For the first time since the 2022 season, the Los Angeles Chargers are going to be playing playoff football this weekend. It seems the team is taking not any chances and leaving no stones unturned to make sure all the right pieces are in place.
Jim Harbaugh has helped turn the team around in just a year, unlocking new levels to Justin Herbert’s game and wasting no time imprinting his identity onto the team. As soon as he walked through the door he made his plan clear, and the result has been a Chargers offense built around a Greg Roman style rushing attack that has featured a slew of different backs to varying degrees of success.
It’s been a taxing year, though. Injuries have piled up on the team, especially in the backfield with J.K. Dobbins’ bounceback season getting interrupted by some tough injury luck late in the year. Gus Edwards is also dealing an injury that has his status for the playoffs in doubt, which has the Chargers down to Hassan Haskins and Kamani Vidal as options behind Dobbins if worst comes to worse.
Both have proven to be useful in the time they’ve seen, but as a precaution the Chargers are adding a pretty notable name as a means of securing some backfield depth.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Chargers are signing Ezekiel Elliott to their practice squad to add some interesting veteran depth ahead of a potential playoff run. It feels like a classic Jim Harbaugh move that could pay off big at the right time.
The #Chargers are signing RB Zeke Elliott to their practice squad, source said, with the hope that the former #Cowboys back gets up to speed quickly. pic.twitter.com/LPj9t4oBtu
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2025
Chargers add some much-needed running back depth and sign Ezekiel Elliott
Elliott has been a lottery ticket signing in back-to-back seasons after his last good year with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022. He was cut loose and headed to New England for a season where he failed to do much and returned to Dallas last year only to tumble down the depth chart and out of the picture.
That’s what brings him to Los Angeles, where the Chargers are going full Tobias Fünke and hoping that what didn’t work out for the Patriots and Cowboys does for them.
It’s a pretty smart low stakes gamble. Elliott is unlikely to play in Saturday’s Wild Card game against the Houston Texans but cold be ready for action if the Chargers make it to the Divisional Round. At the very least, he adds a veteran presence to the running back room, as he’s been in this spot before and could help guide a group that’s is inexperienced in the playoffs.
Signing Elliott also feels like a vintage Harbaugh move. He’s adding a known commodity to the mix who won’t be asked to do much but could have a few big moments left in him. The Chargers don’t need Elliott to take over for Dobbins or even back him up, but if they get into a goal line situation it could be a nice wild card to throw at teams who won’t have whatever Harbaugh draws up on tape.
It’s a low wattage move that could provide the right bolt of electricity at the right time, and proves that Harbaugh is approaching this Chargers playoff run unlike any of his predecessors.
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