LA Chargers: Five players who could be the third receiver in 2020

Demaryius Thomas

Demaryius Thomas is older and past his prime. He hasn’t quite been the same following his Achilles tear. However, he’s still a veteran talent who’s able to find mismatches in games. Thomas still caught 36 passes for 433 yards in 2019. Keep in mind, he was traded during the season and had Sam Darnold out for a pretty significant stretch of time.

The third best receiver for the LA Chargers in 2019 was Inman. He had 132 receiving yards on the season. The Chargers need some consistency at the position, and if Thomas can catch three or four balls a game, it’s not a bad fit.

Plus, Thomas would be playing with better receivers. Getting free from a defense for a nice completion is certainly easier playing next to Allen and Williams as opposed to Robby Anderson and a perpetually injured Quincy Enunwa.

Wherever Thomas has gone in his career, he’s been highly regarded as a good pro and a great mentor. With Allen being the only veteran receiver currently, Thomas could help develop the younger receivers as well. He’s still one of the best route runners to ever play the game, despite old age. It would be great to see him take a rookie or practice squad receiver under his wings.

The Chargers will look to the draft for speed at the receiver position. In the meantime, they could get a savvy veteran receiver who stayed relatively healthy last season. The previous Achilles tear is somewhat concerning, but he seems to have recovered generally well.

Either way, it’s a low-risk move that could give the Chargers more of a veteran presence at receiver as opposed to a lot of the practice squad-level guys that they have on the roster right now.

The #Jets being aggressive with 2 mins left in the half was a gigantic difference maker

Demaryius Thomas got a mismatch working inside – 33 yd gainer that put them in the RZ, led to 6 pic.twitter.com/T1evadrfJZ

— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) October 14, 2019