Chargers: Ranking team’s top three positions to target in free agency
By Travis Wakeman
Wide receiver
The Chargers have Keenan Allen and Mike Williams at wide receiver, and that’s about it.
Others may not see the wide receiver position as one that needs the highest level of importance, as a new quarterback and a new offensive scheme could see players like Andre Patton and Jason Moore become much more effective.
At the same time, the team just needs better overall talent at the spot as Patton and Moore are really just practice squad guys and Travis Benjamin, who has been a major disappointment during his time with the team, will be an unrestricted free agent, as will Geremy Davis.
Potential free-agent fixes: Robby Anderson, Emmanuel Sanders, Devin Funchess, Randall Cobb, Demaryius Thomas, Breshad Perriman, Rashard Higgins, Nelson Agholor, Dontrelle Inman (re-sign).
The free-agent market is chock full of wide receivers and almost any of them would be an upgrade over the players mentioned above. For the Chargers, it’s about finding the right fit. A popular idea among the fanbase is for the team to bring in Anderson, who has put up nice numbers for a bad New York Jets team.
Each of the names above provides some intrigue as both Sanders and Thomas could bring veteran leadership to the squad and both have achieved a high level of success.
Perriman had a huge season, resurrecting his career in Tampa Bay, but would he be able to do that on a team that doesn’t chuck it all over the place the way the Buccaneers did in 2019? Teams would be much more likely to get the pre-Tampa Bay Perriman.
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The team could also just decide to show a guy like Inman some faith and bring him back while also drafting a young exciting prospect in April.
Either way, the Chargers should both sign a free agent and draft a wide receiver. The wide receiving corps needs help and the Chargers should go all out to attempt to fix it.
The team has other needs, such as defensive (which almost found a spot on this list) and quarterback, but if the team moves on from Philip Rivers, the best options are to either give Tyrod Taylor a year as the starter or to draft a guy with the No. 6 overall pick.
If the Chargers sign at least one interior offensive lineman, one cornerback and one wide receiver in free agency, it should set them up nicely for the draft.