Los Angeles Chargers vs Jacksonville Jaguars
The Chargers dominated the Jaguars from start to finish in a 45-10 rout. The Jaguars offense was stymied by LA’s ferocious defense, and they were unable to move the ball with any sort of success. The Jaguars defense is a shell of its former self and is a defense that should be targeted for skill position players for the remainder of the fantasy playoffs. The Chargers held the ball for 29:23 compared to the Jaguars’ 30:37, but don’t be fooled; they led for most of the game and had some quick touchdowns to bring their time of possession down.
Los Angeles Chargers
Quarterback
- Philip Rivers: 16/22, 314 yards, 3 TDs
- Tyrod Taylor: 3/5, 26 yards, 1 TD | 4 carries, 10 yards
After a season of ups and downs, Philip Rivers had perhaps the best game of the season today. He was efficient and pinpoint, playing mistake-free ball and looking like the Rivers of old. He was playing a terrible pass defense, but this kind of throwback performance calls into question whether the Chargers will move on from Rivers after this season. My guess is they’ll draft a developmental quarterback and let him learn from Rivers for a year or two. Moving forward, however, Rivers’ upcoming schedule is Minnesota, then Oakland. I would be targeting Rivers if you need a championship week stream. Oakland can’t stop a nosebleed, and with Rivers’ weapons, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t put up a copious amount of points on them. This game was important because it proved that Rivers can still be effective and that he’s not completely done this season. Against Minnesota next week, I think you should be able to find better options, but it wouldn’t be the worst possible play either. Rivers was so good today that backup Tyrod Taylor came in and played most of the fourth quarter. Taylor was also effective in his limited role. He is one of the best backups in the league.
Running Backs
- Austin Ekeler: 8 carries, 101 yards | 5 targets, 4 receptions, 112 yards, 1 TD
- Melvin Gordon: 12 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD | 5 targets, 5 receptions, 29 yards
- Justin Jackson: 3 carries, 25 yards
The Chargers refuse to use Austin Ekeler as a featured back, and I think this is to their detriment. They even mixed in Justin Jackson. Ekeler is one of the most versatile, explosive playmakers in the league in my opinion, and could be an RB1 every week if he was given the same snap share as a Christian McCaffrey or Dalvin Cook. Regardless, Ekeler is still a valuable asset to own and does the most with his limited workload. Today, he was able to break off multiple chunk plays and put the Chargers offense in position to score, while not finding the endzone himself. Until the start of the third quarter. On a 3rd down, Ekeler caught a screen pass and ran 84 yards for a touchdown. That’s the risk with Ekeler, though: you have to count on his talent alone instead of volume or playcalling. It’s a lot less predictive. However, it seems as though Ekeler doesn’t care about any of that. If Gordon leaves in free agency next year, I would take Ekeler as a first-rounder. His talent, situation, and increased workload would make him a league winner. He’s trending in that direction this season, too.
