Commanders Get Bad News on Leading Rusher Before ‘Battle of the Beltway’

Getty Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr.

Even when the Washington Commanders get bad news — like they did the day before a Week 6 showdown against the Baltimore Ravens — it still doesn’t seem like the end of the world.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news leading rusher Brian Robinson Jr. would be out for the “Battle of the Beltway” on October 13, but some deft offseason moves mean Washington has a pretty good backup plan in place — veteran Austin Ekeler.

Ekeler signed a 2-year, $8.34 million contract with the Commanders in March 2024 after spending the first 7 seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers.

“Ekeler wanted his next destination to have an established young running back already in place,” Riggo’s Rag’s Dean Jones wrote on October 12, right before the Commanders announced Robinson would be out. “This has come with diminished and slightly altered responsibilities, which center more on impacting the passing game rather than carving up yards on the ground … Ekeler knows he could have a pivotal role to play. The Western Colorado product has maximized almost every touch so far and has even become a force in the return game for good measure. The Commanders won’t task him with 20-30 touches a game many times in 2024. This might have to be one of them if Robinson can’t go.”

Robinson-Daniels One of NFL’s Best Running Duos

It’s not blowing smoke to say Robinson and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels have been one of the NFL’s most effective 1-2 rushing combos — perhaps only behind Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.

Robinson leads Washington with 300 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry and has 2 games with over 100 rushing yards. Daniels is right behind with 300 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns while averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

At different times the last 2 seasons, Robinson has seemed like he might be on the verge of becoming one of the NFL’s elite running backs — he had 1,101 yards of total offense and 9 touchdowns while missing 2 games due to injury in 2023.

Ekeler Can Handle Being Featured Running Back

If there’s a backup running back in the entire NFL that could step in and temporarily be the featured back, it’s Ekeler, who is no stranger to carrying a big workload running and catching the ball.

Ekeler averaged 141.4 carries per season over his first seven seasons in the NFL after making the the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of NCAA Division II Western Colorado in 2017.

In 2022, Ekeler touched the ball over 300 times with 204 carries and 107 receptions in (311 touches) on the way to 1,637 yards of total offense and 18 touchdowns.

Through 4 games in 2024, Ekeler has 301 yards of total offense — 150 rushing yards and 151 receiving yards — and 1 touchdown.

“I think you can kind of see how they’ve (the Chargers) been building the team so far this offseason,” Ekeler said on the Up & Adams podcast with Kay Adams on June 10. “Went out and drafted a tackle first round, brought in some bigger backs over from Baltimore. So it’s like, hey, they want a guy they can hand the ball off to 300 times a year and, look, I haven’t had that capacity to do that. That’s not my game.”