Below are 10 quick-hitting insights from the Chargers running backs' during the 2021 regular season:
1) Austin Ekeler scored 20 total touchdowns, joining Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson as the only two players in franchise history to have that many TDs in a single season. Ekeler and Priest Holmes are the only undrafted running backs in league history to have 20 or more touchdowns in a season.
2) Ekeler, along with Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, led the NFL in touchdowns. He's the third Chargers player to ever have a share of the league lead in single-season touchdowns.
3) Nearly half of Ekeler's scores came when the lights were the brightest. He had nine total touchdowns in primetime, including four against the Pittsburgh Steelers on "Sunday Night Football."
4) Ekeler closed the regular season having scored in eight straight games, including two touchdowns in the Week 18 finale in Las Vegas. He had four total touchdowns against the Raiders this season.
5) The longest offensive play of the season came courtesy of a 75-yard rush by Justin Jackson in Week 8 against the New England Patriots.
6) Jackson totaled a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns in Week 15 against the Houston Texans. It was the lone game Ekeler missed this past season.
7) Rookie Larry Rountree III appeared in 12 games this season. He scored his first career touchdown in Week 10 vs. Minnesota on a 1-yard rush.
8) Quarterback Justin Herbert was the team's third-leading rusher this season behind Ekeler and Jackson with 302 yards. The quarterback had nine carries for 90 yards against Pittsburgh in Week 11, the second-highest individual rushing performance on the team in 2021.
9) Ekeler set career highs with 911 yards on the ground and 53 first downs rushing. His previous bests were 557 rushing yards and 32 first downs rushing during the 2019 season.
10) Finally, Ekeler and Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk are the only backs in the common draft era (1967) to have multiple seasons with at least eight receiving touchdowns.
*Stats and information courtesy of Pro Football Reference and Chargers Communications unless otherwise noted.
