The Los Angeles Chargers offense, to this point in the season, has suffered dramatically from its lack of viable pass catchers for Mike McDaniel's scheme.
Let's be clear here—both parties are at fault for the way things have gone. McDaniel has largely failed to optimize his scheme from his time with the Miami Dolphins to the personnel he has at his disposal in Los Angeles, and the injuries and continuous lack of separation from the Chargers' remaining pass catchers haven't made things any easier.
It seems as though this may simply be an injury-riddled season for Ladd McConkey, and Quentin Johnston hasn't come close to living up to the bar the Chargers set by picking up his $16.5 million fifth-year option for 2027. If there's been a primary receiving option for Los Angeles to this point in the season, it's been second-year wideout Tre' Harris. And he's now week-to-week with a hamstring injury, having missed the Chargers' Week 6 bout against the Kansas City Chiefs.
And yet in the midst of all this, one contributor quietly flashed his skill set as a potential target in the middle of the field. Even as the Chargers were blown out of the water by the Chiefs, KeAndre Lambert-Smith—who spent much of this season on the injured reserve with his own hamstring injury—posted five receptions for 32 yards, three of which came in the middle of the field.
He's obviously not going to be an immediate solution for this offense, but could he establish himself as a real, versatile contributor over the remainder of the season?
The Chargers need pass catchers—and they can't afford to forget about KeAndre Lambert-Smith
Ever since Lambert-Smith was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, it didn't seem like there was a major path for him to earn targets or opportunities for major plays. In Greg Roman's offense, there simply wasn't enough ingenuity or variance in the passing game to make room for true production from more than two or three receivers. Lambert-Smith posted just five receptions for 51 yards over the course of his entire rookie season.
That variance was supposed to be there with McDaniel, but his projected heavy use of 12 and 13-personnel looks meant that snaps would be spread thin among a six-man receiving corps. Even after posting seven receptions for 93 yards in this year's preseason slate, there was still a question of whether Lambert-Smith would even make the initial 53-man roster.
With Johnston's limited production (outside of a monstrous catch in Week 6) and both Harris' and McConkey's health in question moving forward, though, the Chargers need to identify a consistent, underneath threat. Lambert-Smith may have a part to play in that.
Coming into the league, he was seen simply as a potential mid-round flyer, without the route-running nuance or the pure athleticism to translate his skill set to immediate production at the NFL level. But at 6'1" and 190 lbs, he does have the height and agility to present a semi-reliable target in the intermediate parts of the field in this offense.
He's not going to establish himself as the dominant receiver the Chargers need. He simply doesn't have the athleticism or the immediate talent, and Herbert isn't suddenly going to click within McDaniel's anticipatory throwing scheme because there's another wide receiver in the fold.
But having someone like Smith, who can consistently run routes lined up both in the slot and out wide and has the speed to make a play in the open field, could provide the Chargers with a much needed additional threat in the offense. If Harris remains out in Week 8 and McConkey is still limited in any fashion, expect some targets to be on the table for the second-year receiver.
If he can capitalize on the opportunity and continue to develop as a route runner, it could open to door for a potential breakout this season—albeit one limited by the deficiencies of the Chargers offense as a whole.
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