I’m sure you should never pay for all the clichés that come with it. But there are exceptions to every rule, such as when a player running back receives more ball than Derrick Henry. Midfielders love to have good guys on their team and like you could argue in 2022, Austin Ekeler is to Justin Herbert like Travis Kelce is to Patrick Mahomes.
That’s why news about Los Angeles, predictably, let Ekeler look for a transaction because their owner is a notorious cheap guy who the San Diegans hate like J. Jonah Jameson hates Spider-Man. Like their views on poor people in general, Los Angelenos are indifferent to Dean Spanos, so they don’t really have an opinion on Chargers either.
Having said that, I care about Herbert because it’s more fun when talented midfielders don’t get bogged down in poor teams.
Ekeler is a close friend of QB
The seven-year professional led the NFL in number of receptions when running back in 2022, catching 107 balls, 22 more than the next closest person (Christian McCaffrey, 85). The Chargers restructured Keenan Allen’s deal last week, and for what? So can they trade the quarterback’s favorite target? Mike Williams led the team — that’s why it’s tragic when he’s injured in a senseless act at the end of the year, and the number 628 reason why Brandon Staley should be fired* — but Ekeler was there are 44 times more than him and 35 more than the next nearest Bolt.
(*Staley still has a job because Spanos is too cheap to fire him.)
Justin Herbert is the main reason why experts are optimistic about Chargers football. That’s it. They have some good guys, sometimes with great skills, and Ekeler has proven to be amazing since he took the No. 1 role. There are health concerns for sure, but he’s there were only 204 executions a year ago, good for 20th place in the league.
If you want your franchise quarterback to believe in the organization and grow within it, keeping his emergency exit really helps. Ekeler’s value is almost as important in the air as it is on the ground, and so he could be undervalued simply because he’s not in the open market.
I wrote a column in pre-season predicting Ekeler would fail because of one of the consensuals the top five fantasies run backwards all the time**. He got the most measure from the script as a pro. (My bad.) Pay that man (Ekeler) his money.
(**Jonathan Taylor is your top five lemons.)
Whenever Herbert needed a return to third and manageable, or a third and manageable transition, he always looked for Ekeler’s way. It’s a special relationship between quarterback and receiver, one that I’m trying to find a metaphor for. So, umm, go fuck it, San Diego?
