You can’t change the weather, you only can hope to weather the storm.
A dark cloud has arrived for Keenan Allen fantasy owners. It has unleashed a mighty storm, destroying a significant part of a roster’s foundation. Now it’s time to rebuild. If you’re in a standard league, the damage isn’t as significant. But if you’re in a PPR league (points per reception), you’re looking at a pile of rubble.
Bear in mind, when a wide receiver goes down, the guy who is thrust into the starting role often doesn’t get the same workload. It isn’t like the running back position — where most teams have a specific role, and that role will be filled by someone, or sometimes, ugh, a committee. As bad as committee backfields are, every team’s WR corps is a committee.
Most teams don’t rely so heavily on one guy, but the Chargers are different. Allen was to the Chargers what Antonio Brown is to the Steelers, Julio Jones to the Falcons, Odell Beckham Jr. to the Giants, A.J. Green to the Bengals. He wasn’t as impactful on the fantasy front as those players, but he had similar importance in his team’s offense.
First, let’s look at the options on the Chargers roster. Whoever steps up for San Diego, assuming anyone does, will not have that role. And of those on the roster who likely will get extra snaps — Dontrelle Inman, and to a lesser extent, Tyrell Williams — are not going to be weekly options for your starting lineup, and that includes James Jones, if they elect to bring him back after cutting him in preseason.
Check the wires in hopes Pierre Garcon or Tajae Sharpe has slipped through. Mike Wallace will provide an occasional spike. Don’t be scared off by Kamar Aiken’s poor Week 1. Other options are Chris Hogan, Rishard Matthews and Kenny Britt — but those are just filling back-end roster spots. In standard leagues, you even may find Will Fuller or Mohamed Sanu.
Otherwise, find the position of strength on your roster and make a trade. Bench depth is great, but if you’ve lost an impact starter, you can sacrifice depth to fill that gap.
Speaking of trades … What if you have Travis Benjamin? He is first in line, as the Chargers’ second starting WR, to get an increase in looks. Certainly he will get more targets than he would if Allen was playing.
But his increase likely will be minimal. He already is a square peg in a round-hole offense. His specialty is the catch-and-run deep ball. But quarterback Philip Rivers’ deep balls are more of the jump-ball variety, which lessens Benjamin’s prospects because he: a) he isn’t a jump-ball receiver; and b) jump balls eliminate his chances of gaining yards after the catch.
Shop Benjamin to an owner who is expecting a big bump in production. If you can get Donte Moncrief, Willie Snead, Marvin Jones in return, you’ve made progress.
Hello
Joe Flacco, QB, Ravens
Sure, his Week 1 vs. the Bills was underwhelming. But next week he plays the Browns — who made untested, unpracticed rookie Carson Wentz look good. Flacco is a great streaming option.
Alfred Morris, RB, Cowboys
If whoever owns Ezekiel Elliott in your league didn’t draft Morris as a handcuff, he might be available. And in Week 1, he looked like the better runner — averaging 5.0 yards on his seven carries, to 2.5 on Elliott’s 20. Expect the carry ratio to be a bit more even next week.
Quincy Enunwa, WR, Jets
Let’s say Mohamed Sanu isn’t available, then this isn’t a bad secondary option in deep leagues. He will fill the role many hoped TE Jace Amaro would — a third downfield option for the Jets.
Jack Doyle, TE, Colts
In deep leagues, those that start two TEs, or those with ample bench spots, Doyle is viable addition. Starter Dwayne Allen has an injury history, and Doyle proved he has QB Andrew Luck’s confidence with two TD catches in Week 1.
Goodbye
Arian Foster, RB, Dolphins
What, you ask? He’s coming off a decent game against a strong defense, you say? Exactly. Trade him while he has value. He won’t last the season, and that “decent” game included a 2.9 yards per carry average and a 50-yard catch-and-run that accounted for half his yardage across 16 touches.
LeGarrette Blount, RB, Patriots
In a game in which he likely featured as prominently as he will all season, Blount came through with 70 yards and a TD. QB Jimmy Garoppolo looked adequate, and likely will be given more opportunities to throw in coming weeks. Trade Blount if you can find a buyer, but don’t drop him outright.
Devin Funchess, WR, Panthers
Don’t drop him unless you are really deep at WR, or can’t find a trade partner and can find reliable options on waivers. At his best, he was going to be inconsistent. But a doughnut, even against a good defense, is enough to scare us off this experiment.
Rishard Matthews, WR, Titans
Sometimes the preseason can be deceiving, so we weren’t ready to jump on the Tajae Sharpe bandwagon so quickly. The most telling number: Sharpe had 11 targets to Matthews’ four.