Chargers are struggling without an injured running back
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Chargers are struggling without an injured running back

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

The Los Angeles Chargers have to admit complete defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Losing a game by a point difference of 23 after leading at halftime is a testament to poor coaching, poor game play and cruel trench play. The Chargers’ running back situation is a major factor in these issues.

Losing in the trenches is often referred to as the line of attack and line of defense. However, let’s not forget that running backs play a crucial role in pass protection on passing downs.

Without a strong running back to protect the pass, teams are forced to play one-dimensional backs, allowing the defense to “punch off” on offense.

The Chargers superstar running back in question

This offseason, the Chargers signed JK Dobbins. A rehabilitation project, a player who struggled with injuries his entire career. When healthy, Dobbins is electric and a three-down back.

He was spectacular in his first year with the Chargers, but the common theme of injuries followed Dobbins to Los Angeles. He went down in their revenge game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12.

His presence was sorely missed in the running game, as backups Gus Edwards and Kimani Vidal were unable to truly replicate Dobbins’ success.

Aside from the lack of success in the running game without Dobbins on the field, the pass defense at the running back position has suffered in particular.

Chargers Miss JK Dobbins… in pass protection

Superstar quarterback Justin Herbert is playing injured… again. Without a proper running game, they rely on the pass to win football games, even if it puts Herbert in a bad position to get hit. Herbert always faces adversity.

Herbert was pressured 12 times against the Buccaneers on Sunday. Four of those came from rookie running back Kimani Vidal, with just 14 pass-blocking snaps!

This compares to JK Dobbins, who has allowed seven pressures all season (through Week 12). He will be sorely missed in this Chargers offense, especially now that Herbert is limping.

Additionally, Vidal allowed a sack and a hit to Herbert in those snaps. This is not meant to be a dissent against Vidal, as rookie running backs are notoriously bad at pass defense. Even offensive coordinator Greg Roman has acknowledged this, making his playcalling and personnel selection even more confusing.

Greg Roman on Vidal in pass protection: “I think there are some reps he would like to get back. There’s some good learning experiences there for him…young guys in the Pass Pro, it’s universal. You have to learn.”

Chargers Running Backs: Pass Protection Stats

JK Dobbins: The Gold Standard (for This Running Back Room)

Pass-blocking snaps: 77

PFF pass blocking grade: 69.9

Sacks allowed: 1

Permissible pressure: 7

Hits allowed: 1

Dobbins has the best grade of the group, with good efficiency numbers considering he has the most snaps in pass protection. For a smaller running back, this is even more impressive.

The rest of the group will need to play at a similar level to Dobbins in pass protection if the Chargers want to have a chance in the playoffs.

Gus Edwards: A surprising lack of skill in pass protection

Pass-blocking snaps: 20

PFF pass blocking grade: 46.6

Sacks allowed: 0

Permissible pressure: 2

Hits allowed: 0

Edwards is a bit of a headache because he isn’t the best pass-catching threat. However, he still remains in the backfield when it comes to passing downs as a receiving threat. He has 79 pass snaps in the backfield on passing plays, with only 20 of them in pass protection. That means he took 59 of those snaps while running a route.

Maybe not the smartest way to use a player.

Additionally, he performed well overall as a pass protector. He has six games with a PFF grade above 60.0 (average). He has three games under his belt, including an atrocious game in Week 14 against the Kansas City Chiefs. A pass blocking grade of 11.7 is half (!) the grade Sam Mustipher had in the first game against the Chiefs. Aside from Edwards’ poor PFF ratings and missing games, he was solid overall, not allowing much pressure and not allowing any hits or sacks.

He could be a good solution until Dobbins gets healthy again, as they were both free agents acquired from the Ravens and this situation had to play out before then.

Kimani Vidal: The rookie who needs to evolve

Pass-blocking snaps: 26

PFF pass blocking grade: 42.2

Sacks allowed: 3

Permissible pressure: 6

Hits allowed: 1

The rookie has already been discussed earlier in this article, but given all the stats, it doesn’t help his case.

Even though Vidal is an excellent pass catcher (and has the potential to be), he needs to hone his pass protection skills to give defenses less chance to predict what he will do on his plays for.

Hassan Haskins: The next best option… but it’s still not great

Pass-blocking snaps: 15

PFF pass blocking grade: 48.8

Sacks allowed: 0

Permissible pressure: 2

Hits allowed: 0

Haskins has the smallest sample size of any running back to date shows some interesting promise. He has a similar case to Edwards where he is a better runner but hasn’t performed well in pass protection.

This, like Edwards, is due to a terrible 19.4 PFF grade in one of his games, which was the same Chiefs first game in which Mustipher was terrible. The Chiefs simply overwhelmed the entire pass protection unit that day. With more snaps, Haskins has the potential to become the rock in pass protection. He has tremendous special teams skills with some overlap in technique. However, like Edwards and Vidal, Haskins lacks the ability to be completely versatile in his game to be a threat in all phases.

Main Photo: (Kirby Lee) – USA Today Sports

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