After spending nine seasons as the head coach of the University of Michigan, Jim Harbaugh is back in the NFL, back on the west coast, and back in the hunt for the Super Bowl title that eluded him during his four seasons as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. But before the Chargers and Jim Harbaugh could achieve their Super Bowl dreams, Harbaugh needs to work his way through a training camp in which he'll be required to cut his roster down from 90 players to 53. That's a whole lot of new faces that the long-time head coach needs to familiarize himself with.
So with that said, it's understandable that the lines of communication between Jim Harbaugh and some of his new players may be crossed. Take for example, veteran running back Gus Edwards, who after rushing for a career-high 810 yards and 13 touchdowns last year with the Baltimore Ravens, had offseason knee surgery… or actually, maybe he didn't?
Alright, so we've settled on “no offseason surgery” for Gus Edwards, but even still, his availability throughout the start of Chargers training camp has remained a question mark. Edwards has sat out team drills on multiple occasions over the last week, paving the way for former Ravens teammate JK Dobbins — who is returning from an early season achilles tear last year — to take the majority of the first team reps. But there are three other running backs — rookie Kimani Vidal, big-bodied third-year back Isaiah Spiller, and former University of Buffalo standout Jaret Patterson — on the roster who could end up in LA's rotation of rushers, and the ground attack will be a point of emphasis this year.
Chargers to emphasize a physical rushing attack
Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz spent two-and-a-half decades in the Baltimore Ravens organization, so it's understandable why two of his first offseason signings were former Ravens running backs. Not only did Hortiz have familiarity with both JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards, but in Baltimore, the standard has long been about playing a physical brand of football. That jives with what Jim Harbaugh wants to accomplish as well.
During Jim Harbaugh's four years as the head coach of the 49ers, San Francisco ranked no lower than 9th in rush attempts per game. At Michigan, the Wolverines played a similar smash mouth style, particularly over their last three seasons as the top team in the Big Ten. Each of those last three years, Michigan had at least 13 more rushing attempts per game than passing attempts.
The Chargers will certainly give Justin Herbert the opportunities to cut it loose. After all, Herbert has been exceptional through four seasons as the Chargers starting quarterback, and no QB in the history of the NFL has thrown more pass attempts per game than Herbert has. But in time, the Chargers will embody the approach of Harbaugh and Hortiz even more than they will this year.
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