While the Los Angeles Chargers have some questions on the offensive line, they have one of the best groups of wide receivers in the NFL.
Entering the 2017 regular season, you could point to a lot of potential question marks for the Chargers. The offensive line has looked anywhere from mediocre to poor and the secondary can get burnt with big plays as well. Injuries are always a big question mark for the Chargers, too, as they have suffered a ton of injuries the last two seasons.
One group with no question marks, however, is the wide receiving corps.
Tyrell Williams had an amazing breakout season last year following an injury to Keenan Allen that forced him into a big receiving role. Prior to last year, he had two receptions for 90 yards in his career. Last year, he caught 69 passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns.
Dontrelle Inman also took his game to another level, catching 23 more passes than the previous year with 810 yards and four TDs. It’s hard to that at one point Inman was an undrafted free agent from the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, but he’s developed into a full-fledged wide receiver for the Chargers.
You also have to remember about Travis Benjamin, who had some great games in the early parts of the season before being nicked up with a knee injury in Week 9. His big performance game against the Jaguars, where he caught two TDs and racked up 115 receiving yards. If he comes back healthy, it’s very possible he could produce like that again. That’s three pretty great wide receivers right there.
Then, you get to Allen, who’s 2016 campaign was unfortunately ended by a torn ACL in Week 1 of last season against the Chiefs. He had already developed and was clearly ready to break out in 2015, when his season was unfortunately cut short by a lacerated kidney injury. While it seems that injury has healed up, you can never predict or prevent non-contact injuries like a torn ACL. But if Allen can get back to where he was in previous years, you are talking about adding a big piece to an already good receiving corps with the names I’ve listed.
On top of all these good receivers, the Chargers decided to take Clemson receiver Mike Williams with the 7seventh overall pick. It seemed like a great pick at the time, and in my opinion it still is a great selection, but Williams is dealing with a back injury that looks like it will keep him out until October. If Williams is ready to go by October (let’s say Week 5 against the Giants), the Chargers could be adding another dynamic piece to the receiving corps.
In training camp and the preseason, there have been multiple wide receivers battling it out to make the eventual 53-man roster, like Geremy Davis, Isaiah Burse and former Clemson star Artavis Scott. Scott specifically is interesting since he could be a good weapon in the slot, and he’s obviously was teammates with Mike Williams at Clemson in their 2016-17 National Championship season.
Overall, I see quite a lot of potential for this receiving corps in 2017. With last season’s breakout stars like Tyrell Williams and Dontrelle Inman being coupled with Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin and potential rookie star Mike Williams, the receivers could be in for a big year. They could also be one of the deepest groups of receivers in the league. Now we just have to hope Philip Rivers has enough time to deliver the ball to them before Von Miller and Khalil Mack come crashing in.