Gadsden, Patrick Herbert, Rucci: That's the Tight End Depth Chart Now

The Chargers' tight end room bottomed out fast. Njoku went to IR with a knee injury in Week 2. Kolar followed him two days later. Hayden Rucci was signed off the street on September 23rd as the emergency response. And now the depth chart reads Oronde Gadsden, Patrick Herbert — the quarterback's younger brother — and Rucci, in that order.

Patrick Herbert's debut was always going to be a curiosity. A sibling story, a feel-good footnote. Instead it arrived as a symptom. The Chargers signed him this offseason as a roster flier, and he's now the No. 2 tight end on an NFL team because the two players brought in ahead of him are both watching from injured reserve.

This is the same organizational pattern that's been running since August — Biadasz's ACL, Slater's extended absence, McConkey's ribs, now the entire tight end room gone in a week. The front office has been reactive at every turn, adding bodies after the damage is done. Rucci is the latest patch. Patrick Herbert is the latest reminder of how thin this thing was built.

Justin Herbert has thrown for nearly 3,900 yards and 26 touchdowns behind this roster. That's the floor holding. The ceiling, right now, is whatever Gadsden and a pair of developmental tight ends can give him.