Elsewhere, Gordon had a good game as well, scoring a goal-line TD and breaking off some chunk plays of his own. If he becomes the featured back somewhere else, he will also regain first-round status next year. Since the Chargers have proved they don’t give running backs the workload they should, Justin Jackson becomes intriguing as well as the second part of a 1-2 punch next year with Ekeler. I would play either Gordon or Ekeler moving forward in the fantasy playoffs. Ekeler retains slightly more value in PPR leagues, while Gordon may be better in standard.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
- Keenan Allen: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 83 yards
- Mike Williams: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 63 yards, 1 TD
- Hunter Henry: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 39 yards, 1 TD
- Virgil Green: 1 target, 1 reception, 14 yards, 1 TD
Due to the dominance of the Chargers’ running backs, the other pass-catchers had a quieter day, although they were still able to produce effectively. Keenan Allen had a good day, consistently moving the chains. Mike Williams had his second straight good game, catching a long touchdown. I wouldn’t necessarily trust him, but you could do worse against a Minnesota team that struggles against perimeter receivers and an Oakland team that struggles against everything. Allen would be locked and loaded for me the next 2 weeks as Rivers’ consistent top target. Hunter Henry again caught a touchdown and is one of the most reliable fantasy tight ends out there. You can roll him out with confidence for the rest of the season. The Chargers offense as a whole looked much better today, and whether that will continue against the Vikings is a risky proposition, but it’s not like you have better options as Allen or Henry.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarterback
- Gardner Minshew: 24/37, 162 yards, 1 TD | 6 carries, 31 yards
After many were excited to see Gardner Minshew come in for the anemic Nick Foles, it’s clear that no matter the quarterback, the Jaguars offense has issues. Whether it’s the playcalling, the lack of weapons, or that neither of the quarterbacks is the answer, it’s hard to trust anyone in this passing game at this point. I do think Minshew gives them a better chance to move the ball and score points, but it will rarely be pretty. He was unable to push the ball downfield in the slightest, dinking and dunking his way to a pretty awful stat line. Given the amount Minshew threw, and how behind the Jaguars were for most of the game, you would think he would have garbage time production at least. That was not the case. I don’t think head coach Doug Marrone will last beyond this season, but I’m not sure if Minshew will either. The Jaguars are a complete mess on both sides of the ball and are a run-first team. Even with Minshew’s juicy next 2 weeks, against Oakland and Atlanta, I would not feel comfortable starting him or Foles if they go back to him.
Running Backs
- Leonard Fournette: 15 carries, 50 yards | 6 targets, 3 receptions, 13 yards
- Ryquell Armstead: 2 carries, 7 yards | 2 targets, 0 receptions
The Jaguars were completely shut down on offense, and as a result, so was their running game. The game script was not favorable to the running game, as the Chargers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Leonard Fournette was able to gain some quality yards when he did get work, but he’s not going to continuously break long gains, meaning he needs more volume. That volume simply wasn’t there today. Fournette was still targeted in the passing game a fair amount but was shut down by the Chargers’ ferocious tackling. Fournette is still a great play down the stretch, as he gets the workhorse, 3-down volume that leads to good-to-great production. Ryquell Armstead was mixed in at points but will never be relevant unless Fournette goes down. If you are a Fournette owner, however, pick up Armstead as soon as possible. There’s no reason to have a WR5 on your bench if Fournette goes down next week and you are without him for your championship week.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
- DJ Chark: 10 targets, 9 receptions, 75 yards
- Dede Westbrook: 7 targets, 6 receptions, 25 yards
- Chris Conley: 3 targets, 1 reception, 7 yards
- Nick O’Leary: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 30 yards, 1 TD
- Keelan Cole: 3 targets, 1 reception, 12 yards
In a similar vein to the rest of the offense, the Jaguars’ receivers and tight ends were unable to do much against the staunch pass defense of the Chargers. DJ Chark had the best game production-wise, but unless you were in PPR leagues it was hard to get excited about him or Dede Westbrook in this game. Nick O’Leary caught the lone touchdown of the day, but I don’t think it needs to be said that he is not a dependable option moving forward. For Chark, however, assuming he didn’t kill your championship hopes, I think he can still be played with relative confidence next week at the very least. He’s proven too much to be considered risky, and Oakland just got shredded by Ryan Tannehill and AJ Brown. Chark is still Minshew’s favorite target and I think he will pay off the risk next week. 10 targets are 10 targets, after all. For Westbrook, however, that one’s more up in the air. Oakland gives up points to everyone, but I’m not sure if Jacksonville’s offense is good enough to support multiple fantasy pass catchers. I would play Westbrook only in truly desperate situations, and certainly not in anything less than full PPR. He may get receptions, but the quality of those receptions will not be great.
–Edit– D.J. Chark was spotted in a walking boot and his status is in doubt for next week. Westbrook and Conley would be the likely beneficiaries of a potential absence from Chark.