We’re about a month away from training camp now, and about two and a half months away from the start of the 2019 regular season. Los Angeles Chargers fans are likely looking forward to it as they to hope to build on the 12-4 season they had last year, and return to the playoffs once again. Recently we took a look at the team’s lineup in the secondary, which was not necessarily set in stone. The wide receiver lineup is also not necessarily set in stone, beyond the strong duo of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams that leads it. Any good wide receiver corps needs depth. The Chargers look to be depending mostly upon younger, unproven talent to eventually create that.
Outlook for the Los Angeles Chargers Wide Receivers
Keenan Allen & Mike Williams
Obviously, these two guys (particularly Allen) don’t need a whole lot of introduction. They’re the two receivers whose starting positions basically are set in stone. Allen himself has had two excellent seasons in a row where he missed zero games after being quite injury-prone for a couple of years. Now he’s actually looking to take the next step and prove himself as *the* best at his position. Given the type of players he has to compete with (DeAndre Hopkins and Julio Jones, just to name two), that will be difficult.
Then there’s Mike Williams, who proved he was quite capable of being a strong #2 receiver last year. He proved this namely when against the Kansas City Chiefs, he scored three touchdowns plus a game-winning two-point conversion – when Allen was unavailable late in the game. He caught 10 touchdowns in total over the course of the season. There’s only room to improve from here. He’ll have to compete with Allen and tight end Hunter Henry for targets, but both Allen and Williams having 1,000-yard seasons is not entirely out of the question.
Travis Benjamin
With Tyrell Williams joining the Oakland Raiders, the #3 receiver position has opened up, and it seems most likely that it would go to Benjamin – at least in the short term. This may not be the best idea. The two receivers are basically the same – good as deep speed threats and not a whole lot else. The problem is, Benjamin is the less reliable of the two; that’s why he was the fourth receiver last year.
Benjamin only had 12 catches for 186 yards and one touchdown in 2018. He did have a critical catch late in the same Chiefs game that Mike Williams helped them win later. However, he also had some problems with drops, particularly early on in the season. With this in mind, even if Benjamin does hold the #3 position in the short term, the Chargers may look to ease in some of the younger receivers over time.
Everyone Else
The bar goes down for the Chargers wide receivers pretty dramatically after that. The next guy with the most experience (in terms of years) is Geremy Davis… and he only has two career catches. He’s been with the Chargers a few years but has never done much. His only touch since the 2016 season was one kickoff return. He seems to mostly be there to do some other work on special teams.
The next guy on the list that everyone seems to be hopeful for is Dylan Cantrell, a receiver who was drafted last year. He never got to play in the preseason due to injury. However, he was promoted to the active squad late in the season. However, he still never saw any action, which means that all the hype about him is purely off training camp/practice. Nevertheless, since he was promoted to the active roster over Andre Patton and Artavis Scott (two receivers who have been on the practice squad the last two years), the team must like what they see in him and he seems most likely to get an active role at the moment.
This leaves the aforementioned Patton and Scott. One of those might get a spot on the active roster, mainly because of the lack of other options to round out the depth. As previously mentioned, Geremy Davis just seems to be there for special teams purposes. The remaining names currently on the roster – Justice Liggins, Jason Moore, and Fred Trevillion – seem unlikely to survive to the final roster right now.
Last Word on the Chargers Wide Receivers
As excellent as the duo of Allen and Mike Williams is, things get a little iffier after that. Having Henry back will help alleviate this problem, and thus Benjamin (or whoever the third receiver is) may not even get as many targets as Tyrell Williams did in the same role last year. Still, the lack of proven depth right now is a little concerning. It’s still possible the Chargers could try and sign a veteran receiver when they’re cheaper later on. For example, Michael Crabtree and Pierre Garcon are still available right now.
Ultimately, the Chargers have a great duo at the top two wide receiver positions, and some possible young talent further down in the corps. The team may simply be trying to build up some more of the latter over time. This isn’t a bad idea by any means, and if Cantrell (or someone else) does break out, this will have paid off pretty well. One could be forgiven for feeling apprehensive right now about the lack of proven depth, though.
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