Quentin Johnston

The Los Angeles Chargers are signaling a philosophical shift toward the ground game after bringing in tight ends David Njoku and Charlie Kolar. This run-heavy environment creates an under-the-radar opportunity for Tre Harris, a big-bodied receiver who can leverage his history of success on running downs to increase both his snap share and route participation rate this season.

If he handles these blocking duties effectively, Harris possesses the athletic profile to firmly overtake Quentin Johnston on the WR depth chart and siphon target share from Ladd McConkey as well to become a attractive fantasy football sleeper. At just 24.2 years of age, Harris is surging up dynasty rankings and is now PlayerProfiler’s dynasty WR46.

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey is officially the first Top-50 ADP fantasy asset to be injured during June workouts. McConkey minimized concerns regarding his hamstring strain, which was echoed by head coach Jim Harbaugh who said, “he is working through something” and it “isn’t a big concern.”

While the injury costs the sophomore receiver valuable training reps in Mike McDaniel’s new offensive scheme, he is facing a standard recovery window of weeks rather than months. Ironically, one of June’s highest ADP risers is the first to fall. Buy the dip on McConkey in all fantasy football formats and expect the target hog, who commanded a 21.3-percent Target Share to be fully functional by August.

The Los Angeles Chargers just added wide receiver depth at No. 105 by drafting Brenen Thompson, a speed merchant whose scorched-earth 4.26-second 40-yard dash (100th-percentile) makes him the ultimate vertical threat in an offense designed to maximize explosive plays. Thompson earned a 23.1% Target Share (64th-percentile) while averaging a massive 17.9 Yards Per Reception at Mississippi State, proving he can dominate as a field-stretcher despite a late 22.1 Breakout Age.

In Dynasty, he joins a crowded WR room behind Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and Tre Harris, but can carve out a role as that field stretcher, with a top speed of nearly 24 mph.  He should be considered a late round rookie pick.

Notice Hortiz didn’t rule out a reunion with Keenan Allen. The Chargers’ wide receiver room is a construction zone, with the team potentially eyeing former team leader Allen or scheme-fit veteran Jauan Jennings to solidify the rotation.

Ladd McConkey dynasty owners would prefer the team does not bring back Keenan Allen to cannibalize those high-leverage intermediate looks as McConkey and Allen win in similar ways and in similar areas. We’ve already seen Allen’s target-gravity suffocate McConkey’s fantasy ceiling, so McConkey and Tre Harris enthusiasts would prefer a Day 2 rookie to the “wrong” veteran signing. Meanwhile, Jennings would more directly challenge Quentin Johnston‘s role.

Despite whispers of a forced exile, Hortiz is trying to squash the rumors by declaring that the fleet-footed Johnston remains a central pillar of the team’s offensive. While he has yet to fully manifest the production of a first round pick, Quentin Johnston has “consistently” posted over 700 yards and secured eight scores across each of his last two seasons.

With the departure of Keenan Allen, Johnston stands to inherit some of those vacated targets, making him a late-round sleeper fantasy drafts. However, Los Angeles is in the market for a wide receiver in the NFL Draft. However, Johnston’s anemic career production opens up the possibility that Tre Harris and [Rookie WR X] may be the biggest beneficiaries of the open target share.