Ekeler: Negotiated Incentives for 2023 Contract Year

[CanadianBoltFan]

You can make the case that if he puts up big fantasy numbers than the Charger O is moving the ball and scoring.

Unless it it is a little dink and dunk offence like last year that was totally predictable and didnt threaten defences to defend the whole field.

Good for Ekler and his stats. Not so good for the Chargers reaching their true potential. Not so good for Justin Herbert. In what world should Justin bloody Herbert be 31st in the NFL is passing yard ave??

Lets hope that drastically changes this year with Kellen Moore and better health for Herbert so Chargers dont waste the best arm in the NFL

[Boltjolt]

I dont have a real issue with it myself. i just posted it for interest sake. I guess some fans would rather he focus on winning a playoff game where he got 35 yards rather then worry about his fantasy stats which come across as a bit me first

He didnt say he was working out to come back stronger and get it rght in the playoffs, he said he was working out to be the #1 Fantasy RB

All good fun to me as i am a serious FF player, but the optics are a bit untimely after a ruuning game debacle in his last game when it really counted and was really needed for something more important than FF.

I think it's taken too seriously. Fans are always over the top and hang on every word. Ekeler makes no money from fantasy football lol.

Some of you act like he wasn't trying in the playoff game. You know who came out small in that game?

The entire defense,,.......and Lombos second half woes.

[Velo]

I think it's taken too seriously. Fans are always over the top and hang on every word. Ekeler makes no money from fantasy football lol.

Some of you act like he wasn't trying in the playoff game. You know who came out small in that game?

The entire defense,,.......and Lombos second half woes.

Spot on.

[Bolt4Knob]

Unless it it is a little dink and dunk offence like last year that was totally predictable and didnt threaten defences to defend the whole field.

Good for Ekler and his stats. Not so good for the Chargers reaching their true potential. Not so good for Justin Herbert. In what world should Justin bloody Herbert be 31st in the NFL is passing yard ave??

Lets hope that drastically changes this year with Kellen Moore and better health for Herbert so Chargers dont waste the best arm in the NFL

Exactly right. Telesco needs to find some speed in the draft and hope Spiller is the real deal at RB as a different play caller will help but a better running game and more speed on the outside is needed as well

[richpjr]

Unless it it is a little dink and dunk offence like last year that was totally predictable and didnt threaten defences to defend the whole field.

Good for Ekler and his stats. Not so good for the Chargers reaching their true potential. Not so good for Justin Herbert. In what world should Justin bloody Herbert be 31st in the NFL is passing yard ave??

Lets hope that drastically changes this year with Kellen Moore and better health for Herbert so Chargers dont waste the best arm in the NFL

The offensive approach, that was massively affected by injuries to Herbert, the line, WR and TE, is not something that Ekeler should be blamed for. We have a new OC whose last team did go deep much more so things will be different. If Ekeler returns (as I expect) and puts up good numbers again (as I expect), well...isn't that the point of having him on the roster?

[Bolt4Knob]

The offensive approach, that was massively affected by injuries to Herbert, the line, WR and TE, is not something that Ekeler should be blamed for. We have a new OC whose last team did go deep much more so things will be different. If Ekeler returns (as I expect) and puts up good numbers again (as I expect), well...isn't that the point of having him on the roster?

Not blaming Ekeler for the numbers he put up
Just saying if there is a repeat of the number of catches Ekeler has and even to a degree, the touchdowns, that might not be the best thing for the Chargers to have success in 2023

[sonorajim]

Not blaming Ekeler for the numbers he put up
Just saying if there is a repeat of the number of catches Ekeler has and even to a degree, the touchdowns, that might not be the best thing for the Chargers to have success in 2023

I look for the Chargers to improve points per game significantly with OC Moore. 2022 Dal 4th- LAC 13th, 2021 Dal 1st- LAC 5th. Rushing ypg will take care of itself in his moore diverse offense.

[Bolt4Knob]

I look for the Chargers to improve points per game significantly with OC Moore. 2022 Dal 4th- LAC 13th, 2021 Dal 1st- LAC 5th. Rushing ypg will take care of itself in his moore diverse offense.

Agree that should be the hope and end result: better running game, more vertical passing game - which could lead to less yards from scrimmage for EK but better for the team overall. Better running game and more vertical/faster WR corp- also could help Ekeler in the passing game to open up the field and defense.

[CanadianBoltFan]

The offensive approach, that was massively affected by injuries to Herbert, the line, WR and TE, is not something that Ekeler should be blamed for. We have a new OC whose last team did go deep much more so things will be different. If Ekeler returns (as I expect) and puts up good numbers again (as I expect), well...isn't that the point of having him on the roster?

I agree it was a lot of factors including the OC...he wasn't coaching Brees at the end of his career with no arm...but injures were huge as well

I am all for Ekler and want him back, we dont need to throw him 103 balls, but, with the offence opened up he should be even more dangerous

[Budsman]

Gordon was out primary RB in 17, 18, and 19. Ekeler only played in 10 games in 2020. Your premise is completely false. Lombardi's offense did not scheme around Ekeler.
Ekeler's first year of playing 16 or more games and being the featured back came under Lombardi. That's why the sudden up tick in yards, yards receiving and TDs.

In fact Herbert's best statistical year passing was in 2021 under Lombardi. In that year Williams gained 1146 yards receiving, Allen 1138 yards receiving. The offense hardly ran
through Ekeler although he did catch over 600 yards that year.

2022 was the year of injury and Herbert, not Lombardi relied more heavily on Ekeler since
a) He had ribs injuries for part of the year.
b) Both Allen and Williams not available in the same game for pretty much all season.
c) Injury to our O line which made for terrible run and pass blocking (especially when teams blitzed.)

