Assessing Chargers players for Week 6 in Fantasy Football

Hard to believe it, but the Chargers actually won their first game of the season against the New York Giants. Included in that win, multiple players had significant fantasy performances.

While perhaps the ailing Giants were a good matchup in fantasy terms, a struggling Oakland defense is not a horrible matchup either. Although Oakland is getting Carr back, they have dropped three consecutive games, so the Chargers have a decent shot at winning this one, or at least putting up a good fight.

But first, let’s look at some of the significant performances from last week:

Melvin Gordon

After a very poor performance against the Eagles, Gordon had a bounce back week against the Giants. Although he had a good game on the ground with 105 rushing yards on 20 carries, he really excelled in the passing game.

Gordon had 6 receptions for 58 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns on the day. Gordon mostly saw success through the screen pass, but he was good in the general pass game as well. This game solidified Gordon’s status as a must-start running back in fantasy, and he remains so in this week’s matchup with the Raiders.

Hunter Henry

Although Henry was rather inconsistent the first couple weeks of the season, he has now scored touchdowns in two consecutive weeks. It seems that the only major fantasy concern for Henry at this point is his receptions, as he has only had 5 receptions in the past two weeks.

While the five receptions may be slightly concerning, one can take solace in the fact that Henry was targeted eight times last week, which means that at least Rivers is willing to pass him the ball. As of now, Henry has been to be at least slightly reliable, consider him a decent option at TE this week.

Philip Rivers

Many fantasy players may be averse to playing Rivers because of his poor performance against the Chiefs in Week 3, but the savvy player will see just how well Rivers is actually performing.

Rivers has played consistently well, averaging 273 yards and 1.8 touchdowns per game. Consider Rivers a good starting option this week against a struggling Raiders’ secondary.

Start or Sit?

Here are the players previously mentioned along with some who were not, with the parentheses indicating the tier of each player in fantasy terms and my projection for them this week.

• Philip Rivers – Start (QB1/QB2) – My Projection: 17 points (Standard)
• Melvin Gordon – Start (RB1) – My Projection: 18 points (Standard), 22 points (PPR)
• Keenan Allen – Start (WR1) – My Projection: 11 points (Standard), 17 points (PPR)
• Tyrell Williams – Bench (WR3/Flex) – My Projection: 4 points (Standard), 7 points (PPR)
• Hunter Henry – Start (TE1/TE2) – My Projection: 6 points (Standard), 9 points (PPR)
• Travis Benjamin – Bench (WR4) – My Projection: 3 points (Standard), 5 points (PPR)
• Antonio Gates – Bench (TE2) – My Projection: 2 points (Standard), 4 points (PPR)
• Austin Ekeler – Bench (RB3) – My Projection: 2 points (Standard), 3 points (PPR)
• Branden Oliver* – Bench (RB3/RB4) – My Projection: 1 point (Standard), 2 points (PPR)
• Dontrelle Inman – Bench (WR5) – My Projection: 1 point (Standard), 2 points (PPR)
• Mike Williams* – Bench (WR4) – My Projection: 2 points (Standard), 3 points (PPR)

Note: Asterisk (*) indicates possibility of player missing game due to injury.

What are you expecting out of the Bolts this week in fantasy? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.