Needless to say, the Los Angeles Chargers are going to miss David Njoku and Charlie Kolar.
Both players were placed on the injured reserve after Los Angeles' Week 2 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, with Njoku being carted off the field with a leg injury and Kolar being spotted with his arm in a sling after the game. Both will now miss at least four weeks as they rehab their respective injuries.
That left the Chargers, at least temporarily, with just one healthy tight end on their active roster—Oronde Gadsden II. As dynamic as Gadsden is as a pass-catcher, his deficits as a blocker had him set to be the TE3 in the Chargers' offense this season, especially considering the premium Mike McDaniel places on blocking at the position.
A move was always coming, and knowing Joe Hortiz, it was likely going to be a minor one. The Chargers' decision to sign third-year tight end Hayden Rucci off the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad makes perfect sense in this context.
Of course, a former UDFA and practice squad player isn't going to come close to Kolar or even Njoku in terms of their functions within the offense. But Rucci spent nearly a season and a half under McDaniel with the Miami Dolphins, and given the circumstances, he might be a solid temporary solution at the position for Los Angeles.
Hayden Rucci fills the Chargers' need in a temporary sense—but only on an emergency basis
Of course, the simple solution here is simply to run more 11 personnel and give Gadsden the vast bulk of snaps at the position. If the run game (and the offense as a whole) were already clicking, that might be a viable option. But to lose two key cogs of the run game and hamstring McDaniel's ability to lean into 12 personnel after an 0-2 start to the season would be nothing short of disastrous.
Rucci, at the very least, keeps that option open in McDaniel's playbook. At 6'5" and 247 lbs, Rucci is a blocking-first tight end with admirable size and agility as an in-line player. There's very little upside there in the passing game—he caught just 17 passes during his four-year college career and didn't see a single target in his four games with Miami in 2025—but that's not what Los Angeles needs at this point.
They simply need someone who can block and play on a down-to-down basis, whether individually or paired with Gadsden. Rucci already has McDaniel's stamp of approval in that regard. Although he didn't make the Dolphins' initial 53-man roster in 2024 or 2025 after signing with the team as a UDFA, he stuck around with the team's practice squad and saw a five-game stint with the main roster when both Darren Waller and Julian Hill went down last season.
According to league rules, Rucci will be placed on the Chargers' 53-man roster, and they'll need to pay his salary for the next three weeks even if he's ultimately released. Los Angeles also has Patrick Herbert and Evan Svoboda on the practice squad, and it's safe to assume that one will be elevated for next week's matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Scott Matlock is still on the IR, and it's unclear how much of an option he would be at tight end even if he were healthy.
Again, Rucci is certainly no Kolar or Njoku. But given the circumstances and the Chargers' dire need for a blocking tight end, he's about as solid a temporary solution as you can expect them to find—especially considering his experience in McDaniel's offense.
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