KeAndre Lambert-Smith was the talk of the town during the preseason. The LA Chargers' fifth-round rookie was excelling both in training camp and in preseason games, leaving many fans with high expectations in his rookie season.
Heck, there were some fans who were penciling Lambert-Smith in to be the WR3 and didn't want to sign Keenan Allen because he would take away snaps from the rookie. The hype was real for Lambert-Smith, who has since reminded Chargers fans in two games that preseason performances can be misleading.
Lambert-Smith has been right where Chargers fans should have expected him to be the entire time: at the bottom of the WR depth chart. And in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chargers made it pretty clear that isn't changing any time soon.
Chargers make their stance on KeAndre Lambert-Smith crystal clear with lack of playing time
Lambert-Smith played a grand total of six offensive snaps against the Raiders, which is far less than any other wideout not named Derius Davis. Tre' Harris was the next lowest on the list and still nearly doubled Lambert-Smith's playing time with 18 snaps.
The fifth-round pick got most of his limited playing time early in the game, too, and lost that playing time due to a key mistake. Justin Herbert connected with Ladd McConkey for a 10-yard completion into the red-zone on third and three late in the first quarter. However, Lambert-Smith lined up offsides, completely negating the gain.
The Chargers would still go on to score a touchdown in that drive but the damage was done. That mistake in a key spot was not good for Lambert-Smith's playing time, as he did not see the field in any impactful moments after that play.
Making matters worse for Lambert-Smith is the fact he didn't play a single special teams snap in the game, either. If the Chargers are hardly using him on offense, and not using him at all on special teams, it might be time for the team to make him a healthy scratch in Week 3 against the Denver Broncos.
After all, the Chargers have carried two active tight ends on gamedays thus far. Los Angeles would really benefit from a third tight end who could at least produce on special teams. That spot may come via Lambert-Smith.
This obviously is not where fans expected Lambert-Smith to be at this point in his rookie year but it's okay. Just because Lambert-Smith isn't a big contributor this early doesn't mean he won't succeed as a pro in the future.
If anything, it is a good reminder to always keep the big picture in mind when a player is having a breakout preseason. As good as Lambert-Smith looked in August, it was always a bit silly to expect a fifth-round rookie to be one of the most impactful members of a deep Chargers WR corps.