After defeating the Atlant Falcons and improving their season record to 8-4, the Los Angeles Chargers fans are on a high. But now heading into an important proving ground that is a three-game stretch against the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Denver Broncos, one of the biggest questions facing Jim Harbaugh’s team is health.
The Chargers’ team-building strategy in the first year of this regime, as left major holes at several position groups due to injury
Heading into the Chiefs game the biggest areas of injury concern are the running backs, wide receivers, and defensive backs.
Chargers Running Backs
JK Dobbins has been the only running back the team has brought on to find any success and he is going to miss at least three more weeks after being put on the injured reserve. This leaves Gus Edwards, rookie sixth-rounder Kimani Vidal, and Hassan Haskins to attempt to find yards on the ground. So far this season, those have been hard to find for these backs.
Edwards leads the way for the backs with a 51st-ranked 3.4 yards per carry. Vidal is averaging just 2.9 yards on 22 carries and Haskins has 1.9 yards per carry.
The Chargers offense has struggled on the ground without Dobbins in the lineup. On the year they are a respectable, 15th-ranked rushing offense by EPA per play. But last week, they dropped to 29th in the same statistic.
Wide Receivers
To make matters worse for the offense, Justin Herbert’s top target is questionable heading into this matchup. Ladd McConkey was listed as such with an ankle and shoulder injury. He has simultaneously emerged as a high-value receiver, but a regular injury concern. He has essentially been on the injury report since Week 6, after suffering an injury in the game against the Broncos.
Why this matters is the compounding effect of missing Dobbins. Together Dobbins and McConkey account for 46 percent of all the Chargers’ offensive yards from scrimmage this season.
Defensive Backs
The defense is already without cornerbacks Eli Apple and Asante Samuel Jr and safety Alohi Gilman, all of whom are on the injured reserve. But several more were listed on the team’s injury report.
Cornerback Cam Hart and safety Elijah Molden were limited in practice, but are expected to play against the Chiefs. Meanwhile, veteran safety Tony Jefferson will be questionable.
This means three of the five starting defensive backs have been dealing with ailments as recently as Thursday.