Assessing Chargers players for Week 11 in Fantasy Football

An excruciating loss to the Jaguars in Week 10 has put the Chargers in a very difficult position. In their Week 11 matchup with the Bills, the Bolts are in a must-win situation. After a huge loss to the Saints, the Bills have benched former starter Tyrod Taylor in favor of rookie Nathan Peterman.

Denzel Perryman’s return to the Bolts’ front seven greatly improved their run defense in Week 10, holding running back Leonard Fournette to 33 yards on 17 carries. With quarterback issues, the Bills are expected to rely heavily on running back LeSean McCoy, so the Chargers’ defense will need yet another strong outing.

Offensively, the Chargers struggled a bit last week, so hopefully this week they will step up their game. But first, let’s look at some of the significant performances from last week:

Melvin Gordon

Gordon, who faced similar struggles as opposing back Leonard Fournette last week, is looking for yet another bounce-back week against a Bills defense that is 31st in fantasy points allowed this season against running backs.

While Gordon has proven to be inconsistent at times, the volume of his carries still remains high enough to keep him as a must-start RB1.

Austin Ekeler

After a breakout week, Ekeler has quite obviously primed himself for a large part in the Bolts’ offense. Minus a fumble at the end of the game (which can be seen as simply a rookie mistake), Ekeler had the best game of his short career.

Although Ekeler had a rather encouraging performance against the Jaguars, I wouldn’t expect him to see much use past a change-of-pace and pass-catching back. He is beginning to gain flex consideration, but I would leave him on your bench this week.

Hunter Henry

After a couple bad weeks in a row, Henry has created some serious doubt about his validity in fantasy. In very limited usage, Henry seems to have lost part of his role in the offense.

His limited usage in past weeks may be rather disconcerting, but perhaps the Chargers’ offensive woes will lead to a change in ball distribution and allow Henry more involvement in the offense. Until then, consider Henry a risky TE1 and a strong TE2.

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: 13 points (Standard), 15 points (PPR)
• Keenan Allen – Start (Flex) – My Projection: 8 points (Standard), 13 points (PPR)
• Tyrell Williams – Bench (WR3/WR4) – My Projection: 4 points (Standard), 7 points (PPR)
• Hunter Henry – Start (TE1/TE2) – My Projection: 6 points (Standard), 11 points (PPR)
• Travis Benjamin – Bench (WR3/WR4) – My Projection: 3 points (Standard), 5 points (PPR)
• Antonio Gates – Bench (TE2) – My Projection: 1 point (Standard), 2 points (PPR)
• Austin Ekeler – Bench (RB3) – My Projection: 5 points (Standard), 8 points (PPR)
• Branden Oliver – Bench (RB4) – My Projection: 0 points (Standard), 0 points (PPR)
• Mike Williams – Bench (WR3) – My Projection: 4 points (Standard),7 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.