Needless to say, the Los Angeles Chargers are going to need to make some adjustments in light of their recent slew of injury updates.
Both Charlie Kolar and David Njoku have been placed on the IR, which means the only healthy tight end the Chargers currently have on the 53-man roster is second-year pass catcher Oronde Gadsden II. Kayode Awosika, Trey Pipkins III, and Dalvin Tomlinson are also set to miss some time, likely slotting Trevor Penning in at left guard and forcing nose tackle duties upon a combination of the rest of the Chargers' interior defensive linemen.
Heading into a matchup where the red-hot Buffalo Bills already have a rest advantage after playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 2, they're going to be fighting an uphill battle. There's no true winners here, especially since Los Angeles needs to come away with a win to avoid starting the season 0-3 and effectively tanking their playoff hopes.
But in terms of the depth chart, Gadsden now has a chance to cement himself as a real, reliable weapon within Mike McDaniel's scheme. For a player that seemed on the verge of being sidelined to start the season, it's an opportunity that can't be passed up.
The Chargers are going to need Oronde Gadsden II over the next four weeks, no matter what changes they make at TE
Right now, the Chargers have two tight ends they can elevate from the practice squad—Patrick Herbert and Evan Svoboda. Barring a move to bring in an additional blocking tight end, those pieces are who Gadsden will be paired with in Week 3.
It's going to be difficult for the Chargers to overcome the losses of Njoku and Kolar. Their in-line blocking abilities are so integral to what McDaniel's offense is supposed to look like, and as dynamic as Gadsden is as a pass catcher, he simply can't match those players' viability in the run game. That's why Gadsden was listed as the TE3 heading into the season, and it's why he's seen a heavily reduced snap share of just 33% over the first two weeks of the season.
But even on limited snaps, Gadsden wasn't sidelined entirely from the offense. Across Los Angeles' first two games, he managed to post four receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown. It's clear that McDaniel was willing to use him in passing situations even in spite of his blocking issues.
That doesn't mean that Gadsden would've had any real shot at carving out a larger snap share over the course of the season, though, assuming Los Angeles' other two tight ends were healthy. If McDaniel had been able to sort out the passing game through the team's wide receivers, there's a real chance we would've see Gadsden slowly lose his share of the offense as the season wore on.
With Kolar and Njoku out, though, Los Angeles has no choice but to lean into Gadsden's pass-catching abilities even further. Although his production took a dip in the back half of last season, he showed us exactly what type of playmaker he could be during his rookie campaign.
The main takeaway here is that, with Njoku and Kolar available, Gadsden simply didn't have any real cushion. If he had a particularly bad blocking rep or he wasn't active in the air attack, he simply wouldn't have seen the field. But the Chargers desperately need him to produce now, and with at least four weeks until Kolar and Njoku return, Gadsden has a chance to prove his doubters wrong and earn the trust of the coaching staff on extended reps.
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