Solving the Chargers’ need for speed

With all eyes on the offseason, the talking heads are out in full force with what each team needs to address. One thing the Chargers need to address is the lack of speed on the offensive side of the ball.

The Los Angeles Chargers need more speed. The team clearly missed Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin has not panned out as the team had hoped. While Mike Williams is a deep threat in his own right, no one will mistake him for a downfield burner.

The team needs more speed to open up the field for Williams and Keenan Allen. Frankly, any kind of talent infusion into the wide receiver position will help the team but their first priority here should be to find someone who can do what Benjamin was supposed to vertically.

It should be noted that the third leading receiver from last season was Andre Patton with six catches for 56 yards. That was for the WHOLE season and he finished as the team’s third-best wide receiver.

Calling this situation a problem is really understating it. The team needs to be really aggressive this offseason in solving it. This will be my personal four-step process at attempting to find the solution.

Step one: Cut Travis Benjamin

This first step should be obvious. Coming off his career-best 966 receiving yards and six total touchdowns in 2015 with the Cleveland Browns, Benjamin was seen as a hot commodity going into free agency.

The Chargers took a shot on the speedy wideout and signed him to what eventually became a four-year deal. Safe to say, they have not gotten the value they would have liked in return.

Benjamin was decent in 2016 but he has been wildly inconsistent or injured throughout the rest of his tenure in Los Angeles. The team restructured his contract last offseason so cutting him wouldn’t open up a ton of cap space for this season but it does open up a roster spot and frankly cuts some dead weight on a player who has not proven his worth.