Chargers sign TE Stephen Anderson to their practice squad, EDGE Justin Hollins to active roster

Justin Hollins has been signed to fill in for Chris Rumph, while a familiar face marks one of the more exciting practice squad signings you’ll see

The Chargers announced that they signed EDGE Justin Hollins to the active roster, as well as tight end Stephen Anderson to their practice squad, and I can’t think of a practice squad signing more deserving of praise.

Anderson was signed to the Chargers’ practice squad in 2019, only ascending to the active roster for one game but was signed to a futures contract on December 30th, 2019. He returned in 2020 and appeared in all 16 games, logging a few starts but mainly filling a reserve tight end role and special teams contributor. In 2021, he played all 17 games in that same reserve/special teams role, but Anderson’s impact as a reliable depth piece can’t be understated.

After the Chargers elected to not address the tight end need in the 2023 offseason, I took to Twitter/X to propose signing Anderson as a depth option. With it, I provided some brief highlights of Anderson and his under-the-radar contributions to the Chargers.

I was thrilled to see that Stephen Anderson saw the post, and gave it a “like,” so I followed up with a reply and more Anderson highlights.

On top of being a solid run blocker, Anderson had some after-the-catch wiggle. While he had some drops in 2022 with the Cardinals, and five drops in 66 targets with the 2016 and 2017 Texans, he didn’t drop any of his 29 targets with the Bolts. He caught an impressive 24 of them, 16 of which were first downs.

This kind of lead blocking should get Anderson on the active roster as soon as he conditioning is up to par.

Justin Hollins will also be filling a significant role on this team, as Chris Rumph was placed on the IR and the Chargers need a fourth EDGE to round out the active roster. Hollins was a rotiation EDGE for Staley’s defense in 2020, managing four sacks in a rotational role and an impressive 11.1% missed tackle rate. Hollins has bounced between Green Bay, LA, and Denver’s active roster since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. It shouldn’t take any time for Hollins to adjust to his old head coach’s scheme.

What do you think of these signings, BFTB?