Thursday's starter vs. starter drills at Chargers camp found second-year WR Quentin Johnston working with the second team, according to The Athletic's Daniel Popper. The first-team trio: Ladd McConkey, D.J. Chark, and Joshua Palmer.
Daniel Popper of The Athletic says he's concerned about the Chargers having enough talent at WR. That's not a surprising worry, given that the team shed Keenan Allen and Mike Williams this offseason, while adding only second-round pick Ladd McConkey and low-level free-agent D.J. Chark Jr. So who will lead the group? "Joshua Palmer is a complete receiver poised for a career season at the top of the depth chart," Popper wrote this week. That's most noteworthy because Palmer (WR53) sits well behind McConkey (WR42) in best ball ADP.
Chargers second-round rookie WR Ladd McConkey is reportedly meshing well with QB Justin Herbert in team workouts so far. Daniel Popper of The Athletic says McConkey has played "mostly in the slot." That probably lines up with most fans' expectations but doesn't align with his college usage. McConkey spent just 29.6% of his pass snaps in the slot across three seasons at Georgia, decreasing that rate each year.
New Chargers GM Joe Hortiz talked up WR Quentin Johnston in a recent interview with Kay Adams. "When he was coming out of college, he was an elite size/speed athlete. And you saw some rawness to his game," Hortiz said. "But as big as he is, 6'3, you watch him drop his weight, getting in and out of breaks, come to balance at the top of the route, get out quickly. He can do some rare things for a player his size. ... He's a great kid, he's a great worker. Everyone here has a high opinion of him. I believe he's really gonna launch. I really do. His skillset is great, we're gonna work with him, make him better and better."
The Chargers and WR D.J. Chark agreed to a one-year deal worth “up to” $5 million," according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Chark went for 1,008 yards back in 2019 but hasn't really been fantasy relevant since. He's missed 39 games over the last four seasons and averaged 48.6 yards per game. Chark finished a distant second to WR Adam Thielen with 525 receiving yards on a bad Panthers passing game last year. His 1.08 yards per route ranked 75th among 93 qualifying WRs. Chark isn't a guy you should be excited to bet on, although this is a solid landing spot with QB Justin Herbert and a wide-open WR corps. Chark, Ladd McConkey, Josh Palmer, and Quentin Johnston will duke it out for snaps this summer.
The Chargers traded up in Round 2 of the NFL Draft to select Georgia WR Ladd McConkey 34th overall. McConkey’s raw college production doesn’t jump off the page. He never reached 60 catches or 800 yards in a season. But he played in a run-leaning Georgia offense and had to battle TE Brock Bowers (among others) for targets. McConkey was super efficient, leaving school with career 75.3% catch rate and 2.54 yards per route. His career-best 3.26 yards per route last year ranked eighth among 409 WRs with 35+ targets. McConkey is devastatingly quick and a polished route runner, making him one of the best separators in this WR class. And he’s a weapon after the catch, with a career 0.25 missed tackles forced per catch – a better rate than guys like Marvin Harrison Jr. and Rome Odunze. McConkey boosted his stock at the Combine with a 4.39-second 40 time and 9.34 Relative Athletic Score. The 6’0, 186-pounder can play both outside and in the slot. He might not big a big-play producer or high-TD-rate receiver at the next level, but McConkey has the potential to rack up a bunch of receptions. Going to the Chargers presents immediate opportunity. The WR corps shed Mike Williams and Keenan Allen this offseason, leaving Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston as the top returning players. The landing spot helps McConkey's fantasy outlook. Check out our rookie rankings to see where he lands.
