The LA Chargers made a surprising move on Monday after the end of the regular season by signing veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott to the practice squad. General manager Joe Hortiz has been very active in making moves around the roster fringes, and bringing in Elliott is no different.
The move was surprising because of how big of a name Elliott is and how he looked on the Dallas Cowboys before his release. This is not the same Zeke from five years ago, and it is hard to see him having much of an impact on a team like the Chargers at this stage in his career.
Thankfully, the Chargers are not relying on Zeke to be the RB1 as he is not even on the 53-man roster as of now. That being said, the Chargers going out and getting Zeke may signal that the team is preparing for life without a certain running back in the NFL Playoffs.
Chargers signing Ezekiel Elliott may be bad news for Gus Edwards
Gus Edwards missed the last two games of the regular season with an ankle injury. Edwards absence coincided with the return of J.K. Dobbins, so the Chargers were able to shoulder the loss, but losing Edwards after his best game of the season was a setback for the Chargers.
Edwards was the concrete RB2 behind Dobbins and played an important role in changing the pace of the game and giving the Chargers a short-yardage option. He was by no means perfect, and struggled at the start of the season, but that short-yardage presence was still important to the Bolts.
In his absence the Chargers have mostly leaned on Hassan Haskins and occasionally Kimani Vidal. There were high hopes for Vidal in his rookie season but it appears the Bolts do not fully trust him yet to have a bigger role.
Signing Zeke is an obvious insurance play if Edwards is not able to go and if the Chargers need to turn to a more experienced running back. In theory, Zeke could replace Edwards as the short-yardage option and give the Chargers someone who has been there in the NFL Playoffs before.
That may be the team's preference over giving an unproven sixth-round rookie important snaps in the NFL Playoffs.
This does not mean Edwards is guaranteed to miss time in the NFL Playoffs, but the Zeke signing shows the Chargers at least think it's a possibility. And as bad as Zeke was for the Cowboys this season, at this point in the year the Chargers were not going to do much better.