Do ANY Los Angeles Chargers fans feel confident in the state of the running back room right now?
Losing Austin Ekeler isn’t much of a blow after his poor performance last season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should feel much better about Gus Edwards andJ.K. Dobbins.
However, LA might not be done assembling its backfield. Arecent Bleacher Report articlenamed the Chargers as a realistic landing spot for Kareem Hunt.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Dobbins.
He’s an exciting player with tantalizing talent, but he’s only played in nine total games over the past two seasons.
In the past eight years, Dobbins has fractured his left fibula (August 2016), suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain (December 2019), torn his ACL, LCL, meniscus, and hamstring (August 2021), and tore his Achilles (September 2023).
Counting on him to avoid injury this season is a dangerous gamble.
No one is suggesting he is bad.
— Calvin (@FlockCwood)July 11, 2023
Reality is Jk dobbins has played less games (23) than he has missed (27) in his career which is 46% of games and has a total of 226 attempts in his career.
He is an injury prone RB who has a world of potential that has yet to prove that he can…https://t.co/Hzr0R076zQ
Imagine relying only on Edwards, and it isn’t a pretty thought. Last year was his career-best with 810 rushing yards (4.1 yards per carry) with 13 touchdowns.
Those are fine stats, but not exactly ideal for an RB1, especially when you consider that he only has 30 career receptions across 69 games and he's never had 1,000 yards from scrimmage season.
Hunt isn’t an RB1 either, but he is exactly the type of insurance policy that the Chargers desperately need.
He isn’t a great runner anymore (411 yards on 3.0 yards per carry last year), but he can be the pass-catching option LA needs if Dobbins goes down.
Sure, currently rostered running backs Kimani Vidal (rookie out of Troy) and Isaiah Spiller are viable options instead of Hunt. But it’s much smarter to have a running back with significant experience you can rely on, and Hunt should be a cheap addition.
Even if Hunt doesn’t sign with LA, there are other options available, like Dalvin Cook, Cam Akers, and Latavius Murray.
Signing one of those running backs is best done sooner rather than later, in case Dobbins or Edwards goes down.
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