Austin Ekeler was the highest-graded running back in Week 2

Against the Cincinnati Bengals, Austin Ekeler led the Chargers in rushing with 85 yards on 19 carries. In that matchup, he only received a handful of targets, catching one for meager three yards.

However, the Bolts offense, with rookie Justin Herbert at the helm, flipped the script on offense on Sunday. Ekeler caught all four of his targets against the Chiefs for 55 receiving yards, on top of toting the rock 16 times for a team-high 93 yards on the ground. He broke a number of initial tackle attempts en route to a ton of extra yards and finally looked like the Ekeler that earned his recent four-year extension to keep him as the Chargers’ RB1.

It wasn’t just the fan base that was impressed by Ek’s latest outing, though. Pro Football Focus, who has long had a bit of a crush on the former UDFA, graded Ekeler as the best running back across the entire slate of Week 2 games in the NFL. With a 90.2 overall grade, he was also the only ball-carrier to earn an elite grade (90.0+).

Ekeler is potentially primed for another strong outing this week against a Panthers defense that has allowed at least 30 points in each of their first two games. That’s not all that surprising when you realize Carolina has the youngest defense in the entire NFL this year and the youngest to take a field in the last 10 years.

Whatever the prop bets are for Ekeler this week, you’re probably safe to take the over.