Best running back options for Chargers in 2024 NFL Draft

Chargers' best sixth-round running back: Kimani Vidal

The latest the Chargers can reasonably wait to take a running back is the sixth round. It might be more likely that the team waits this long to take a back but the team cannot afford to wait any longer. There are no seventh-round running backs that would truly make a difference. At that point, it would be back-end roster fodder.

If the Chargers end up waiting until the sixth round it might be to take Kimani Vidal. Vidal is projected to go sometime in the sixth or seventh round and while the Chargers could try and wait to land him in the seventh, it would be smarter just to take a player they like when they have the chance.

Vidal is undersized at five-foot-eight and has some Austin Ekeler in his game. That is not to say that he will turn into a fantasy football darling but the muscular back has proven to be valuable as a pass-catcher and has performed well at a smaller college with a bad offensive line (sound familiar?).

Vidal averaged 5.6 yards per carry, racking up 1,661 yards last season with Troy. He found the endzone 15 times in 14 games and averaged over 11 yards per reception. Most impressively, he led all college backs in missed tackles forced last season with 94.

Ekeler might not have been great at the end of his tenure with the Chargers but the idea of adding another back with similar traits should be very enticing for Harbaugh.