Quarterbacks

C.J. Stroud – (15.5% Owned)

Stroud is starting to come into his own for the Houston Texans. Houston put up one of the more impressive performances of the week in a blowout win at Jacksonville. Stroud completed 66.67% of his passes and had 2 passing touchdowns in the game. More importantly, he had zero interceptions in the contest. In fact, Stroud has yet to throw a pick this year which is encouraging for a young quarterback. He is now worth picking up and starting if you’re struggling at the quarterback position.

Running Backs

De’Von Achane – (29.1% Owned)

Achane will certainly be the #1 waiver wire target this week after an insane 49.3 FP output against the Denver Broncos. It wasn’t just Achane for the Dolphins, Raheem Mostert also went off on a record-setting day for Miami. The question now going forward is if Achane is worth starting. Even in a crowded Dolphins backfield, the answer is yes. Achane has elite-level speed and in that offense, he can take it to the house at any moment.

Wide Receivers

Tank Dell – (28.2% Owned)

Dell exploded on Sunday for 145 yards and 1 touchdown in the Texans win. He is building a nice chemistry with C.J. Stroud and this Houston offense is looking much better than expected. Dell has had 17 targets in his last 2 starts and is a significant piece in this Texans offense. He is not a one-week wonder, Dell is worth picking up if he is available in your league.

Quentin Johnston – (39.6% Owned)

Johnston has been non-existent in the first three games but that’s about to change. The Chargers were dealt a blow as Mike Williams is now out for the season with an ACL injury. It’s time for Johnston to step into this role as WR2 for Los Angeles. While the production hasn’t been there yet there will be plenty of opportunities going forward. If you’re in a deep league, Joshua Palmer is also worth a look.

Tight Ends

Luke Musgrave – (16.2% Owned)

While Musgrave has yet to score for Green Bay week 3 he showed some encouraging signs. Musgrave had 6 receptions on 8 targets for 49 yards. He has also played in over 85% of snaps on offense for the Packers the past two weeks. The tight end position is always the trickiest to master in fantasy but this usage is what we like to see. Musgrave is worth stashing on your bench as he continues to develop.

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PLAYERS TO START

WR: Mike Williams LAC (Projected: 12.46 FP)

Mike Williams has finally arrived after seven weeks. He has been hurt throughout the middle of the year and fantasy owners may have given up on him. Williams then proceeds to catch six balls for 116 yards and a TD. The Chargers face a Titans secondary that had struggles against the Jaguars. With the Chargers having so many offensive options, Mike Williams might be destined to save his fantasy owners again.

RB: Zonovan Knight NYJ (Projected: 11.91 FP)

Zonovan Knight is primed for another great showing. He scored his first NFL TD in the loss to the Bills. He was one of the few offensive bright spots in that bad weather game. He faces a Detroit defense which is one of the worst in the league. His ability to catch the ball out the backfield makes him a scary dual-threat weapon for the Jets.

QB: Trevor Lawrence JAX (Projected: 16.70 FP)

Trevor Lawrence is playing the best stretch of his career. He had his best game of the year last week when he threw for 368 yards and three TDs against the Titans. He has scored 20+ FP in three of the last four games. He faces a Dallas defense that struggled against the Houston Texans. Look for Trevor to have a great game against them.

PLAYERS TO SIT

DEF/ST: Green Bay Packers GB (Projected: 9.51 FP)

I think fantasy is underrating the Los Angeles Rams again. Many people expected the Las Vegas Raiders to destroy the Rams but the opposite happened. I think the Green Bay defense will have some success but not reach the projected score. The Rams are motivated with Baker Mayfield as the QB. Now that he has some reps with his teammates, they may start to look better than expected.

TE: Mark Andrews BAL (Projected: 12.63 FP)

Mark Andrews has been on the downslide ever since Week 7. His highest output since then has been 12.3 FP in Week 11 and has reached double digits just twice. He faces a tough Cleveland defense that will make life hard for whoever will start QB for Baltimore. The Ravens will probably focus on the run game so don’t expect much from Andrews.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Las Vegas Raiders brought a cold heart (by Dua Lipa) to their fans today. The Raiders were sadly edged out by their nemesis, the Los Angeles Chargers, by a score of 19-24. With that said, I’m going to untwine five takeaways from the Raiders loss to the Chargers.

• Davante Adams

It may seem surprising that Davante Adams would haul in 141 yards and a touchdown, yet the Raiders would walk out with a loss. Tae was on fire and displaying excellent chemistry with Derek Carr right away. It’s safe to say that the Raiders WR1 can bring tears to opponents without Aaron Rodgers.

