Who’s got it better than the Chargers? Well, a lot of people. But, if you believe Jim Harbaugh, the answer is, “nobody!” For fantasy football purposes, they jettisoned Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams, Gerald Everett, and Joshua Kelley. They also moved on from Kellen Moore and Brandon Staley. In steps a whole bevy of new weapons, Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh. Luckily, we’ve seen Roman with the running backs before, and we’ve seen Roman and Harbaugh build an offense together. For fantasy football, what can we expect from the 2024 Los Angeles Chargers? Let’s dive in, shall we?
Undervalued: Gus Edwards, Running Back (RB36, Pick 107 Overall)
Gus Edwards, as a whole, was a weird fantasy football asset to have in 2023. He was fourth in the league in rushing touchdowns (with 13), but was just RB32 when all was said and done. This has a lot to do with the fact that Gus Edwards simply didn’t catch the football. He had a (career high!) 13 targets last season, which he turned into 12 catches for 180 yards. That’s a nice per-target performance, but unfortunately, it did not move the needle for fantasy football. This likely stems from the fact that he never really took control of the offense thanks to the Ravens bringing him along slowly from a 2022 offseason knee injury that cost him all of that season.
Still, once he got ramped up, his touchdown production helped to carry the day. He didn’t have a top-20 performance until week 7, but in the last 10 weeks of the fantasy season, he had six top-20 performances. Unfortunately, low touch volume made him boom-or-bust, as his other four games caused him to finish outside the top-45 twice.
But, I doubt that volume will be an issue for Edwards. The last time we saw Harbaugh and Roman together, they went bonkers giving Frank Gore as many carries as humanly possible. He missed just one game in the four-season stretch together, and he averaged 250 carries and 28 targets per season. While I doubt that the targets show up, Edwards with even 200 carries in 2024 is a shoo-in for a top-20 back, and he’s going as RB36. That’s free money.
Overvalued: J.K. Dobbins, Running Back (RB51, Pick 155 Overall)
Do not draft a running back coming off of an Achilles tear.
Do not draft a running back coming off of an Achilles tear.
Do not draft a running back coming off of an Achilles tear.
We just did this with Cam Akers, who, prior to tearing his Achilles, averaged 4.3 yards per carry and 11.2 yards per reception. After his 2021 Achilles tear, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry and 7.8 yards per reception. He missed the entirety of the 2021 season after his Achilles tear, and did not have over 65 rushing yards in a game until Christmas 2022. You don’t need to waste a roster spot on Edwards, he is going to be the second fiddle in this running game, at best.
Sleeper: DJ Chark, Wide Receiver (WR87, Pick 227 Overall)
Shout out Walker Kelly and Kev Mahserejian, two of the world’s foremost DJ Chark fans, for making me take a deep sigh and put him here. With Ladd McConkey getting all the hype and ADP buzz (he’s the highest-drafted Chargers receiver), there’s only one receiver on the Chargers roster who has ever done anything, and that’s Chark. He fell off the map in Carolina last season, likely due, in part, to “being on the Carolina Panthers.” But, from 2019 to 2022 (despite injuries costing him 18 games), he averaged a respectable 4 catches for 55 yards per game with Detroit and Jacksonville. Detroit never really figured out how to use him, but in his three seasons after his rookie year with Jacksonville, he averaged 4 catches for 66 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns in 31 games. He’s a deep dive, but he’s also a deep threat for Justin Herbert, and the only player on the team to have had 1000 yards receiving in a season. I took him with my second-to-last-pick in the Scott Fish Bowl, so that’s the type of deep sleeper we’re talking about here.
