Austin Ekeler Agrees to Deal With Commanders: Fantasy Football Impact & Takeaways (2024)

Austin Ekeler is leaving the new-look Los Angeles Chargers for the new-look Washington Commanders. The veteran RB reportedly agreed to terms on a two-year deal with Washington on Monday afternoon. The most interesting part is perhaps that the deal only comes with $4.82M in guaranteed money, and it’s only worth up to $11.43 million over two years.

Let’s examine the immediate implications and fantasy impact of Ekeler agreeing to terms with the Commanders.

Austin Ekeler Agrees to Deal with Washington Commanders

Austin Ekeler’s 2023 season was a letdown, no matter how you look at it. Ekeler suffered an ankle sprain in Week 1, which led to three games being missed and possibly muted production for the rest of the season.

Once he returned from injury, he averaged 16.1 touches and 69.2 total yards as the RB28 in fantasy points per game. It was a dramatic fall from grace for a back that had not finished outside the top-nine running backs in fantasy since 2018 (RB28). Ekeler retained some of his pass game prowess as he ranked eighth in target share and 19th in yards per route run (among 60 qualifying backs per Fantasy Points Data), but his rushing skills fell apart.

That is a very low number compared to what these other backs are getting. The league is clearly down on Austin Ekeler https://t.co/4Uj7m081f8

— Mike Maher (@mikeMaher) March 11, 2024

Among 49 qualifying backs, Ekeler ranked 38th in yards after contact per attempt and 46th in missed tackles forced per attempt. Landing in Washington with Anthony Lynn was one of the better-case scenarios this offseason.

He likely forms a frustrating committee with Brian Robinson in an Antonio Gibson-plus role for Washington.