Oronde Gadsden II has been one of the key Chargers rookies to have a breakout from the 2025 draft class. He already has set the record for most yards and receptions by a Chargers rookie TE in franchise history.
But Gadsden himself wishes the Houston game went differently. He had two drops, one of which occurred with the Chargers in the red zone and resulted in an intereception by LB Azeez Al-Shaair. Gadsden said this on his drops postgame:
”It’s a lot of things you just can’t do on a normal basis,” Gadsden started. “Like me and Sanjay (Lal) were talking about, gotta catch the ball, gotta look all the way, gotta tuck all the way. People are coming, you got safeties roaming the field you know trying to knock the ball out at any moment. You know you gotta be ready to hold that ball tight.”
Chargers QB Justin Herbert throws his support behind rookie TE Oronde Gadsden II.
To Gadsden’s credit, he didn’t let the drops cloud his mind in the final stretch of the game. He caught a touchdown from Justin Herbert and contributed an explosive 25 yard catch on the final Omarion Hampton touchdown drive. But on the whole, the day was at least a minor setback considering the season Gadsden had been having. The run and pass blocking on tape was also far from his best of the season.
Herbert indicated confidence going forward in his #1 tight end despite the drops in the game. He had this to say about continuing to target Gadsden throughout the rest of the game after the red zone drop:
“He’s a pro. You know, there was no flinch out of him,” Herbert said. “I definitely could’ve lowered the ball, threw less on it. But we kept fighting, kept battling. He made some big plays for us down the stretch and he’s one of those guys that’s gonna keep coming back no mattter what. He’s gonna give his best effort and we’re really lucky to have him.”
Execution errors ultimately buried the Chargers in their attempt to launch a comeback against the Texans. Two early defensive coverage busts put the team down 14 in a playoff-like atmosphere. While the fight back into the game was admirable, it’s hard to think about what would’ve happened if not for Gadsden’s drops, Cameron Dicker’s missed kicks, and JK Scott’s shanked punts.
Ultimately, both Gadsden and the Chargers will have to put the loss behind them quickly. We’ll see how the team approaches the Broncos game in Week 18. But more importantly, self-inflicted wounds cannot sink them to this extent in the Wild Card game coming up.