The Chargers are deep into the first week of 2026 training camp, with Mike McDaniel’s arrival as offensive coordinator and a new Shanahan-based offense stirring up plenty of buzz around Justin Herbert, the passing game, and Omarion Hampton in the wide zone run attack.
That renewed optimism comes with a familiar backdrop: Los Angeles has spent years trying to fix its ground game. The last time the Chargers had a 1,000-yard rusher was Melvin Gordon in 2017, and since the 2018 season they’ve drafted seven running backs, all of them on day three before Hampton went in the first round of the 2025 draft.
Two of those backs are still on the roster in Hampton and Kimani Vidal. Three others are out of football, including one medical retirement. And two more former Chargers draft picks are making noise far from SoFi Stadium, in the CFL.
Zander Horvath, a seventh-round pick out of Purdue in 2022, was the second running back Los Angeles took that year, behind Isaiah Spiller in the fourth round. The Chargers viewed Horvath as a fullback, even though he’d built a productive résumé as a runner, and he shifted into that role during the offseason.
He got off to a fast start as a rookie, scoring touchdowns in Weeks 1 and 2. But the Chargers barely used him after that, and by the following offseason - after another coaching change on offense - the team had moved on.
Horvath signed with the BC Lions as a free agent in 2025, and his first CFL season went well: 231 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and a 9.6-yard-per-carry average. He’s been even better in the current season, already passing that yardage total with 254 yards and six touchdowns. That puts him ninth in the CFL in rushing.
Larry Rountree is right there too. The Chargers took the Missouri back in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, and he spent two seasons with Los Angeles before heading to the UFL in 2024 and then the CFL in 2026.
Now Rountree is fifth in the league in rushing yards with 386, along with a 4.2 yards-per-carry average. For the Chargers, the draft investments didn’t turn into long-term answers. But both Horvath and Rountree are still playing, still producing, and still finding a way to make it work north of the border.
In Other News...
Chargers Added Two Overlooked Pieces That Could Change This Offense
The Chargers spent the offseason looking for small roster moves that could pay off in a big way, and two of them have already drawn outside attention. Fullback Alec Ingold and tight end Charlie Kolar were both mentioned by ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen as among the leagues most impactful additions, a nod to how much value can come from players who do the dirty work as much as the box score work.
Ingold gives the offense another layer in the run game and more flexibility in personnel groupings, while Kolar brings the kind of blocking presence that can still threaten defenses as a receiver. For an offense built around creating favorable matchups, those are the sort of additions that can quietly shape how often the Chargers stay ahead of schedule and keep pressure off the rest of the unit. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Guard Battle Suddenly Puts Justin Herbert's Protection In Focus
The Chargers came into camp with a revamped look inside, plugging Tyler Biadasz in at center and Cole Strange into one of the guard spots as they try to settle Justin Herberts protection before the season gets rolling. Even with those moves in place, the line is still very much a work in progress, and the competition around the other guard job has become one of the quieter but more important camp battles on the roster.
Rookie Jake Slaughter was part of the plan, but the early returns have kept the door open for others to make a push, including free agent Kayode Awosika and veteran Matt Pipkins, who has been getting work at left guard. The Chargers are still sorting through who fits best where, and the fact that several players are being used as emergency depth across the line says plenty about how unsettled things remain in front of Herbert. [Read more 🡒]
Khalil Mack Just Made A Huge Chargers Decision
Khalil Macks decision to come back on a one-year deal gives the Chargers a familiar anchor on the edge and a veteran voice in a defense that wants to build on what it already has. He also sounds bought in on what the franchise is trying to do next, which matters for a team that has spent plenty of time trying to sort out its identity and stay competitive in a loaded division.
Around him, the rest of the AFC West is still full of moving parts. Tuli Tuipulotu is concentrating on training camp while his agent handles the contract side, and the Chiefs and Raiders are each dealing with their own development stories at different spots on the roster. For the Chargers, though, Mack staying put keeps one of the most important pieces in place while the bigger question remains how far this group can go with him back in the fold. [Read more 🡒]