The Chargers are trading WR Keenan Allen to the Bears for a fourth-round pick. That low price clearly comes because of Allen's contract. He carries a $34.7 million cap number, according to Over The Cap. Of course, we don't care about that for fantasy. Allen remained highly productive last season, finishing third among WRs in PPR points per game -- before missing the final four contests. He'll compete with D.J. Moore for the target lead in Chicago, where we're all awaiting confirmation that Caleb Williams will take over at QB. Whoever pilots the Bears offense will have a nice crew of pass-catchers, including new RB D'Andre Swift. Allen's ceiling comes down with the target competition and offense that's almost certain to be less pass-leaning than the Chargers of the past few years. Moore also takes hits to both his floor and ceiling. L.A., meanwhile, has to be a strong candidate to draft a WR fifth overall after dumping both Allen and Mike Williams. Josh Palmer is the top incumbent and looks like a better bet to seize opportunity than Quentin Johnston, who stunk as a 2023 rookie. We'll see how the situation sorts out, but losing Allen obviously hurts QB Justin Herbert. And it further fuels the expectation that the offense will lean much more toward the run under HC Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman. That obviously hurts Herbert's 2024 fantasy outlook. We still believe in the QB's talent, though. So it might be a good time to check Herbert's trade price in dynasty. The whole market has already been down on him this offseason. Check our dynasty rankings to see how these moves affect the players involved.
The Chargers are releasing WR Mike Williams, according to multiple reports. It makes sense. Dumping Williams saves the team $20 million against the 2024 salary cap, which they sat about $25 million over before this move. It doesn't help Williams that he's coming off a September ACL tear. That could delay his signing with a new team -- or perhaps lead the 29-year-old to take a one-year "prove it" deal somewhere. We'll be watching the next step for Williams, who has scored on 10% of his career receptions and regularly ranked among league leaders in end-zone targets. The Chargers now sport Keenan Allen, Josh Palmer, and Quentin Johnston as their top three WRs, in an offense that figures to run the ball quite a bit more than it has since 2013. Those Chargers ran on 45.8% of offensive plays. The 10 versions since have reached 40% in run rate just twice and never exceeded 42.2%. Check our WR rankings for updates on Williams and the rest of the affected wideouts.
New Chargers OC Greg Roman told reporters recently that he wants a "balanced" offense. "We want to be able to run it when we want to run it and throw it when we want to throw it," Roman added. "If they present looks that are favorable to run it, then we want to be able to run it at a high level. Every place I’ve been, that’s kind of been the goal, to try to have that complete attack." That jibes with HC John Harbaugh saying at his introductory press conference that he wants to "beef up the run game." Both Harbaugh and Roman have extensive histories of run-leaning offenses. That'd be a big shift for the Chargers, who ranked top-5 in pass attempts in each of QB Justin Herbert's first four seasons. It wouldn't make sense for Roman to deploy a super run-heavy offense with a QB as talented as Herbert. But we're certainly expecting the Chargers to throw less this coming season than they have the last four. Herbert and his pass catchers will need to make up for the loss in volume with improved efficiency.
Chargers first-round rookie WR Quentin Johnston delivered one more garbage outing in Sunday's loss to the Chiefs. He managed just 2 receptions for 17 yards on 5 targets. That tied him for fourth among Chargers. He trailed WR Josh Palmer (10), RB Austin Ekeler (8), and TE Donald Parham (6) while tying the immortal Alex Erickson. Johnston finishes his debut season with just 36 receptions, 414 yards, and 2 TDs. He entered Sunday ranked 99th among WRs in PPR points per game. Johnston also sat just 22nd among 37 rookie WRs in yards per route, according to Pro Football Focus. He's not necessarily doomed as a fantasy prospect. But this rookie season has been bad enough to remove any optimism. We wouldn't drop Johnston from typical dynasty rosters. But you also shouldn't consider him a buy-low this offseason. If you have him and others come shopping, think about letting the potential bust go.
Chargers WRs Keenan Allen (heel) and Josh Palmer (concussion) are out for Sunday’s game vs. the Broncos. That leaves Los Angeles with WRs Quentin Johnston, Jalen Guyton, Alex Erickson, and Derius Davis. None is a recommended Week 17 fantasy starter. RB Austin Ekeler and TE Gerald Everett could see more targets with Allen and Palmer out.
Chargers WR Keenan Allen (heel) did not practice on Wednesday. We'll keep tabs on his status over the next few days, but fantasy owners should not be banking on Allen playing vs. the Broncos this weekend. WR Josh Palmer (concussion) also missed Wednesday's practice and is in danger of missing Sunday's game. The Chargers could be down to WRs Quentin Johnston, Jalen Guyton, Alex Erickson, and Derius Davis.
