Los Angeles Chargers star RB Austin Ekeler has risen from anonymity as a zero-star high school recruit to one of the top offensive weapons in the NFL. Ekeler grew up in Eaton, Colorado, and played running back for the Eaton Fightin’ Reds. The future NFL All-Pro was a four-year letter winner, but his size and stature made football evaluators skeptical of his future.
What University Offered Austin Ekeler a Scholarship?
The Chargers’ future starting back was just 5’5″, and many talent evaluators didn’t think he was big enough to play Division I football, let alone in the NFL. By the end of his high school career, Awesome Austin rushed for 5,232 yards and 70 touchdowns. As a senior, he found the end zone 39 times, yet he couldn’t garner any interest from major universities.
Wyoming recruited Ekeler but never offered him a scholarship, so the dynamic RB moved on to additional options. The scholarship offers were few and far between, from many universities the average football fan never heard of.
Adams State, Chadron State College, and Oklahoma Panhandle State offered Ekeler a scholarship, but they wanted him to switch to defensive back. The future All-Pro stood to his belief that he was a running back, and one school offered Ekeler a scholarship to remain on the offensive side of the ball.
Western State knew of the local product and was the only university comfortable enough with Ekeler’s unique status to offer him a scholarship to remain on offense. The decision to extend Ekeler a scholarship paid immediate dividends as the undersized back led the team in rushing as a freshman.
After leading the Mountaineers in rushing with 1,049 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, Ekeler took off during his sophomore campaign. The versatile weapon accumulated 1,676 rushing yards and 2,093 total all-purpose yards, with 14 touchdowns.
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Ekeler stepped up his goal-line work during his junior season, finding the end zone 19 times. The Western State star was beginning to get some attention as he led Division II in all-purpose yards per game. The future Chargers’ back finished his collegiate career with 1,495 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns during his senior season.
The versatile pass catcher must have gotten the attention of NFL scouts and front offices during a career where he totaled 5,857 rushing yards, over 7,000 total yards, and 63 touchdowns.
Was Ekeler Drafted?
The versatile virtuoso entered the 2017 NFL Draft following a highly productive collegiate career with high hopes that an NFL team would visualize how they could use Ekeler’s unique skill set and draft him to be the next franchise back.
Unfortunately, NFL teams remained scared off by Ekeler’s stature, and the Western State product went undrafted. The Chargers, however, liked the explosiveness they saw on film from the undrafted free agent and signed him to a three-year, $1.66 million contract.
The future All-Pro quickly outplayed his contract, and rather than chance losing him on the open market, the Chargers decided to re-sign Ekeler to a four-year, $24.5 million contract, which has proven to be a bargain throughout his career.
When Is Ekeler a Free Agent?
The Chargers All-Pro publicly stated his desire for a new contract before the 2023 season. Los Angeles did not agree to a contract extension, so following the 2023 season, Ekeler will become a free agent.
Despite his age, NFL teams will covet Ekeler’s pass-catching skill set in free agency. Will he be back in the powder blues in 2024, or will we see him in a new uniform for the first time in his illustrious NFL career?
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