• Chargers pass rush

It would be an understatement to say that Khalil Mack doesn’t appear washed up. The former DPOY winner registered three sacks and a forced fumble against LV. Furthermore, Mack’s pass-rushing mate Joey Bosa didn’t stray away from making his presence felt against the Raiders. The older Bosa bro ousted 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble on the day.

• Justin Herbert

I love that Justin Herbert was productive while taking care of the football. He threw 3 touchdowns (to 0 interceptions) and registered a sexy 129.4 passer rating. It was also awesome that the Chargers didn’t need Herbert to throw four or five touchdowns to edge out a likely playoff squad in the Las Vegas Raiders.

• Mike Williams

Herbert was on fire today, but the illustrious WR Mike Williams didn’t exactly hurt the Raiders defense. He only ousted two catches for 10 yards. Yes, you read that correctly. The former first-round pick needs to bounce back in a big way moving forward.

• Asante Samuel Jr.

The Chargers unearthly CB J.C. Jackson was MIA against the Raiders (and he should be back in Week 2), but Asante Samuel Jr. made sure to perform well against LV. The Chargers 2021 second-round pick nicely had an interception against Carr. He currently has three ints in his career.

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2021 was a breakout season for Mike Williams, but what does 2022 and beyond look like? Let’s walk through his situation and what his outlook is, starting by reliving last year. Williams finished as a top 12 fantasy WR in 2021 in half PPR scoring. It was a little Jekyll and Hyde situation though, as Williams was the WR3 going into the Chargers week 7 bye, and just WR29 afterwards. Which is the real one?

Contract Status

Let’s start with Williams’ contract status. Scheduled to become a free agent this past offseason, he chose to return to the Chargers on a new 3-year, $60M contract. The deal guarantees the receiver a cool $40M over the first two years, and he’ll likely either be extended or cut before year three.

That’s fantastic news for Williams’ outlook, as he’s locked into the top role on an offense with an elite young QB and an aggressive analytical head coach. Assuming Williams can stay healthy, there’s no reason to expect much to change from last season. Expect some volatility, but massive weekly upside, which is par for the course with most top WRs.

Change in Usage

Williams saw a huge swing in utilization from 2020 to 2021. Going into last season, he was primarily viewed as a deep threat and red zone guy. A new OC, Joe Lombardi, came from New Orleans and put his into the X WR role that some guy named Michael Thomas thrived in for years. As a result, his average depth of target dropped dramatically and 39 more targets than his previous high.

I don’t have a true explanation for what happened as the season went along, but even after “struggling” down the stretch last year, everything from the tweet above has me excited for the future. Plus, Williams is nearly three years younger than teammate and target hog Keenan Allen. As Allen plays over 30 years old, his production will decline and Justin Herbert will rely on Williams more.

Here’s the best explanation out there. A late game injury led to a down 5-week stretch with several poor finishes. Once the injury started feeling better, he bounced back to WR18 over the final eight games. While not utilized at the same high level as early in the year, he was still a top-end WR2. It’ll be fun to see how he continues in 2022.

Projecting Forward

Now that we’ve covered the background, what does this mean for the present and future? Williams has a wide weekly range of outcomes but is tied into an elite offense and a big-time role in it. That is exactly the type of WR2 you should want on your rosters. Throw in an aging Keenan Allen and it only makes me more excited for the next few years with Mike Williams.

In 2022 and going forward, not only did Williams come back, but the other teams loaded up in their division. Expect shootouts, and with an aggressive head coach, a lot of touchdowns. He’s due for a bump in targets and is a near lock for double-digit touchdowns the next few seasons. With the addition of JC Jackson from New England, he’s been practicing against elite coverage and getting better.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see 140 or so targets to Williams for the next few years, 80-85 catches, 1200-1300 yards, and 8-12 touchdowns. That rough projection would equate to the WR8 or so last season. A WR1 if needed, but I’d rather him as my second guy. I love him going forward, and will definitely try to get him after writing this.

Conclusion

Unless in a multi-year rebuild, I’m not looking to trade away Williams. I would try to acquire him though, especially as a contender. KTC has Williams as WR31, behind Jerry Jeudy and George Pickens. Jeudy has yet to finish above WR44 on a year, and Pickens hasn’t played a regular season game. As a contender, give me Williams all day and enjoy taking down a title in your dynasty league this year.

