Austin Ekeler's Usage in Chargers Offense Questioned by Fantasy Managers vs. Chiefs

Thursday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers was supposed to come with plenty of offensive fireworks and fantasy points.

Someone must have forgotten to tell the star players.

The five offensive touchdowns in Kansas City's 27-24 victory came from Zander Horvath, Mike Williams, Joshua Palmer, Justin Watson and Jerick McKinnon, which is not what fantasy players relying on Austin Ekeler wanted to hear.

The Chargers star running back ended up with 14 carries for 39 yards and just 2.8 yards per attempt. He added nine catches for 55 yards at least, but the lack of a rushing attack combined with Sony Michel receiving a handoff at the Kansas City 1-yard line instead of him was reason for concern.

Fans on social media expressed some of that concern:

Ekeler had just 36 rushing yards and 36 receiving yards with no touchdowns in the Chargers' Week 1 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, so there is something of a troubling pattern emerging in the early portion of the season for those fantasy players relying on the No. 1 back.

Fortunately, there is a track record to fall back on after he scored 20 touchdowns a season ago, but the dominant fantasy playmaker from 2021 has yet to make an appearance in 2022.