4 Chargers who have been incredibly disappointing heading into bye week
By Jason Reed
4. DeAndre Carter
There was a lot of buzz for DeAndre Carter and on paper, it looked like a fantastic signing for the LA Chargers. It still has merit, as Carter does have a ceiling that he is yet to reach with this team and hopefully he can leave the disappointing first half of the season behind him.
Carter looked really good in training camp and it looked like the return specialist was quickly making his way up the Chargers depth chart. Then when Keenan Allen got hurt in Week 1, Carter stepped up and had a big game against the Raiders that included a touchdown reception.
Carter has played a lot more in the offense than fans would have expected since then because of all the injuries that the team has faced. It has been clear in that time why Carter has been a career special teams player and not a focal part of the offense.
The 29-year-old receiver has 19 receptions for 229 yards for an average of 32.7 yards per game. That is a career-high for Carter, which may seem like a great thing. However, it has become clear in Carter's larger role that he is not someone who a team wants to be a primary weapon in the passing attack. He simply is not getting open as frequently as a true top-3 receiver would.
What has been more disappointing is the special teams side of the football. While special teams as a whole have taken a huge step forward under Ryan Ficken, the kickoff return unit has still been pretty poor.
Carter is averaging a career-low 19.3 yards per kickoff return with a fumble that nearly cost the team the game against the Houston Texans. To be fair to Carter, he has been solid with his punt returns, but with only nine total returns, that has not really made that big of a difference on this team.
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I would like to see the Chargers utilize his skillset more as a gadget-type of weapon and not ask him to run the same routes that Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, or Joshua Palmer would run. That is never going to work.