2026 Team Previews: Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Chargers 2026 Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Drafted Everywhere
Omarion Hampton, RB (ADP: 16, RB10): Hampton’s rookie campaign was hampered by injuries and an ineffective offensive line, but he still cobbled together 737 total yards and five touchdowns in nine games of action. Hampton was a player I was super high on entering his rookie season, and despite the pedestrian final production, nothing’s changed for me. Hampton is a big, fast monster of a back who has plenty of burst to house it on any given play. PFF agrees, ranking him their No. 17 RB despite having to deal with the NFL’s worst offensive line by year’s end.
The Chargers do have quality depth behind Hampton, but no real threats to his status as the lead back. Hampton will receive the lion’s share of work for the Chargers, and Jim Harbaugh offenses do lean pretty heavily on the run game, which is expected to continue given their investments in the TE position. The only limiting factor I can see is a truly putrid 16.3 pass blocking grade that PFF handed out to him, which could manifest in fewer snaps on passing downs. That can hurt his overall production and potentially cap him outside of the Top 5 at the position, but he still managed 32 catches for 192 yards and a touchdown through the air. Some might balk at this ADP given the weak rookie production and injury, but I wouldn’t blink. This certainly isn’t “value,” but it’s an ADP I’m comfortable with.
**Ladd McConkey, WR (ADP: 45, WR20): McConkey was one of the biggest busts of 2025, with his production falling off a cliff in receptions (-16) and receiving yards (-360) despite seeing a nearly identical number of targets in fewer games played. McConkey managers really went through it in 2025, but as I wrote here, he’s a flashing neon BUY LOW sign. A look at his Reception Perception profile shows a player who didn’t experience any drop off in his quality of play. He continued to scorch man coverage (76.5%, 88th percentile) and decimate zone coverage (84%, 89th percentile), while shredding press at an even higher rate than straight man (79.5%, 90th percentile).
What did happen, however, is that his “slant route rate jumped from 16.9% as a rookie to over 28% last season. As such, several other route percentages fell, with the most notable being the dig route (22% to 18%).” As the Chargers’ line deteriorated, they were unable to unleash McConkey in his ideal form, which is tormenting defenses in the intermediate areas and occasionally on bomb shots. The Chargers’ line was abysmal for sure, but it was largely injury-related. Assuming health, this will be a much improved unit with a legitimate stud QB at the helm. Returns to normalcy from his QB and offensive line should result in a huge spike in McConkey’s production given that he continued to get open at an elite level. We’ve seen what can happen to star WRs when their QB/offensive environment becomes toxic, and as great as McConkey is, even he is not immune to that. Let the fantasy community give up on him as an elite player, you scoop up the value.
**Justin Herbert, QB (ADP: 89, QB10): The entire world has caught up to the idea of dual threat QBs being the cheat code of fantasy, and they’ve long left pass-first guys like Herbert for dead. We’ll always have a few of those littered in the upper tier, and it’s usually guys who performed in a major way the prior season. That wasn’t Herbert, so we find him down here at the back end of the QB1s. Perfect!
If you’re not contributing big numbers as a rusher, QBs need to be around 4,000 yards and 35 passing touchdowns. Herbert hasn’t hit those marks in three seasons now, so it’s fair to ding him, but there have been some tough circumstances in these seasons. Every talent evaluator you’ll read still gushes about Herbert, and we have seen him crush the 4,000-yard mark three straight seasons to begin his career, and throw for 38 touchdowns in 2021. It’s worth noting that Herbert did throw for more than 3,700 yards last year behind an offensive line that was PFF’s second-worst pass-blocking line and second-worst run blocking line. Herbert was the fourth-most hurried QB (55), the most-hit (74), and the most-pressured (183). Basically, Herbert put forth a quality season despite being under duress almost the entire time, to the point that they had to nerf their best pass-catcher just to keep Herbert alive and to move the chains. We have an elite coach in his second year now, a line that figures to be much better, and a second season of a first round RB (Hampton) to alleviate pressure on the passing game. This is set up for a blowup season, and the best part is we know he’s capable because we’ve seen it with our own eyes.
