Isaiah Spiller Discussion

[dmac_bolt]

Most of those runs, looked like pretty poor blocking for him. Tougher to bring down than I remember.

I didn’t remember he ran as well as this tape shows at all. For a rookie in his first preseason, thats not a bad starting point to build on. Maybe the staff knows more than we all do. I can’t tell from the tape how scrub the Rams defensive players are though.

ok, i have a bit more hope for the RB room in 2023

[Boltgang74]

Yeah mostly I see mediocre run blocking and Spiller not havin an extra gear to the outside.

[dmac_bolt]

Yeah mostly I see mediocre run blocking and Spiller not havin an extra gear to the outside.

he looks better than Kelley did in his early PS games. Hope lives … RBs can get better, more decisive, more emphatic in their decisions … there’s something in that limited tape to hope becomes real. We’ll have to see it, of course. He runs better than Rountree, so we’ve got that lol.

[Heatmiser]

LT said Spiller was the best back in the draft. Something must be up with him. Hope whatever it was is gone.

[dmac_bolt]

LT said Spiller was the best back in the draft. Something must be up with him. Hope whatever it was is gone.

Spiller looked to have rookie uncertainty delay syndrome (RUDS) - split second delays in decisions are killer for RBs at the NFL level where defenders are faster and stronger. Kelley was even worse his rookie year if anyone remembers, he made that jump in year 2 (or was it 3). Spiller never got enough game reps against full speed NFL talent, he will get a chance this camp to show he deserves more.

Or ... LT could just be wrong. he's not the ultimate guru of the scouting universe after all. I suspect truth lies in between and closer to LT - Spiller will get better as he is more comfortable and confident. He may not be the best back from the draft though. thats ok - we need a good back, doesn't have to be the best.

[blueman]

Give the kid some decent blocking (and if I remember correctly, wasn’t he the youngest player drafted last year? So yeah, still a kid..).

[ghost]

LT said Spiller was the best back in the draft. Something must be up with him. Hope whatever it was is gone.

Spiller's injuries in camp set back his development and he fell behind and there just was no catching up last season. The below article Rich posted in October.

From the Athletic - he still isn't all the way healthy:

Isaiah Spiller waiting for a chance


Running back Isaiah Spiller had big plans for his rookie season after the Chargers drafted him in the fourth round in the spring. He knew the organization was looking for a second back to take some of the load off Austin Ekeler, and he felt he could seize that opportunity in training camp.

In the second preseason game, though, Spiller suffered an ankle injury that knocked him out for 10 days, including the preseason finale.

Spiller has been inactive for the Chargers’ first five games.

“It was a big setback for me, just being out, not getting a full preseason and a full training camp,” Spiller said. “That played a big part. And then also the time I had to sit out just to recover. That kind of set me back a lot, so I’ve just been working through that.”

Spiller said this week that it was the first significant injury he had suffered in his career. He did not miss a game in three college seasons at Texas A&M, so this was an entirely new process for him.

“I ain’t never really experienced (anything like that),” he said. “So it was kind of a lot at the moment, and I had aspirations this year. So I felt like that kind of held me back. But I think it was good for me. Gave me time to really think and assess and really get back to where I was, and even better than what I was before.”

Spiller said he is “90 to 95” percent healthy as the Chargers prepare for the Broncos. But the time he spent recovering moved him down the depth chart. Joshua Kelley has emerged as the best option behind Ekeler. And the Chargers signed Sony Michel in late August as insurance after Spiller’s injury. Michel is getting the active spot on game days because of his experience and capability in pass protection. Kelley, too, has been performing well as a core special teams player.

“There’s always those what-ifs and frustration behind it, especially dealing with something you never dealt with,” Spiller said. “So just working through that and trying to stay positive.”

Spiller said the coaching staff has told him he needs to prove himself on special teams to earn that active game-day spot.

“Just trying to get better and hopefully be an asset to the team whenever they call me up and be ready when my number is called,” Spiller said. “That’s what I’ve been focusing on.”

[blueman]

Sounds like a good kid.

[Budsman]

I’m rooting for him. He has talent and I suspect he will get a chance this year to show he has what it takes to be the heir.

[Boltjolt]

I'm not worried about Spiller. I think he will be better than Kelly this season and show out well.

[DerwinBosa]

LT said Spiller was the best back in the draft. Something must be up with him. Hope whatever it was is gone.

Spiller was one of four running backs I was very high on heading into last year's draft. He was my favorite of our picks. I was hoping we would address running back in this year's draft, but I'm reminding myself that I really liked Spiller a lot when we picked him.

Of course, I'm not a scout.

[Caslon]

TT would be stupid to go into the season without Ekeler and his current stable of other running backs on this squad. That being said, most of those guys suffered from sub par run blocking performance that was heavy on pass protection.