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Projecting Los Angeles Chargers skill position depth chart and fantasy impact

The Chargers and rookie second-year QB Justin Herbert hope to take a step forward in 2021.

By Chet Gresham
Quarterback Justin Herbert #10 of the Los Angeles Chargers celebrates his touchdown pass with wide receiver Keenan Allen #13 against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter at SoFi Stadium on September 20, 2020 in Inglewood, California. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Chargers are ahead of schedule in their post-Philip Rivers era, as their first round draft pick Justin Herbert played above expectations in 2020. Herbert won the Rookie of the Year award as the Chargers ended up going 7-9. They won their last four games and played close games against the Buccaneers and Chiefs. Improving on those seven wins appears to be in the cards in 2021.

Quarterback

  1. Justin Herbert
  2. Chase Daniel
  3. Easton Stick

Running back

  1. Austin Ekeler
  2. Justin Jackson
  3. Joshua Kelley
  4. Larry Rountree III

Wide receiver

  1. Keenan Allen
  2. Mike Williams
  3. Jalen Guyton
  4. Tyron Johnson
  5. Josh Palmer
  6. Joe Reed
  7. K.J. Hill

Tight end

  1. Jared Cook
  2. Tre’ McKitty
  3. Donald Parham Jr.
  4. Stephen Anderson

Biggest offseason changes

The biggest loss at the offensive skill positions this offseason was tight end Hunter Henry, who went to the Patriots in free agency. The Chargers ended up replacing him with Jared Cook. Otherwise, the offense is intact from 2020 with Herbert, Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams as the top offensive weapons. They also added offensive line help with Corey Linsley at center and rookie Rashawn Slater at left tackle.

Biggest questions for fantasy football

We can feel fairly certain that Allen will continue to be heavily targeted by Herbert in 2021 as the WR1. At running back, Ekeler missed seven games last season and they hope he can stay healthy this year. They added Larry Rountree in the draft, but Justin Jackson and Josh Kelley still appear to have the inside track as Ekeler’s backup. Neither ran away with the job last season, so it would again be difficult to choose between the two if Ekeler were to go down.

Jalen Guyton is a name that you’ll likely see in fantasy articles this season. He and Herbert made a good connection with the deep ball last year and they’ll hope to expand on that this year. He caught just 28 passes, but turned those into 511 yards and three touchdowns. Guyton could hurt Mike Williams’ upside if they expand on that connection.

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