The L.A. Chargers dropped a nuclear bomb on the rest of the NFL, hiring Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and drastically reforming their offense. They’ve jettisoned OC Kellen Moore, WRs Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, RB Austin Ekeler, and TE Gerald Everett. They’ve brought in some weapons to replace them, but it’s clear that the plan is to grind out games and hopefully take that to the playoffs. We’ve seen the Harbaugh show before, but not with an offense so universally bereft of weaponry. Can Justin Herbert and the strong offensive line be the rising tide that lifts the boats of the rest of the offense? Time will tell, but let’s take a look at their rookies for the 2024 NFL fantasy football season.
FULL 2024 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS DRAFT RESULTS
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 5 | Joe Alt | OT | Notre Dame |
| 2 | 34 | Ladd McConkey | WR | Georgia |
| 3 | 69 | Junior Colson | LB | Michigan |
| 4 | 105 | Justin Eboigbe | DT | Alabama |
| 5 | 137 | Tarheeb Still | CB | Maryland |
| 5 | 140 | Cam Hart | CB | Notre Dame |
| 6 | 181 | Kimani Vidal | RB | Troy |
| 7 | 225 | Brenden Rice | WR | USC |
| 7 | 253 | Cornelius Johnson | WR | Michigan |
Round 2, Pick 34 Overall: Ladd McConkey, Wide Receiver, Georgia (6’0” 186 lbs)
Talent:
To be brutally honest with you, I truly do not understand why fantasy football (X, formerly Twitter) sees in McConkey. Everyone gets all hot and bothered whenever you bring up Badd McHonkey’s name, but I truly do not see what anyone sees in him. He’s a classic slot receiver who isn’t particularly fast on tape, though he does find ways to get open thanks to crisp route running. Unfortunately, once he has the ball (if he gets the ball), he doesn’t really do much with it. If he makes it as a team’s slot receiver, then he will have a good amount of PPR appeal on volume alone, but if someone tries to make him their WR1, opposing defenses will eat him alive. He’s not particularly great at any one thing (except short area quickness) and nothing stands out on tape that excites me.
NFL Comparison: Elijah Moore
2024 Opportunity:
To put it bluntly: there isn’t anyone else in Los Angeles who will take targets away from McConkey in his rookie year. Joshua Palmer is a very good WR3 to a decent WR2, but he doesn’t challenge anyone. Quentin Johnston is a bust, and they also have… DJ Chark. It’s a mess in the receiving room, and McConkey is extremely likely to lead the team in targets.
But, of what use is leading the team in targets? Jim Harbaugh built his team around running the football, just like he did the last time he was in the NFL, with the 49ers. Michael Crabtree or Anquan Boldin led the team in receiving in three of the four years when Harbaugh was with San Francisco. In three of the four seasons, the team leader had between 127 and 130 targets or about 8 targets per game over three seasons. That feels like a good range for McConkey, which immediately makes him a relevant player for opportunity alone.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Ladd McConkey isn’t going to blow anyone away with this target volume, but you can’t sneeze at 8 targets per game. That alone should make him fantasy viable in all PPR leagues, and he should be universally drafted. As of right now, he is WR46 off of the board and picked 103 overall. This is a decent value and one that he is certain to beat. Unfortunately, he is more of a fantasy football glue guy than anything else. He would need a lot more targets to finish higher than WR25, but he is unlikely to finish below WR40. He makes for a nice bench filler piece.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY OUTLOOK:
Round 6, Pick 181 Overall: Kimani Vidal, Running Back, Troy (5’8” 213 lbs)
Talent:
Vidal is one of a million guys who have UDFA grades on them who have impressive college numbers simply because their offense seemingly did not have a second running back. Vidal is a proficient pass blocker, though he doesn’t attack rushers, which means meeting Talanoa Hufanga on his terms at the NFL level, which won’t work out that well. He’s a small, tough, hard-nosed guy that will blossom into being a team’s kick and punt returner, and fourth running back on the roster. He likely won’t have a bigger role than that, however, as there isn’t much there to his game: he’s high volume, and he ran straight ahead, and that was pretty much it.
NFL Comparison: Trent Cannon
2024 Opportunity:
The L.A. Chargers made it abundantly clear that they are going to run the football down your throat at any given opportunity. As of right now, they have J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards ahead of him on the depth chart, but Dobbins is coming of the career-killing Achilles tear, and Edwards, while being one of the most efficient backs in the league, is coming off his only season with more than 153 touches. Neither are exceptionally reliable, which leaves the door open for Vidal to peek in, and potentially gain the opportunity for more touches as the season progresses.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Kimani Vidal is a nice late round sleeper candidate, though if you take him, you have to be ready to hang onto him for the long haul. It’s entirely likely that Dobbins and Edwards keep ahold of the RB1 and RB2 roles all year long, as only injuries would thrust Vidal into the lineup. He isn’t super talented, but proficient; that type of running back does not, unfortunately, press the issue to make it onto the field.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 7, Pick 225 Overall: Brenden Rice, Wide Receiver, USC (6’2” 208 lbs)
Talent:
The son of NFL great Jerry Rice, Brenden Rice out of USC is one of two receivers in this draft with Hall of Famer daddies. That having been said, Rice isn’t nearly as polished as Marvin Harrison Jr., though he might show more athletic prowess on tape than MHJ does. Rice is great at high pointing the ball, his body control is impeccable, and he does a wonderful job of getting open in one-on-one coverage. He plays much faster than his 4.5 40-yard dash would indicate, and he struggles with the stems of his routes, making him an unideal short-area receiver. He is best suited as a moderate-to-deep threat receiver who could win a lot of deep balls, and who should develop into a pretty good receiver down the line.
NFL Comparison: D.J. Chark but Good
2024 Opportunity:
Brenden Rice is going to be third on the depth chart for targets, behind Ladd McConkey and pending bust Quentin Johnston. He will have this role in a Harbaugh offense that hasn’t found any sustained success behind the WR1 in the offense, and definitely not behind the WR2. It’ll be a tough go for him to crack the target rotation. However, if the Chargers give up on Quentin Johnston mid-season, he could have some value as the team’s WR2 (pending the inevitable DJ Chark injury).
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
I doubt that Rice, who I love from a talent perspective, will make a splash in his rookie year. The players ahead of him will command enough targets from an anemic passing game to starve out any value.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 7 Pick 253 Overall: Cornelius Johnson, Wide Receiver, Michigan (6’3” 212 lbs)
Talent:
Sound and fury, signifying nothing. On a down-to-down basis, there isn’t much that Cornelius Johnson does, except move around extremely aggressively. He is athletic, with nice size, but he doesn’t really do anything to get himself open, at all, ever. He’s an exceptionally terrible route runner, relying on his athleticism to hopefully juke defenders out of their shoes. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t work. He likely makes it on a roster as a rotational wide receiver due to his size, desire to block and tough running skills. But, he isn’t forcing the issue anywhere in his rookie year.
2024 Opportunity:
Jim Harbaugh brought on his Honorable Mention All-Big Ten receiver with him to the Chargers, where he’s likely to be a rotational player; a blocking specialist. There’s nothing in Johnson’s game to indicate that he will climb even the talent-bereft Chargers’ wide receiver corps. He needs a ton of refinement before his athletic traits can come through on the field, and I doubt he will get the opportunity to figure it out against NFL competition in his rookie year.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
He was barely not Mr. Irrelevant for a team that might pass the ball 550 times this year. You can skip him.
