Chargers Rumors: San Diego To Target A Running Back In The First Round?
The San Diego Chargers are going to need to address their running back situation somehow before training camp starts, and many NFL analysts and insiders think they'll do just that in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Ryan Matthews is set to become a free agent, and while Branden Oliver showed flashes last season, he certainly didn't look capable of carrying the ground attack on his own for an entire season. The Chargers still haven't found a true feature back to replace LaDanian Tomlinson, and they have a real chance to make that happen in this year's draft.
While the running back position has been tremendously de-valued in recent years, there are quite a few interesting options in this year's draft. Georgia's Todd Gurley, Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon (pictured above) and Indiana's Tevin Coleman have all been linked to San Diego in various mock drafts, with Gurley and Gordon being the most-cited picks in the first round. While both Gurley and Gordon have elite NFL potential, the teams picking ahead of San Diego all have much more glaring needs to address, with the teams that do need a running back upgrade (Oakland, New York Jets, Minnesota depending on Adrian Peterson's status) all able to find better value at other positions.
With a solid defense behind him, Philip Rivers can take San Diego to the playoffs virtually on his own...but over the past few years, we've seen that he needs a more balanced attack to get further than that. With Matthews likely heading elsewhere, the time is now for San Diego to revamp their backfield.
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