Chargers bold predictions: June edition

Sean Culkin will post a 40-catch season

The news that Hunter Henry will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL suffered in OTAs is sad to say the very least, but the Chargers will pick up and move on. Part of that moving on process will be second-year tight end Sean Culkin.

If the Chargers were going to bring back Antonio Gates, they likely would have already done that. Clearly, the team is confident in the group that it has, at least for the time being.

Now you may feel that predicting that a tight end will catch 40 passes in a season may not sound so bold, but we are talking about a guy who was an undrafted free agent last season and has never caught a pass in the NFL. Throw in the fact that Culkin may not have even may the roster (and who knows, he still may not) if Henry didn’t go down.

But I believe in this guy, as I discussed here.

Philip Rivers is going to rely on his receivers and even his running backs out of the backfield in the passing game perhaps more than he would have had Henry been healthy, but Culkin has a great chance to make his mark this season and in tandem with free-agent signing Virgil Green, give the team a combination at tight end that helps win games.

Culkin certainly isn’t going to make fans forget about Henry, but he will become a player that the fanbase greatly appreciates before the end of the season.

Culkin catches 40 passes for 400+ yards and three touchdowns this season.