The Chargers have one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL with Justin Herbert and missed out on the playoffs by about five minutes at the end of the season. They responded by getting Khalil Mack, J.C. Jackson, and some solid helpers along the offensive line and in the defensive secondary with their first two picks. They also snagged a running back and a fullback in the 2022 NFL Draft. What can we expect from these two in their rookie years?
FULL LOS ANGELES CHARGERS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 17 | Zion Johnson | G | Boston Col. |
| 3 | 79 | JT Woods | S | Baylor |
| 4 | 123 | Isaiah Spiller | RB | Texas A&M |
| 5 | 160 | Otito Ogbonnia | DT | UCLA |
| 6 | 195 | Jamaree Salyer | OL | Georgia |
| 6 | 214 | Ja’Sir Taylor | DB | Wake Forest |
| 7 | 236 | Deane Leonard | DB | Mississippi |
| 7 | 260 | Zander Horvath | FB | Purdue |
Round 4, Pick 123 Overall: Isaiah Spiller, Running Back, Texas A&M (6’0” 217 lbs)
Depth Chart:
RB1: Austin Ekeler
RB2: Isaiah Spiller
RB3: Joshua Kelley
RB4: Larry Rountree III
TALENT
Spiller doesn’t have the same speed of a Kenneth Walker, but I like the way he runs a lot more than I like Walker. Spiller has incredible contact balance and sheds a ton of tackles. Spiller also boasts some start-stop-start ability and frequently embarrasses people with his jukes. His lack of a top gear keeps him from running away from people, but he’s still incredibly fun to watch play football. Spiller is a decent, but not great, all-around running back in this class. He’s an okay, but not great, ball catcher. If I had to give him a massive knock, it’s his indecisiveness at the line of scrimmage. His patience can turn into dancing at times. He has issues with matching tempo to the defense and the blockers ahead of him, and he tends to get lost when moving outside the tackles. He can hit a hole hard but sometimes that’s all he can do.
2022 OPPORTUNITY
This is where things get iffy for Spiller. And… I don’t know. And you don’t know, either. The only person that knows is God. That’s because Austin Ekeler takes all the touches when he’s healthy. He played in sixteen games last year, and finished with 276 touches. Larry Rountree, Joshua Kelley, and Justin Jackson all combined for 165 touches (and 25 of those came in the game that Ekeler missed). So, that comes out to 140 touches across 16 games for the entire backfield behind Ekeler… combined.
That makes Isaiah Spiller a pure handcuff unless they vastly change how they handle things in Los Angeles. And the Austin Ekeler injury-prone label seems to be a thing of the past, as his 2021 game missed was due to COVID-19, and he has only one multi-week injury in the last four seasons. Despite this, people still think that Ekeler constantly misses time. He doesn’t.
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Isaiah Spiller is likely a pure handcuff but is likely to be one of the better pure handcuffs in 2022. You can draft him as such in a deeper league, but in most leagues, he’s just a guy you light your FAB on fire to get in a break glass in case of an emergency scenario.
TALENT
2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 7, Pick 260 Overall: Zander Horvath, Running Back, Purdue (6’3” 229 lbs)
Depth Chart
FB1: Gabe Nabers
FB2: Zander Horvath
TALENT
He’s almost purely a fullback, meaning a lead blocker with some rushing skills and limited pass-catching skills, and some special teams proficiency. That’s it. He will be a name that might pop up during the fantasy football season because he could have a random touchdown here or there, but he isn’t a name you need to know. Don’t worry about it. He has to beat Gabe Nabers to even matter, and Nabors has ten targets and eight carries in two years.
2022 OPPORTUNITY
He’s a fullback!
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
See above!
TALENT
2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
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