The post Mike Williams’s dynasty outlook right now appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala

The elite Chargers WR Keenan Allen recorded his fifth 1,000+ yd season in 2021. Allen had a career-high 106 receptions last season and 157 targets (second-best in career). The Chargers WR1 is still under contract with the Chargers until the 2025 season. I expect Allen recently turned 30-year-old to be playing at a high level for at least a couple of more seasons. It certainly helps that his QB Justin Herbert threw for 5,000+ passing yds last season.

Allen will be the reliable, “death by a thousand cuts” WR in the Chargers offense. Mike Williams is an explosive WR, but the Chargers younger WR can’t steal Allen’s consistent level of play. Williams did have a career-high 129 targets and he should be a Tee Higgins-like WR2, but Allen can wear down opposing CB1s and run every route in the playbook.

Allen has averaged roughly 150 targets per season in his last five-year span and I more than expected him to be a star WR in 2022, but the question is: how long will be a true top-notch WR? I expect the work-horse with a very young, throw-it-around the-yard QB to allow Allen to be successful until his contract expires in 2024. Per Turf Show Times, AJ Green and Adam Thielen were the best WRs over 30 last season and they weren’t exactly sexy in production. Although, Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne, Donald Driver, Chad Johnson, and Randy Moss were able to be 1,000+ yard receivers over the age of 30. I expect the combination of Allen’s recent, well-churned production and his gifted QB to push him to eclipse 1,000+ yards and 130+ targets in each of the next couple of seasons.

If you are aiming for a championship, it simply would be wise to throw the last hope shot at Allen for his outlook in 2022 and 2023. At this point, I am definitely buying Allen. I believe he is a bit underrated amid a WR ranking that holds a few questionable faces and I feel confident in the Herbert-Allen duo lighting up scoreboards in the near future.

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By: Dylan Streibig

With five straight division titles and consecutive trips to the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs are the undisputed kings of the AFC West. They will be tough to knock off their perch as long as Patrick Mahomes is around.

However, they will face their stiffest competition from a division rival in a long time from the 2021 Los Angeles Chargers for two reasons.

They were really close last year.

The Chargers 7-9 campaign last year is a bit misleading. You can throw out their Week 17 win against Kansas City. The Chiefs were resting starters for the playoffs. Even so, Los Angeles was a lot closer to causing major problems for the winners of their divison and the rest of the league than you might think.

Eight of their nine losses in 2020 were by single digits, including a Week 2 overtime loss to Andy Reid’s Chiefs. The Chargers losing close games isn’t a new thing. Anthony Lynn isn’t the first Bolts coach to fall on his sword because of it either.

Close losses are usually a matter of coaching though. So, former Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley becomes head coach of the other team in Los Angeles. If he can clean up little things, like the team averaging over five penalties per game last year ever so slightly, that alone can turn a seven win team into a ten win team. Now, for the other part of the equation.

They solved their biggest issue.

With Justin Herbert wowing as a rookie and throwing 31 touchdown passes in 15 games, the Chargers have a special quarterback in place for the next decade plus. That is the largest piece of the puzzle for any NFL team.

Protecting Herbert was an issue in 2020 though. Los Angeles ranked dead last in the Pro Football Focus end of season offensive line rankings last year. Unlike the Bengals who also must better protect a special talent in Joe Burrow, the Chargers didn’t just bring in veterans on stopgap deals and mid round draft talents that they hope will work out.

General manager Tom Telesco brought in former Packers All-Pro center Corey Linsley on a five year deal that made him the highest paid center in football. Then, Rayshawn Slater fell into Telesco’s lap on night one of the NFL Draft. Slater was arguably the top offensive tackle prospect in the draft. Thanks to these moves, injuries are the only thing that could keep the Chargers offensive line from vast improvement in 2021. The roster also has a diverse group of running backs led by Austin Ekeler who has career averages of over four yards per carry and nine yards per catch.

There are some really nice pieces on defense too. Joey Bosa entered the league prior to the 2016 season and has never had fewer than 5.5 sacks in a season. Adding a talented rookie like Asante Samuel Jr. to a secondary that already has a savvy veteran in four time Pro-Bowler Chris Harris Jr. and a still emerging talent like Derwin James makes for a fine defensive backfield, provided James can stay healthy.

Concerns

On paper, the Chargers don’t have many. Obviously, any time a rookie head coach like Staley is in the picture, it is a bit of an unknown. Other than that and the need for a third pass catcher to emerge behind the productive but brittle duo of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, the sky is the limit for the Chargers in 2021. With Denver still having issues at quarterback and the Raiders roster lacking talent beyond a few capable offensive weapons, Los Angeles is the only division rival that can make the mighty Chiefs sweat this year.

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