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Austin Ekeler proved successful 2019 to beryllium 1 of the champion pass-catching moving backs successful the NFL. Turns retired he’s rather the runner, too.
Ekeler helped equilibrium the Los Angeles Chargers’ discourtesy Monday astatine SoFi Stadium by rushing for a career-high 117 yards connected 15 carries successful a 28-14 triumph implicit the Raiders. He added 3 catches for 28 yards and 2 touchdowns — 1 rushing and 1 receiving — to assistance easiness the responsibilities of second-year backmost Justin Herbert, who finished with 222 passing yards and 3 touchdowns.
All successful a night’s enactment for the 26-year-old West Colorado alumnus.
“I felt similar we would person to bash that successful the crippled to instrumentality unit disconnected the walk protection,” Chargers manager Brandon Staley said. “The physicality… showed up precocious successful the game. We were capable to person the shot and tally it astatine the extremity of the game. We were precise pleased.”
Ekeler’s pass-catching skills helped him interruption into the NFL successful 2017 arsenic a comparative chartless from a Division II school. He caught 27 passes arsenic a rookie and 39 his 2nd play earlier breaking retired successful 2019 with 92 receptions for 993 yards and 8 touchdowns.
He was primed for a productive 2020 arsenic good until helium injured his hamstring successful Week 4, missing six games — including 1 against the Raiders — portion recovering connected injured reserve. The Chargers were retired of playoff contention by the clip helium returned successful Week 12, and helium finished the play with 933 yards from scrimmage.
He had 1,550 successful 2019.
But Ekeler returned this play with a much experienced backmost and a amended violative line, bolstered by the first-round enactment of rookie tackle Rashawn Slater. The Chargers were 25th successful rushing discourtesy earlier Monday night, averaging 87.3 yards done 3 games.
They turned Ekeler escaped against the Raiders en way to their astir productive rushing output of 2021. All portion of the crippled plan, according to Staley.
“When that squad rushes the passer, and they cognize it’s pass, they’re a pugnacious squad to block,” helium said. “What the tally crippled did was springiness america balance.”
Ekeler didn’t discarded immoderate clip getting started, rushing for 7 and 18 yards connected his archetypal 2 carries. He bushed Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright connected a plaything signifier successful the 2nd 4th and caught a 14-yard touchdown walk from Herbert and continued to tally done and astir Raiders defenders the remainder of the night.
The Chargers nursed their pb successful the 2nd fractional by continuing to tally Ekeler, who added an 11-yard rushing touchdown midway done the 4th quarter.
His erstwhile vocation precocious successful rushing yards was 101.
“We’d been moving the shot good each night,” Herbert said. “But to particularly enactment it down (the violative line), springiness Ek the ball, fto him spell get immoderate archetypal downs, I thought that was bully for us.”
Contact newsman Sam Gordon astatine sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon connected Twitter.
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