On Friday, multiple reports indicated that the Chargers have parted ways with HC Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco. This news doesn't come as much of a surprise following the team's 63-21 collapse vs. the Raiders on Thursday night. Across nearly three full seasons on the job, Staley finished with a 24-24 record and appeared in just one playoff game. Who will take over as the interim coach is not known as of the time of this writing. Stay tuned for further updates.
Update: The Chargers have named Giff Smith interim HC and JoJo Wooden as interim GM, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Smith has been the team's outside LBs coach the past two years and was an NFL defensive line coach for 11 seasons before that. It looks like OC Kellen Moore will remain with the Chargers at least for the rest of this season.
The Chargers ruled out WR Keenan Allen (heel) for Week 15. This marks his first missed game since last season. In his place, the Chargers will rely on Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston at WR. It’s an ugly spot for fill-in QB Easton Stick and the entire offense, especially for a divisional road game on a short week. We’d try to avoid using anyone not named Austin Ekeler in the L.A. offense. As of this writing, the team is implied for only 16 points.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert will miss the rest of the season after fracturing the index finger in his right (throwing) hand, according to multiple reports. That leaves fifth-year QB Easton Stick to pilot the offense over the final four games. Stick has been with the Chargers since they drafted him in Round 5 back in 2019, but he had attempted just one regular season pass before Sunday. Stick went a forgettable 13 of 24 passing for 179 yards after taking over against the Broncos, throwing no TDs or INTs but fumbling twice (losing one). His 2023 preseason also proved unimpressive, including a 60.3% completion rate, 5.2 yards per pass attempt, 1 TD, 2 INTs, and a 9.0% sack rate. The QB situation obviously downgrades everyone on the Chargers' offense. WR Keenan Allen should remain usable. Stick targeted Allen on 37.5% of his attempts against Denver. He threw another 20.8% toward RB Austin Ekeler, the only other Chargers offensive piece you should still consider using. WRs Quentin Johnston and Joshua Palmer and TE Gerald Everett look droppable for other options. Herbert should have plenty of time to recover ahead of the 2024 season.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert fractured his right index finger in Sunday's loss to the Broncos, HC Brandon Staley said afterward. "Given where we are in the season, a fracture could mean his season is over," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted. We should get more details on Herbert's status on Monday, but the 5-8 Chargers have no reason to rush Herbert back. QB Easton Stick will take over for however long Herbert is out. The 2019 fifth-round pick had one regular-season pass attempt before going 13-of-24 for 179 yards in relief of Herbert today. Stick is obviously a significant downgrade for this Chargers offense.
Chargers WR Josh Palmer (knee) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Broncos. He returned to practice this week but isn’t quite ready for game action. We’ll see if Palmer can make it back for Thursday night’s game vs. the Raiders. Quentin Johnston and Jalen Guyton will again serve as Los Angeles’ No. 2 and 3 WRs this weekend.
The Chargers are designating WR Joshua Palmer to return from IR, opening his 21-day practice window. HC Brandon Staley just last week described Palmer's situation by saying "there's still a possibility" that he'd return from IR, according to The Athletic's Daniel Popper. That suggests we can't assume Palmer will be ready to return from his knee injury and play in Week 14. And it'll be tough to throw him into fantasy lineups right away, unless we get word from Chargers coaches that he's all the way back. Still, we have mentioned Palmer in our waiver wire article each of the past two weeks on this chance of return. If he does make it back to full participation, we'd bet on Palmer re-emerging as the No. 2 wideout in an offense that needs him. Stash Palmer early if you can ... if that makes sense for your roster, of course.
Chargers WR Jalen Guyton (groin) is "likely" to play vs. the Ravens tonight, "barring any pre-game setbacks," according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Guyton was limited in practice all week after the Packers loss. The last time we saw Guyton in Week 10, he played 79% of the Chargers' offensive snaps and ranked third on the team with six targets. Guyton figures to step back into a prominent role as long as that groin isn't an issue, but he'd be a desperation season-long fantasy play. Guyton's return is a ding to WR Quentin Johnston's fantasy value.
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