Chargers adding RB Gus Edwards shows Jim Harbaugh's serious about improving rushing attack

The Los Angeles Chargers rushing attack ranked No. 27 in rushing yards per carry last season with 3.8. New head coach Jim Harbaugh has made it a point of emphasis that the team will run the ball more effectively in 2024. 

"We gotta get better in the run game," Harbaugh said last month. 

The Chargers got better in the run game via free agency at the start of the legal tampering period on Monday. Per multiple reports, former Baltimore Ravens running back Gus Edwards has agreed to a two-year deal with the Chargers. 

Edwards, 28, is a bruising back who can run between the tackles and has averaged an impressive 4.9 yards per carry throughout his career. The fit is ideal, too. Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman was Edwards' OC at the Ravens from 2019-22. 

Harbaugh knows the Chargers offense needs to become more balanced so quarterback Justin Herbert "doesn't have to be Superman every single play." Adding Edwards, who had a career year in 2023 with 810 yards rusing and 13 rushing scores, will bring needed balance to the Chargers. 

"Can you imagine Justin Herbert with a great running game?" Greg Roman said last month, per ESPN. "We don't know, but I can imagine what it might look like. That's kind of the vision."

Harbaugh, who won a national championship with the Michigan Wolverines in January, has been known for physical offenses that establish the run. He's bringing that same mentality with him to Los Angeles. 

"The Chargers are telling us they want to run the ball better," ESPN analyst Mina Kimes said on Monday. "I'm not saying they want to run the ball more or to excess, but better. This has been an issue with this team for a couple years now. When you look at what Baltimore has done in the run game under Roman and then now with the power run game, I expect to see a lot of continuity between that and what we see in LA next year."

At Harbaugh's introductory news conference, he told the media that the Chargers will earn respect by "winning as a tough team, a resilient team, a relentless team, a physical team." Adding Edwards to the equation was the first glimpse into Harbaugh's vision of what should be a much improved Chargers team next season.