If you come from an Italian family like I do, you know there are a couple of different ways to check your noodles and make sure they're cooked to your liking. Now, our older Italian grandmothers might just be able to look at them or quickly pick one out, taste it, and be like, "Yep, we are good to go." Then there's that age-old advice where if you throw a noodle against the wall, if it sticks, it's done.
Well, the Los Angeles Chargers have decided to cook several pieces of pasta, and they're going to throw it at the wall. Whatever one sticks is going to be the running back that starts this year. Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins come over from the Baltimore Ravens as free agents. Of course, the Harbaugh brothers were probably discussing those two. Then they also drafted Kamani Vidal as well, out of Troy.
Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to look at with the DRBR this year for the Los Angeles Chargers. Vidal is a rookie, and the information I use to put these stats together isn't always available for college athletes. J.K. Dobbins had all of eight carries last season before being injured again, and Gus Edwards scored a lot of touchdowns, but that was really it.
So, let's start with Gus Edwards. Last year's DRBR scores were not very good. He was really based around volume and scoring touchdowns—that was where his fantasy value lay. If he didn't score a touchdown, you weren't getting a whole lot from him. But this is the first year since Gus Edwards entered the league that he scored under six in both tackles avoided per attempt and yards after contact. In the past, we have seen him be much more dynamic than he was last year.
So, is he losing a step? Does he just not have it anymore? Was it the offense that was the issue? We know the Los Angeles Chargers, with Jim Harbaugh, are going to run the football, but I don't know if his situation is going to be so much better that that efficiency comes back.
And J.K. Dobbins—he only had eight carries last season. He didn't even pop up on the numbers because it only pulls the top X amount of players, and he wasn't included in that. So, we had to go back and look at his numbers again as well. The numbers show why he's been a popular pick as a breakout candidate each of the last couple of seasons, if it weren't for the season-ending injuries. In yards after contact and tackles avoided per attempt, J.K. Dobbins has never scored lower than 65 in either of those categories.
So, let me give an honest breakdown of what is going to probably happen with this backfield. Gus Edwards is going to have the first shot. If he can come out and get back to the efficiency that he saw in his early days with Baltimore, he may stick as the starter for the majority of the season. J.K. Dobbins is going to get some work, but he's also going to have to show that prior efficiency that he once had before all of his injuries. That efficiency may be gone—he may look good in training camp, he may be performing well in practices and drills and all of those things, but until we see it at game speed, J.K. Dobbins just may not have it. But he'll be the next one up.
The only way either of these guys finds any type of upside is to be as efficient as they were in their early days in Baltimore. If that can happen, then we do have a couple of potential sleepers this season in your drafts. If it doesn't happen, though, Kamani Vidal will probably find himself in the mix for the RB1 role before too long.mp that volume up just a little bit more this season, and we should see some truly impressive numbers once again.
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