Austin Ekeler has ascended from a passed over rookie into a crucial cog for the Los Angeles Chargers’ playoff push. In his fifth N.F.L. season, a healthy Ekeler is on pace to put up career-high rushing numbers, ranking fifth in the league in yards from scrimmage (1,181) and second in touchdowns scored (15).

In 2017, teams bypassed him in the draft to select his now highly paid peers — Carolina took Christian McCaffrey in the first round, Minnesota grabbed Dalvin Cook in the second and New Orleans picked up Alvin Kamara in the third.

Ekeler signed with the Chargers that year as an undrafted free agent and was elevated to a full-time starter in 2020, when a hamstring injury cut his season short. This season, his availability and production have elevated his status among fantasy football team managers, a community that Ekeler, an avid gamer, cherishes.

He plays in three leagues and is a co-host on a weekly fantasy sports show on Yahoo! Sports. He had also been broadcasting his marathon video game sessions on the platform Twitch before devoting his time to developing his own streaming app.

In a phone interview last week, Ekeler discussed his love for fantasy, the fan comments he will and won’t engage with, and the work he does with coaches to stay on the field.

You missed six games last season with a hamstring injury, but have been healthy this year. What changed?

I think I’ve done a good job of expressing to my coaches like, “Look, you can’t use me and pound me into the ground. That’s not my body type.” And they’ve been very receptive to that and understanding. We’ve had a chemistry built up with the new coaching staff, and it’s showing that, “Hey, how do we moderate Austin’s playing time, but also maximizing so we can get throughout the entire season?”

It seems as if you go out of your way to connect with fans and be accessible to them. Why?

For me, I’m just so thankful because of where I’ve come from and how long my journey has been and where it’s gone. It’s the fans who I owe for giving me this platform. I think people lose sight of that because they come into this with a platform already built and are kind of just like, “Oh yeah, we’re supposed to have this,” but it’s not really like that. They come in and people feel entitled to get into the N.F.L. Sure, you’ve earned a lot to be here, but it wouldn’t even exist if we didn’t have people in the stands watching us play.

What about fantasy football is so exciting to you?

The fact that other people care about it so much, that’s what gets me fired up. People aren’t even fans of the Chargers, but they’re fans of Austin Ekeler because I’m on their fantasy football team.

When people are in the stands, that’s great. But they don’t see my face. They see No. 30 and go, “Oh, that’s Austin Ekeler.” That’s awesome, but with fantasy, they understand and they see my face on their team every single week. In public, I get recognized more by, “You’re on my fantasy team” than I do, “You play for the Chargers.”

You’re in the top five in fantasy points for running backs in nearly every league I checked. Is that what you expected?

There’s so many factors that go into that, like injuries to other guys, X, Y, Z. But what I do know, and what I guarantee all of my owners out there is that, look, when I’m on the field, the only thing on my mind is being efficient. That’s what’s got me in this league, and that’s what’s going to keep me in this league as long as I can continue to be efficient.

Do I feel like I’m playing well? I do, and I’ve had ups and downs, for sure. But that ranking indicates that I’m playing well and that I deserve to be somewhere around there.

When players get hurt, does it annoy you that a lot of people instantly think about the fantasy aspect rather than the well-being of the player?

No, because it goes back to the value thing. If you don’t add value to their team, they’re going to move on. There’s more supporters than haters. It’s a different dynamic, but it’s one of those where if you don’t understand fantasy football, you could see it and think, “Wow, that’s toxic.”

How do you handle comments from fans who reach out to you on social media?

I like that people are out here like, “Hey, you played great for me,” or “Hey, I need you to play better.” If I needed to play better, I agree — maybe I didn’t play very well. It’s just the toxic people that I really don’t give any attention to.

But if you have constructive criticism, I’ll take it. If you’re like, “Man, I need you to run the ball a little bit better this week,” that’s a great comment. That’s a nontoxic comment, like, “I care about you. I need you to produce.”

What about streaming Twitch and connecting with fans that way is exciting to you?

I used to put hours in, like three or four hours in a week of streaming. I just miss the interaction of learning about people, meeting new people. I used to have little sit-down chats and people would be like, “Hey, I’m in high school, this is my situation,” and we would just talk. I love hearing about what people have going on and helping them try to navigate their situation just by using experiences that I’ve had in my life and kind of giving some shine back and connecting in that way.