Los Angeles Chargers have surprising RB putting Isaiah Spiller's roster spot in jeopardy

Travis Wakeman

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Los Angeles Chargers have surprising RB putting Isaiah Spiller's roster spot in jeopardy image

Though the Los Angeles Chargers have a sure thing in new head coach Jim Harbaugh, there are plenty of questions when you look up and down the roster. The running back position is filled with them. 

Baltimore Ravens castoffs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins figure to do the heavy lifting this season while sixth-round pick Kimani Vidal will be sprinkled in. But if the team keeps a fourth running back, there is a good chance that it won't be Isaiah Spiller. 

Jaret Patterson has stepped up for the team in camp and has looked great. He's looked so good thus far that Ourlads has gone ahead and bumped him ahead of both Spiller and Elijah Dotson on the depth chart. 

Now while that doesn't mean anything officially, it could be the same way the coaching staff is seeing things as the team has been in camp for a week now.

Jaret Patterson could steal a roster spot for the Chargers

You probably haven't found one 53-man roster prediction that had Patterson making the team, but that idea could very much be in play. If that happened, it would certainly be at the expense of Spiller, the former fourth-round pick who seems to be hanging on by a thread these days. 

Patterson is entering his fourth year in the league after going undrafted out of Buffalo in 2021. He made the roster of the Washington Commanders that season and spent two years there before splitting time between the Chargers and Commanders last season. 

 

The Chargers signed him to a future deal following the 2023 season when the Commanders chose not to bring him back. The 25-year-old has 344 career rushing yards with two touchdowns. 

If the Chargers do keep four running backs on the final roster, and with the injury history of Edwards and Dobbins coupled with the inexperience of Vidal, it would be wise, it will be interesting to see who plays best in preseason between Patterson and Spiller. 

Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.