Oronde Gadsden’s historic 164-yard game was already enshrined in the Chargers’ history books with the records he broke. Antonio Gates’ single-game rookie tight end receiving yards record fell. It was the most yards by a rookie tight end in a game league-wide since 1985. If NFL fans were sleeping before, they certainly aren’t now.
In addition to the numerical records, Gadsden II also won Pepsi’s NFL Rookie of the Week for his performance vs. the Colts.
Oronde Gadsden II wins a rookie award that the Chargers have not taken home in a long time.
The last Chargers player to win Rookie of the Week was Asante Samuel Jr. twice in 2021. Before that, Justin Herbert famously won the award nine times in his dominant 2020 NFL Rookie of the Year Campaign. But it had been just over four years before Gadsden made history last week.
Gadsden is currently ninth amongst TEs in the NFL in receiving yards with a touch over 300. That’s while playing 1-2 games less than everyone ahead of him on the list. Gadsden was a healthy scratch for Weeks 1 and 2 against Kansas City and Las Vegas. It’s hard to believe in retrospect, especially with how integral he has been to LA’s offense.
There were signs that this breakout could happen. From OTAs and minicamp all the way through training camp, Gadsden made noise in practice on explosive plays with QB Justin Herbert. The two developed quite a bit of chemistry throughout the offseason.
From the first game he played against the Broncos, it was evident that Gadsden would not be a healthy scratch again after he came up with multiple clutch catches in that win. That included two on the final game-winning FG drive for Los Angeles.
Gadsden will get an opportunity to continue making history as the Chargers square off against the Vikings on Thursday Night Football at 5:15 PM PT.