Interesting Players
Quentin Johnston, WR (ADP: 106, WR44): Johnston certainly has a path to fantasy relevance, but it’s not necessarily a clear one. His disastrous rookie season definitely soured a lot of people on him to the point that his reputation is permanently stained. Smarter fantasy managers – see what I did there? – allow new information to alter opinions. He’s still an imperfect player, but three years in we have to acknowledge he’s pretty productive these days. Johnston has posted back-to-back seasons with eight touchdowns, and in both he’s delivered very similar reception and yardage totals. It’s a safe bet to expect around 50-55 catches and 700-730ish yards from him, which is no great shakes, but it’s FLEX-worthy when it comes with as much touchdown upside as he’s shown.
After his TD spike in 2024, we could’ve justifiably treated it like a fluke. He’s done it twice in a row now though, and it feels more like a feature of the Chargers rather than a bug. Essentially, there’s a few things he does great and the Chargers just lean into it. He’s very good vs. zone (79.5%, 59th percentile), he gets open on digs (75.6%) and he’s a monster after the catch. Mike McDaniel is L.A.’s new offensive coordinator, and he’s going to have a lot of fun scheming Johnston for layup targets that allow him to gain steam. I still don’t see a complete WR that can really go off and become elite, despite his first round pedigree, but at this ADP I don’t see any issues and I even see a bit of upside if the touchdown numbers remain stable. I’m a buyer on this offense as a whole, so this is a fine pick.
Oronde Gadsden, TE (ADP: 128, TE16): Gadsden erupted last season for a few games, and his physical talent leapt off the screen. From Weeks 6-9 Gadsden averaged six receptions and 94.3 yards while scoring twice. Those are crazy numbers for a TE, and while they’re fairly unsustainable, the eye test backed up the potential of him as a possibly elite TE. He did slow down after that, but the sight of him moving and making plays like a true WR didn’t leave me and I expected to be very bullish on him as a breakout in 2026. But the signing of David Njoku really poured cold water on that for me. I remain open to the idea of Gadsden as a potential breakout, but I’m no longer confident enough to draft him as a lone TE to rely on weekly until we see consistent production out of him. It’s a shame, but it is what it is. Njoku needs to be respected as a talent, and will almost certainly eat into Gadsden’s work.
Deep Cuts
David Njoku, TE (ADP: 161, TE22): Speaking of Njoku, he also would be far more interesting for fantasy if he wasn’t sharing an offense with another bright young player. At his best, Njoku is a player capable of high-volume work, but he’s almost always ended up being an athletically impressive player with peaks, valleys and very little consistency. I expect that to continue in Los Angeles. He’ll have some big weeks and multi-score games with Herbert throwing it to him, but we’ll never know when. He’s not reliable as a weekly TE, and he might even be shaky as a streaming option.
Keaton Mitchell, RB (ADP: 175, RB55): It seems like McDaniel’s arrival coincided with Mitchell’s and people see Mitchell’s size and speed, think about De’Von Achane, and what McDaniel did with Achane. That’s exciting to think about, but Mitchell’s not Achane. Yeah he’s fast, but he’s been through a multitude of injuries, has never seen 60 carries in a season, and hasn’t started a game since 2023. Moreover, in the event of a Hampton injury or absence, it’s highly unlikely Mitchell takes over even the better half of a timeshare let alone a bell cow role. This is a classic case of highlights and hype overshadowing reality. Even at this late stage of the draft, his backfield mate is a much better choice especially if you’ve already picked Hampton.
Kimani Vidal, RB (ADP: 232, RB63): Vidal is being disrespected here. Obviously, a healthy Hampton is going to render Vidal unplayable, but to be going behind Mitchell is kind of insane. Vidal filled in admirably for Hampton last year, putting up 779 total yards and four touchdowns behind the same broken offensive line that Hampton struggled with. He popped for 115+ rushing yards three times, and he should still have passing down work because he was a far superior pass blocker to Hampton. This is the handcuff should you choose to insure Hampton, and if you wind up needing Vidal he’s shown he can play.
Tre’ Harris, WR (ADP: 233, WR75): Harris was a rookie I had kind of bet on to usurp Johnston last year, and to Johnston’s credit he played well and staved him off. Harris played somewhat sparingly, and managed 30 receptions for 324 yards and one touchdown. When he was on the field, the Chargers basically told him “go long.” 23.3% of Harris’ routes were nines, and he actually posted a 54.8% success rate on them. Overall though, his man success rates were similar to Johnston’s, and his zone success was well below. If you subscribe to the idea of seeing more two-receiver sets from the Bolts, then Harris is probably going to be riding the pine too much to be fantasy relevant.