The sensational season that Chargers running back Kimani Vidal has had continues. Without Omarion Hampton in action on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, Vidal had 25 carries for 126 yards and a touchdown. He was the team's highest-graded PFF offensive player against Las Vegas. 124 of Vidal's 126 yards came after contact in PFF's tracking.
Vidal has stepped up when the team has needed him to. At one point, trade rumors swirled around the Chargers' need for a running back when Hampton went down in Week 5. Vidal has now firmly entrenched himself in the team's present and future backfield plans.
He's also matched some history.
Kimani Vidal did something that no Chargers RB has done since 2018.
Austin Ekeler and J.K. Dobbins both had multiple 100+ yard rushing games in a season as starters for Los Angeles. But neither of them hit three 100+ yard games in a single season on the ground. Vidal became the first Chargers' running back since Melvin Gordon in 2018 to have more than two such games.
It's obviously a reflection of the work Vidal has put in to get to this point. Despite Dobbins missing four games last year, he had his chance to reach the mark with the same run-heavy coaching staff.
Austin Ekeler was more of a total touches back with the receiving game being in play as opposed to being a true workhorse runner. Vidal being able to compete statistically with probably the best pure runner of the post-LT Chargers era is an amazing accomplishment.
It also continues a wild ascension for Vidal. He was an afterthought after a worse-than-expected preseason campaign. The team parted ways with both him and Raheim "Rocket" Sanders before managing to get Vidal back on the practice squad. The Troy product now has 543 rushing yards, 63 receiving yards, and four total touchdowns on the season.
How his current role changes with the impending return of Omarion Hampton remains to be seen. But Vidal has stabilized a powerful rushing attack that there was once great concern for following Hampton's injury.
He's also given the Chargers future flexibility in how they approach their backfield. As an exclusive rights free agent, Vidal is all but guaranteed to be back in 2026 with the Chargers for a cap hit around $960k-$1M. With many other needs on the roster to be addressed this offseason, there's not much need to spend more resources on the running back room. That might not have been the case had Vidal not performed to this level in 2025.
Against the Eagles, the Chargers will likely have their 1-2 punch of Hampton and Vidal back in the fold. Hopefully, Vidal can continue playing the way he has been against a vulnerable Philadelphia rush defense.