Draft Note by Pete Behnke
Week 6 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Chargers tried to force feed Melvin Gordon until they found themselves down by 17 points at halftime. Partially due to the negative game script, Ekeler out-snapped Gordon 46 to 32 and out-touched him 18 to 16. Gordon had 12 rushing attempts and four receptions while Ekeler had three rushing attempts and 15 receptions. Monitoring snaps and touches on a weekly basis will be key to solving this running back by committee going forward. After one week, it looks like Gordon will be the primary runner, while Ekeler is the pass catching back. However, it is important to avoid putting too much emphasis on a small sample and approach this backfield was with a fluid mindset.
Also keep in mind, a running back reception in half PPR scoring is worth about three times the value of a rushing attempt and four times the value in full PPR leagues, per Sharp Football Analysis.
Pittsburgh is the seventh best defense against the running back position, as shown by our signature schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed metric. 4for4 rankings expert, John Paulsen, has Ekeler ranked as a half PPR RB17 this week. For reference, Ekeler and Gordon are back-to-back in Paulsen’s half PPR rankings at 17 and 18, respectively.
- Austin Ekeler
- RB
- , Los Angeles Chargers
- 24
- 195 lbs
- 5' 10"
- 71
- 2
Week 6 Projection
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Draft note
Ekeler’s ADP is now in the sixth/seventh round due to concerns about Melvin Gordon’s holdout. Gordon and the Chargers seem to be far apart in negotiations, so I think Gordon will do the minimum to get his year of service and report by midseason. Ekeler should be the lead back while Gordon is out, but Justin Jackson will see 7-10 touches per game in a complementary role. In the three games Gordon missed last year, Ekeler saw 17, 18 and 17 touches. He didn’t run the ball particularly well, but still scored low-end RB2 numbers in those games. In the five games over the last two seasons where he saw at least 10 carries, he averaged 84 total yards on 16.2 touches per game. Those are low-end RB1 numbers. The problem is that he might turn into a pumpkin when Gordon returns. In 11 games with Gordon last year, Ekeler averaged 8.5 touches for 68 yards and 0.45 touchdowns. Those are low-end RB2 numbers, but I’m not sure we can expect 0.45 touchdowns per game again.
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2019 Strength of Schedule - LAC
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 IND | 27 @DET | 14 HOU | 32 @MIA | 23 DEN | 7 PIT | 12 @TEN | 13 @CHI | 30 GB | 5 @OAK | 20 KC | BYE | 23 @DEN | 24 @JAX | 3 MIN | 5 OAK | 20 @KC |
Schedule difficulty based on schedule-adjusted, positional defensive ranking. Top DEF = 1, bottom DEF = 32.
2019 Game Stats
| Week | Opp | RuAtt | RuYds | RuTD | Fum | YPC | Rec | RecYds | RecTD | Tgts | YPR | STD | PPR | Snaps | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IND | 12 | 58 | 1 | 0 | 4.83 | 6 | 96 | 2 | 7 | 16.00 | 33.4 | 39.4 | 48/64 | 75.0% |
| 2 | @DET | 17 | 66 | 1 | 1 | 3.88 | 6 | 67 | 0 | 6 | 11.17 | 17.3 | 23.3 | 49/67 | 73.1% |
| 3 | HOU | 9 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | 7 | 45 | 0 | 7 | 6.43 | 8.1 | 15.1 | 49/75 | 65.3% |
| 4 | @MIA | 18 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 3.33 | 5 | 62 | 1 | 5 | 12.40 | 24.2 | 29.2 | 48/67 | 71.6% |
| 5 | DEN | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2.33 | 15 | 86 | 0 | 16 | 5.73 | 7.3 | 22.3 | 46/70 | 65.7% |
| Per game | 11.80 | 45.40 | 0.60 | 0.40 | 3.85 | 7.80 | 71.20 | 0.60 | 8.20 | 9.13 | 18.06 | 25.86 | 48.00/68.60 | 70.16% | |
| Totals | 59 | 227 | 3 | 2 | 3.85 | 39 | 356 | 3 | 41 | 9.13 | 90.3 | 129.3 | 240/343 | 70.16% | |
Previous Games vs. PIT
| Season | Week | Opp | RuAtt | RuYds | RuTD | Fum | YPC | Rec | RecYds | RecTD | Tgts | YPR | STD | PPR | Snaps | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 13 | @PIT | 13 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1.62 | 5 | 22 | 0 | 8 | 4.40 | 4.3 | 9.3 | 49/63 | 77.78% |
| Average | 13.00 | 21.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.62 | 5.00 | 22.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 | 4.40 | 4.30 | 9.30 | 49.00/63.00 | 77.78% | ||
