Washington Commanders RB Austin Ekeler Credits Coach Anthony Lynn With Career Success

Without coach Anthony Lynn there may be no running back Austin Ekeler for the Washington Commanders to rely on this season.

Jun 5, 2024; Ashburn, VA, USA; Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler (30) carries the ball during OTA workouts at Commanders Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Austin Ekeler has grown from an undrafted, deep-on-the-depth chart type of NFL player into one of the more electrifying running backs in the league once he gets the ball in his hands. Ekeler is now with the Washington Commanders and will likely split time in the backfield with fellow RB Brian Robinson now that Antonio Gibson is no longer in the fold after heading to New England to play for the Patriots.

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Ekeler has spent the entirety of his seven-year NFL career with the Los Angeles Chargers and now will get the chance to play for a fresh new team that has a ton of excitement surrounding it. Despite Ekeler coming into a new environment, things will be somewhat familiar to him as he will pair up again with run game coordinator and running backs coach Anthony Lynn who was his head coach with the Chargers for four seasons.

When talking with legendary wideout Keyshawn Johnson on his show All Facts No Brakes, Ekeler spoke highly of Lynn and expressed that his entire philosophy as a running back has been built off that of Lynn.

Sep 10, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler (30) celebrates after a touchdown in the first half against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

"My entire NFL philosophy has been built off of what he is. He taught me all of my stuff..."

- Commanders RB Austin Ekeler

"For me, my entire NFL philosophy has been built off of what he is. He taught me all of my stuff that I know about the NFL and the five-step rhythm and reading this, and this is the aim point, and this is the footwork we use and this is what we call it, this is how we align, this is what we do, the fundamentals of how we were going to block and stuff," Ekeler said of coach Lynn. "He was the one implementing that when I was a rookie. And so it just meshed so well with where I'm at right now where it's like, let's get back to where I'm at."

In a lot of ways you could say Ekeler owes his NFL career to coach Lynn, not just as a teacher, but as a coach willing to give guys opportunities.

As an undrafted free agent in 2017 nobody expected Ekeler to be a real contributor in the league so quickly, yet he still touchded the football 74 times as a rookie and gave the Chargers 539 scrimmage yartds and five touchdowns in return.

Together, the two carved out a career for Ekeler that led to his starting half the season in 2019 and all 10 games he palyed the following year, which was unfortunately Lynn's last running the show in Los Angeles. Now, four years later, the two are reunited, and the reunion is a happy one.

"I just know Anthony's so respected when it comes to the running back position in the run game stuff," Ekeler said. "And so it's a nice moment to really get back to where, hey, it all started. I know he's going to put the players that are in the room in the best position, he likes the committee, he likes to put players in a space where this is your type of play based off of your skillset. This is why we want you on the field, here's your plays. And so I can appreciate that."

Lynn clearly likes to put his guys in the best position for them to be successful and he will have the weapons to continue this with Robinson and Ekeler at his disposal this upcoming season. Having the familiarity with one another should also jolt the learning process within a new offense as Ekeler will know exactly what Lynn is wanting to do.

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The Commanders' roster on paper is in a much better state than it was last season, especially within the offense. The ceiling is high, but it will take a group effort for them to put it all together to reach the goals that the team has set out for them, and that starts with everyone's mindset being on the same page.

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Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

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