Thread by @DavisMattek

The Chargers backfield is possibly *the* most important mystery solve in all of fantasy football in 2024

I did my best Sherlock Holmes to investigate what we know about Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman’s running back plans:

First, why do we care so much about this backfield?

As Austin Ekeler just said “They wanted a guy they can hand the ball off to 300 times a year”

Jim Harbaugh teams place an extreme premium on running the ball, as you can see from his 49ers rankings

In addition, Greg Roman has been an offensive coordinator since 2011 and *never* ranked outside the top 9 teams in the whole league in rush attempts OR yards.

Truly one of the most insane stats I’ve ever read in football.

Who are the candidates to benefit from all this rushing?

Gus Edwards has a lower body injury and “might” be back for camp 😬

JK Dobbins signed with former OC Greg Roman…to a contract that pays him $50,000 guaranteed. It is essentially a camp tryout contract.

Isaiah Spiller has been on the team since 2022 and recorded 64 touches for…. 2.9 yards per touch

6th round rookie Kimani Vidal is close to a top-150 pick on @UnderdogFantasy …but all I can find out about him is that he is splitting work with Jaret Patterson

The aforementioned Dotson played 16 snaps for the Chargers last season before being waived.

All of this leads me to ask… WTF is the plan?

My guess is: Edwards is supposed to lead the team in carries and Roman very much wants Dobbins to be healthy enough to make the 53-man roster.

The probability of that parlay hitting, to me, seems lower than the Chargers estimate of likelihood.

Actionable thought: Shaky as it is, Edwards (RB35) and Vidal (RB52) look like the targets in fantasy football right now.

The upside of Vidal capturing the projected “Dobbins” style role in Greg Roman’s offense is too large to ignore.

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