Notable Players- Justin Herbert, Easton Stick, Max Duggan

Herbert has been an elite fantasy option right out of the gate. Last year was his worst season for fantasy where he still finished as the QB11 on the season and QB15 in ppg. His rookie year he finished as the QB9 and QB7 in point per game and last year finished as the QB2 and QB2 in points per game. At the age of 25, Herbert has solidified himself as a top 6 dynasty asset and should have a “bounce back year” if you can call it that.

Easton Stick and seventh round rookie, Max Duggan, are purely backups in this quarterback room.

Notable Players- Austin Ekeler, Isaiah Spiller, Joshua Kelley

Austin Ekeler is a fantasy stud that thrives as a receiver. In his 3 highest scoring seasons, he received over 90 targets, two of those seasons going over 90 receptions. In 2019, he was basically a wide receiver out of the backfield with 108 targets, 92 receptions and an absurd 993 receiving yards and 8 receiving touchdowns. With 3 top 5 fantasy finishes under his belt, he’s got a great chance to do it again this year. But keep in mind, Ekeler is a tad undersized at the position and is enter his age 28 season which is old for running backs. Great Dynasty target for contenders and should be a great fantasy option again this year.

What will be interesting is who Ekeler’s backup is. The Chargers have to want someone to step up to take carries away from Ekeler to help preserve him for the playoffs, and we’ve seen the Chargers have a dynamic duo with Ekeler and Gordon in the past. At his current ADP, I love taking a flier on Isaiah Spiller, the fourth round rookie just last year. At just 21 still, Spiller has some upside that he showed while at Texas A&M that may have just taken him some time to adjust to the big leagues. And we’ve seen Joshua Kelley and what he is over the past 3 seasons and that’s a role player out of this backfield at most.

Notable Players- Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Quentin Johnston, Joshua Palmer

Keenan Allen is another aging vet and leader on this team that has remained a high tier fantasy performer when on the field. He started his career off rocky with injuries, but then went nearly 5 straight years as a fantasy WR1 (WR14 in 2020). That was until last season where he only played 10 games, but was still WR14 in points per game. He’s a solid redraft option that offers upside, and a decent enough target for Dynasty contenders as he enters his age 31 season.

Mike Williams has been up and down his career thus far and has also battled some injuries as he will be turning 29 during the season this year. This offense looks like it needs it’s long term replacement for both of these players as both Williams and Allen’s contracts are backloaded and both could be cap casualties following this season without restructures. 

Quentin Johnston could be just that guy as he will get work this year in three wide sets and has the potential to be the heir apparent that is locked in with a young and elite quarterback in Justin Herbert. Even though he is talented and a first round wide receiver, he’s still going to most likely be the third target in this offense behind the two vets mentioned previously. For Redraft, he might be a wait and see type of player or a late round flier, but he has a lot of upside in Dynasty leagues. But that upside comes with a floor as he had some clear holes in his game coming out of college that need to be addressed. With all that said, that relegates Palmer to the WR4 in this offense and marginal work without injury in front of him.

Notable Players- Gerald Everett, Donald Parham, Tre McKitty

Gerald Everett finished last season as the TE13 in overall scoring and points per game. He’s once again facing target competition from Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, but this year he’ll also be competing with Quentin Johnston for the third target in this offense. He remains to be a bye week fill-in/depth piece at the tight end position because of the shallow nature of the position as a whole. But there is limited upside and even less value and upside with Parham and McKitty behind him.