Chargers 90-in-90: RB Darius Bradwell

The former “F-150” under Anthony Lynn will need to find another way to impress his new head coach in 2021.

The Tallahassee, Florida native prepped at Godby High School where he enjoyed a very productive career. As a senior in 2015, Bradwell tallied over 2,300 yards (1,213 rushing/1,097 passing) and 27 total touchdowns. He was named to the All-Big Bend First Team and earned honorable mention All State honors as quarterback. Bradwell was named a three-star recruit by Scout.com and a two-star prospect by ESPN and Rivals.

Bradwell didn’t redshirt at Tulane but made the transition to running back and played sparingly as a freshman. In three games, he rushed for just 33 yards on 11 carries. He found a groove as a sophomore when he collected 66 carries and turned it into 411 yards and four touchdowns. His 6.22 yards per carry stood as his career-high throughout his final two years.

As a junior, Bradwell broke out. On 201 carries, he rushed for 1,174 yards with 14 scores. He did this while only starting four games out of 11 total played. As a senior, Bradwell was overshadowed by quarterback Justin McMillan who led the the team in all rushing categories in 2019. Bradwell finished second on the team in carries, third in rushing yards, but just fifth in touchdowns with two but it should be noted that he missed three games in the month of December.

After going undrafted, Bradwell signed with the Chargers as part of their 19-player group of UDFAs in 2020. He saw time on the active roster in week two and three but recorded zero statistics. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 5, 2021.

Basic Info

Height: 6’0
Weight: 235
College: Tulane
Experience: 1
Years with team: 1

Contract Status

“Darius Bradwell signed a 2 year, $1,485,000 contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, including an average annual salary of $742,500. In 2021, Bradwell will earn a base salary of $660,000, while carrying a cap hit of $660,000.” – Spotrac.com

The Good

Bradwell is by far the biggest running back on the roster and usually that means there’s a place for you in short-yardage situations. Fortunately for him, he plays like like he knows how big he is. I note this because there’s plenty of backs who are 220+ pounds that like to dance too much behind or at the line of scrimmage.

The Bad

Bradwell infamously showed up to his rookie mini camp 15-20 pounds over his playing weight. This put him into a pseudo-dog house with the old staff and he needed to add extra conditioning to his schedule in order to drop the weight before training camp was over. This incident surely put a red flag into the minds of the coaches and if the new staff finds out about it, as well, that could create another obstacle for Bradwell to conquer in his NFL journey.

Odds of making the roster/What to expect in 2020?

With the Chargers selecting another running back in the 2021 draft, Bradwell’ss chances of sticking around took another notable shot. He was safely left as the practice squad back last season but with Larry Rountree now in the mix, whoever doesn’t stick on the roster between him and Joshua Kelley will likely take the lone spot on the PS ahead of Bradwell. I just don’t see the team keeping four running backs AND Gabe Nabers at fullback. This will be a position to keep an eye on later this summer.