Thus Herbert used Ekeler as his safety valve.

And no Ekeler and Williams are in no way shape or form the same. Ekeler ran for over 900 yards with terrible O line blocking plus over 700 yards receiving. If anything
he is a multi-dimensional RB. Williams is not.

So let’s go through your points one by one and debunk them.

1. “Gordon was out primary RB in 17, 18, and 19. Ekeler only played in 10 games in 2020. Your premise is completely false. Lombardi's offense did not scheme around Ekeler.
Ekeler's first year of playing 16 or more games and being the featured back came under Lombardi. That's why the sudden up tick in yards, yards receiving and TDs.”

That’s funny that you say that for three (four) years Ekeler wasn’t our starting back and that’s why his numbers were down? Well I wonder why he wasn’t our starting back and instead the wonder boy Gordon was the starter? He had four years of being a, you guessed it, 3rd down back. Why do you think he was not used more than that? Maybe because in a more balanced offense that requires a running back to run between the tackles Austin Ekeler doesn’t thrive. Can you see how Lombardi created an offense that allowed Ekeler to thrive because it played to his strengths? Ekeler is an undersized back that thrives in space and Lombardi gave him that. Under Wiz and Steichen (seems like a pretty good coach) who both run a more balanced offense he was used as a secondary weapon, Lombardi he was a primary weapon, see the problem?


2. “In fact Herbert's best statistical year passing was in 2021 under Lombardi. In that year Williams gained 1146 yards receiving, Allen 1138 yards receiving. The offense hardly ran
through Ekeler although he did catch over 600 yards that year.”

Yes Herbert’s best year was 21, but he also went from throwing the ball 595 times in 20 (rookie season) to 672 21 and then 699 last year. This was a passing first offense and Ekeler in both seasons was a huge part of it. Not surprisingly Ekeler was the number 1 back on Lombardis offense and couldn’t break 1000 yards rushing in either year under Lombardi but received the lions share of the handoffs and goal line work. The problem is Ekeler didn’t scare teams between the tackles and the only one scared of increased work between the tackles was Ekeler himself when he talked about his inability to shoulder the whole load (wonder if Barkley or Henry are worried about someone taking some of the load for them?). Lombardi chose Ekeler to be his number one back and enhanced his skill set in his offense. Before Lombardi for 4 years under some better offensive coaches than Lombardi he was what he is a 3rd down change of pace back not the every down back Lombardi tried to make him.

3. “2022 was the year of injury and Herbert, not Lombardi relied more heavily on Ekeler since
a) He had ribs injuries for part of the year.
b) Both Allen and Williams not available in the same game for pretty much all season.
c) Injury to our O line which made for terrible run and pass blocking (especially when teams blitzed.)”

Who do we blame for the offense last year herbert or Lombardi? From what I can tell Lombardi was the play caller and offensive coordinator and he chose to put a 3rd down back as our number 1 back. Sure some things effected the game but let’s take the rib injury. Don’t you think if Ekeler was a great all around balanced back would could have run the ball way more to protect Herbert’s ribs? Or was the offense designed for dump off passes to Ekeler to be the same as short runs? I wonder if Ekeler was a different more balanced back if Herbert could have relied on the run game more with his injured wrs out, but nope we had to keep passing it because we didn’t have a back who could handle that load. Lombardi made that choice and was happy to pass the ball without his top wrs and a banged up qb because he had to because he chose Ekeler for his pass first offense.

4.”And no Ekeler and Williams are in no way shape or form the same. Ekeler ran for over 900 yards with terrible O line blocking plus over 700 yards receiving. If anything
he is a multi-dimensional RB. Williams is not.”

How did Eklers “multi-dimensional” game work out up 27-0 in the playoffs. Ekeler can’t break 1k on the ground because he’s too small, he forces Herbert to take hits he doesn’t need to because teams don’t respect Ekelers run game. He’s not a threat between the tackles and teams know that DT can arm tackle him. Ekeler is a very good 3rd down back that was forced into a role that he shouldn’t be in. Lombardi promoted him vs getting another bigger back because he was creating a Herbert first passing offense that didn’t rely on a bigger more powerful back. Ekeler can’t stand the beating that Gordon took and better offensive minds than Lombardi knew that. It’s really not hard to see but if we went to a more balanced attack (The cowboys last year with Moore were almost exactly 50/50 with 556p/531r vs the chargers 771p/404r) Ekeler will not and cannot be the number 1 back. He can’t carry the load because he is one dimensional much like Williams is and i bet we draft a much stronger back to be our number 1 this year.

[Budsman]

The offensive approach, that was massively affected by injuries to Herbert, the line, WR and TE, is not something that Ekeler should be blamed for. We have a new OC whose last team did go deep much more so things will be different. If Ekeler returns (as I expect) and puts up good numbers again (as I expect), well...isn't that the point of having him on the roster?

Didn’t having Ekeler as our number one back and not a multidimensional back that can actually run between the tackles cause more issues than it helped last season? If anything it exposed how everything has to go perfect for Ekeler to be a good RB1. If you need him to take over a game with his legs and take the pressure off our QB and passblocking or to take over a game and run out the clock, he just can’t do it.

[Bolt4Knob]

Didn’t having Ekeler as our number one back and not a multidimensional back that can actually run between the tackles cause more issues than it helped last season? If anything it exposed how everything has to go perfect for Ekeler to be a good RB1. If you need him to take over a game with his legs and take the pressure off our QB and passblocking or to take over a game and run out the clock, he just can’t do it.

Thats what I think

I think he is a solid 3rd down back and spot person to run the ball. But the fact that Kelly and Spiller weren't ready to handle the load - shows the Chargers still need RB1

I am not sure Zeke is the right player for the chargers offense - still think its better to go younger for the "workhorse running back"