Alexander: Ex-Chargers convinced Barner this was the place to be

SAN DIEGO — Yeah, NFL players talk.

They share their knowledge of organizations and situations, of coaches and stars and environments. Even though they compete — for playing time, for money, for that big silver football on a pedestal that they award at the end of the season — there’s a sense they’re all in this together.

So it figured that as Kenjon Barner’s contract was running out in Philadelphia last season, some teammates provided guidance on where he should go to continue his career.

It’s not the sole reason Barner is now a Charger, within driving distance of his family in Moreno Valley, after signing a one-year deal at the end of March. But those conversations played a large part.

“The most important thing was Philip,” Barner said the other day. That’s quarterback Philip Rivers, the face of the franchise as it prepares to relocate to Los Angeles.

“Watching him from a distance, knowing the type of quarterback he is, talking to Darren Sproles, talking to Ryan Mathews about him, I felt like I knew enough that this was the place to come.”

Sproles and Mathews would be in a position to know. Sproles played six seasons in San Diego, the last five coinciding with Rivers’ first five as the starting quarterback, and gained more than 9,900 all-purpose yards as a rusher/receiver/returner.

Mathews was San Diego’s first-round draft choice in 2010 out of Fresno State and was immediately anointed as LaDainian Tomlinson’s successor. The native of Riverside couldn’t replace LT — no one could, consider Tomlinson will be going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this July — but Mathews gained just over 4,000 yards as the Chargers’ featured back, between injuries, through 2014 before signing with the Eagles.

What did they say about playing with Rivers?

They talked “about the type of leader he is,” Barner said. “He’s an alpha male. He’s always going to put you in position to make a play. He’s gonna give his life for you on that field.

“Sproles said it was … about being in the passing game, knowing that he’s always looking for you when things get rough. (And they talked about) just the kind of guy he is, as a man off the field, so that was enough for me.”

How Barner will fit into Los Angeles’ scheme remains to be seen.

The competition for touches behind Melvin Gordon is crowded. Branden Oliver, who started seven games as a rookie in 2014, is back after missing all last season with an Achilles injury suffered while warming up for a pre-season game in Minnesota last August. Kenneth Farrow, an undrafted free agent last year who played in 13 games and started twice, is also in the mix.

Danny Woodhead, who expanded on the hybrid runner/receiver role once held by Sproles, is now a Baltimore Raven, so there will be additional opportunities available in Ken Whisenhunt’s offense.

“It’s not just Melvin and Branden,” head coach Anthony Lynn said last week. “We’re competing still.”

Barner, who has yet to start a game in three NFL seasons after a stellar career at Oregon, has career averages of 4.3 yards per carry (in just 61 tries) and 4.4 yards per catch (in 16 catches). He had 27 carries for 129 yards with two touchdowns, and 5 catches for 42 yards in 13 games last season playing behind Mathews, Sproles and Wendell Smallwood. A hamstring injury put him on IR after Week 15.

He can also return punts and kickoffs, and that may be where the Chargers wind up needing him the most. Barner returned just two punts for the Eagles last year, since Sproles handled the bulk of that duty, but one was a 22-yard return. And his nine kickoff returns included runs of 61 yards against Cincinnati and 52 against Atlanta.

Given that San Diego was 27th and 32nd in the league in punt returns the last two years, and 23rd and 21st in kickoff returns, this could be his best chance to make an impact.

“He has excellent vision, and that comes from being a running back,” said special teams coach and associate head coach George Stewart. “His coaches have done a great job with teaching him that, and some of it is God-given.

“He has excellent playing strength … the ability to break tackles, to step through trash in the holes. He’s done that, again, because of running back experience. He’s a young man that has great anticipation. He can see things and can anticipate and cut against the grain and make plays for us.”

Barner is working on the assumption that he’ll be in the mix both ways.

“In my eyes there’s always an opportunity, whether there (really) is or not,” he said. “That’s the way I approach the game: go out, work hard. First thing, I’ve got to get healthy, and then go out and do what I can do.

“It’s adding value to yourself, man. If you’re just a one-dimensional guy, where all you can do is run the ball, or all you can do is return, there’s another guy who can do more. So my job is to go out there and show them everything I can do at every position they put me in, whether it’s catching the ball out of the backfield, catching the ball at receiver, running the ball, returning the ball, whatever it is.”

That was one hard lesson he has learned about the NFL, in a career where he went from 1,767 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns his senior year at Oregon to getting cut and being relegated to an NFL practice squad just two years later. It is a business, with no guarantees, and you have to work harder just to keep up.

“I’m a completely different player than I was four years ago, five years ago, six years ago,” he said, ticking off some of the ways: “Learning how to read blocks, be patient, understanding blocking schemes, understanding where a play is designed to go and what could possibly happen.”

There is also this: It is maybe an hour and 20 minutes from either San Diego (where the Chargers are still based until the end of minicamp next month) or Costa Mesa (the site of their new training facility) to Moreno Valley.

When he first got back to Southern California after signing with the Chargers, he said, he visited his family every day. Now, even as his professional responsibilities increase with the start of OTAs, he says he returns home at least every other day.

“I feel different when I’m here,” he said. “I’ve got a little more pep in my step when I’m home.”

There’s evidence. As a collegian he played twice in L.A. Against UCLA at the Rose Bowl as a freshman, he had four carries for 50 yards and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. As a senior, against USC at the Coliseum, he gained a school record 321 yards on 38 carries and scored five touchdowns in a 62-51 Oregon victory.

So if being back in SoCal truly helps, this could be a great move for all concerned.

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