Austin Ekeler has requested permission from the Los Angeles Chargers to talk to other teams about a trade. Check out his Landing spots here.
Austin Ekeler : Landing spots | Commanders | Stats
Ekeler attended and played college football at Western Colorado from 2013 to 2016.
As a freshman, Ekeler started nine games. He led the team with 1,049 rushing yards to go along with seven rushing touchdowns.
And as a sophomore, he had 14 rushing touchdowns and set school records with 1,676 rushing yards, 2,093 total all-purpose yards, and 190.3 all-purpose yards per game.
As a junior, he had 19 rushing touchdowns and led Division II in all-purpose yards per game with 203.9 and scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game.
Also as a senior, he had 1,495 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.
Austin Ekeler Landing spots
Ekeler is coming off one of his most productive seasons in the NFL. He set career-highs in rushing yards (915) rushing touchdowns (13) and receptions (107), while amassing over 1,600 total yards and scoring 18 total touchdowns.
At age 27, Ekeler knows he will likely get one more big contract before he starts to wear as a running back, resulting in less value for the future.
Here are three potential landing spots for Ekeler in 2023:
- Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins haven’t had a running back rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season since 2016. As a team, they rushed for 1,686 yards last season and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Ekeler scored 13 rushing touchdowns of his own last season. The offense would also be more balanced as they’re a pass-heavy team.
Ekeler will also help out in their passing game as he’s caught over 389 passes, including a career-high 107 last season.
- Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles are one of the most aggressive teams in the NFL as far as making off-season moves.
Running back Miles Sanders is a free agent and is expected to leave in free agency after having the best season of his career.
Ekeler would be an amazing replacement for Sanders.
- Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are going to be one of the busiest teams this off-season.
The Bears have the most cap space in the league with $75 million. Chicago has already started to improve their offense this off-season as they acquired Panthers wideout DJ Moore in a blockbuster trade where they traded the first-overall pick.
Last season, quarterback Justin Fields led the team with 1,143 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
Austin Ekeler Commanders
The Washington Commanders have already made one big move this offseason. They agreed to a massive contract with Daron Payne, on who they had placed the franchise tag on. The two sides agreed to a four-year, $90 million deal with $60 million guaranteed.
Coming off of a career season, it made sense for the Commanders to lock Payne up long-term.
Washington now has one of the most vaunted defensive fronts in the NFL with Payne, Jonathan Allen, Chase Young and Montez Sweat.
It was recently revealed that Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler was seeking permission from the team to talk to other franchises about potentially making a trade centered around him.
If the Commanders were to make a move for Ekeler, it would almost certainly mean the end of Gibson’s tenure with the team.
He saw his role diminish last season and given the pass-catching ability of Ekeler, there really wouldn’t be much of a use for him. He was the team’s kick returner last season but doesn’t help out on special teams otherwise.
It would certainly be interesting if Ekeler’s ultimate landing spot was Washington. It would show they are committed to Sam Howell as their quarterback and putting the best possible supporting cast around him.
He would have arguably the best group of skill position players in the NFL adding Ekeler to the existing group.
Stats
Ekeler signed a three-year, $1.66 million contract that includes a $5,000 signing bonus with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft.
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In Week 4, against the Houston Texans, Ekeler had 109 scrimmage yards, two rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown in the 34–24 victory.
In Week 5, against the Cleveland Browns, he had 16 carries for 173 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with a receiving touchdown in the 30–28 victory.
And in Week 16, against the Indianapolis Colts, he scored two rushing touchdowns.
With those two scores, Ekeler and Marshall Faulk are the only two players in NFL history to have 10 or more rushing touchdowns and five or more receiving touchdowns in consecutive seasons.
In Week 17, against the Los Angeles Rams, Ekeler rushed for 122 yards and had 39 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long 72-yard run, earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week.