It’s become commonplace in the NFL over the last several years: starting running back gets hurt or holds out, backup steps in, backup is really good.
Last year in Pittsburgh, James Conner overshadowed the absence of Leveon Bell, Seattle’s Chris Carson outplayed first-round pick Rashaad Penny, Phillip Lindsay stepped up in Denver when Royce Freeman got hurt. All have seized opportunities to make their mark.
The Chargers’ shifty Austin Ekeler is no different.
“I’m just happy for him because he’s a great example of being undrafted,” said Los Angeles head coach Anthony Lynn. “He was a tryout. He wasn’t even a priority free agent. A guy that can come in here and develop into a good NFL running back.”
The former Western State (Colorado) running back became Melvin Gordon’s change-of-pace backup in 2018, and with Gordon holding out to start the 2019 season, Ekeler has ascended to be Gordon’s equal — if not surpassing the former first-round pick in effectiveness.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pound back is seventh in the league in yards from scrimmage amongst running backs. The average number of touches for the six in front of him: 295. Ekeler’s touches: 185.
“This guy, he works his tail off,” said Lynn. “He has a championship heart. He comes to work every day and prepares, just like he takes nothing for granted. He’s still trying to run down the field on special teams, and I’m like, ‘You know, there was a time when that was your role, but that role has changed.’ He wants to do everything he can to help the football team win games, and I just love his heart, and his work ethic.”
PASS-CATCHING
Forget sorting out just running backs, Ekeler is tied for 12th amongst all skill players with his 73 receptions. He has the fourth-highest catch percentage (86.9%) in football, seven games with five-plus catches and eight receiving touchdowns. In Week 5, he hauled in 15 receptions in a loss to the Broncos, demonstrating his most effective route in the process.
Ekeler’s speed to beat defenders to the edge is his greatest pass-catching trait. Check out this third-down conversion last week against Jacksonville, where the Chargers clear out Ekeler’s side of the field and simply put him in a foot race against linebacker Quincy Williams.
[videopress upsr6N48]Later in the game Ekeler took a wide receiver screen 83 yards for a touchdown against a blitz, getting Philip Rivers extremely excited. His 4.43 speed gives him plenty of burst to outrun defensive backs.
Only Keenan Allen has more receptions for the Chargers than Ekeler, so the Vikings will need to be prepared. Fortunately, they have experience against a similarly-skilled back in Chicago’s Tarik Cohen, who had 71 catches for 725 yards last year. In five career games against the Vikings, Cohen has been virtually neutralized with 14 catches for 46 yards combined, but he did beat Anthony Barr for a touchdown catch in Week 4 this season.
ELUSIVENESS
Ekeler is tough to bring down as both a pass-catcher and ball-carrier, even though his rushing efficiency is down a bit. Ekeler averaged 5.3 yards per carry combined through his first two seasons but has dropped to 4.3 in 2019. That being said, Ekeler hit on runs of 23, 27 and 35 against Jacksonville to pick up his first 100-yard rushing game of the season.
Here’s his 35-yarder versus the Jaguars:
[videopress sdjtE7EH]He remains 10th in yards after contact per attempt, and Pro Football Focus gives him the ninth-highest elusive rating in football. On passing plays, he’s broken the fourth-most tackles out of all running backs, likely because of the matchups he’s been able to exploit.
“Sometimes on the field he’s our best matchup,” said Lynn. “If you put a linebacker on him and even sometimes a safety, he can definitely hurt you with his versatility in the backfield and outside the backfield.”
USAGE
The Chargers will put Ekeler all over the field. Los Angeles has increased his snaps on the outside throughout the year and are now giving him 10-20 reps per game in the slot or out wide — as they did on his long touchdown in Week 14. But they’re not shy at all giving him short-yardage work with 22 rushing attempts on the year when there were 1-3 yards to gain.
How has Gordon’s presence affected Ekeler’s inclusion? Ekeler averaged 20 touches in the four games without Gordon and is now down to 12 per game in the last nine. But he’s outsnapped Gordon in four of those nine games. The biggest difference has been goal-to-go situations, where Gordon has 12 rushing attempts since returning to just four for Ekeler. But it’s the middle of the field where the Vikings have to worry most.
“Both can really hit the perimeter. They both run hard,” head coach Mike Zimmer said of the two backs. “Ekeler is probably a little bit more of a receiver, but they use Gordon on screens as well. Sometimes they have them on the field at the same time. … They’re similar backs, but they have maybe a couple different plays. Gordon likes this play a little bit more, and Ekeler likes that one.”
The onus will be on linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr to guard Ekeler in space. While Kendricks, in particular, has thrived in coverage this year — like when he broke up a fourth-down pass to Ezekiel Elliott against Dallas — he’s also given up some yardage to running backs, like when Miles Sanders beat him for a touchdown in Week 6. The Vikings had a stretch between Weeks 2-6 where they gave up three receiving touchdowns to running backs.
“We got to do a good job of leveraging him in the coverage,” said defensive coordinator George Edwards. “We have our work cut out for us this week.”
