler and the Chargers parted ways this offseason after the veteran back spent the first seven years of his career in Los Angeles. During an appearance on the "Up & Adams Show" hosted by Kay Adams, Ekeler opened up about his departure from the only club he's ever known in the NFL and revealed that the new regime was looking for something different than what he offers.
"I think you can kind of see how they've been building the team so far this offseason," Ekeler told Adams, via NFL.com. "Went out and drafted a tackle first round, brought in some bigger backs over from Baltimore. So it's like, hey, they want a guy they can hand the ball off to 300 times a year and, look, I haven't had that capacity to do that. That's not my game. That's not how Austin Ekeler's gonna be the best on the field. So there was the misalignment there, which, no harm, no foul, I'm going to go find somewhere else where Austin can be the best version of myself out there."
Ekeler has never topped 300 carries in his career or even come particularly close to that, notching his career high of 206 carries in 2021. He had only had topped 300 total touches in 2022 (311), so stylistically it didn't seem like a good match for the veteran back, who does a chunk of his damage in the passing game.
Now, Eleker is with the Commanders after signing a two-year deal with the franchise in March as a free agent. He'll look to be the change-of-pace back within Kliff Kingsbury's offense and complement bruiser Brian Robinson along with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who also has rushing capabilities.
