Summer Sleeper: San Diego Chargers

Jaron Foster

chargers

We continue our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series where DLF scribes identify a lightly-touted player on each NFL roster who may be worthy of your consideration. Our subjects all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but each merits a bit of in-depth discussion here in the Premium Content section.

To help everybody along, we are going to be categorizing our sleepers under one of three headings:

  • Super Deep Sleepers – Players who aren’t roster-worthy in 12-team leagues, but are still worth keeping an eye on.
  • Deep Sleepers – An end of the roster player who is more often than not on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
  • Sleeper – A likely rostered player who makes for a good trade target. Their startup ADP puts them out of the top-175 or so.

Because we aren’t going give you the likes of mainstream sleepers like Allen Robinson or C.J. Anderson, most of these players will undoubtedly fizzle. All we are asking is for you to keep an open mind and perhaps be willing to make room for one of these players on your bench. You never know when the next Alfred Morris is going to spring up.  Feel free to add your own thoughts about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own in the comments below.

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Stevie Johnson, WR SD
Category
: Sleeper

Following three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, in which he totaled 23 receiving touchdowns, Stevie Johnson plunged to the waiver wire after failing to reach 600 yards receiving or four touchdowns each of the last two years. For the 29-year-old wide receiver, fantasy relevance appeared to be a thing of the past. That is, until he signed with San Diego in mid-March.

Prior to the signing, coming off a poor season in San Francisco with no known desitnation for 2015, Johnson was practically free in dynasty. DLF’s March ADP does not include him in the top 114 wide receivers or 240 overall, meaning he was sitting on the waiver wires in 12-team leagues with 20-man rosters. He rose into the 20th round in April and May, moved into the 18th round in June, then took another step forward into the 16th round in July.

Free agent Jacoby Jones joins an aging Malcom Floyd as San Diego’s primary deep threats, while Johnson compares to Keenan Allen in build and route-running ability (although he will reportedly play both on the outside and in the slot). The Chargers lost Eddie Royal to Chicago in free agency, and they turned to Johnson to help replace Royal’s 62 receptions on 91 targets. Antonio Gates‘ suspension could also lead to more targets early in 2015, and with San Diego’s primary targets in their mid-30’s Johnson could carve a solid role beyond this season.

As the price to acquire Johnson has been rising steadily, he is no longer a deep sleeper as he was when he signed on St. Patrick’s Day, but having inked a 3-year deal and with a history of production in Buffalo could easily outperform even his current ADP.

Branden Oliver, RB SD
Category
: Deep Sleeper

For NFL depth charts, ourlads.com is a reliable source for the most up-to-date hierarchies. While Melvin Gordon is deservedly getting most of the attention in San Diego’s backfield, it is Branden Oliver (not Danny Woodhead) slotted behind him. While this is not a definitive indicator of who is next in line for carries, it speaks to the relevance of Oliver as a roster option in deeper leagues.

Barely on the radar at the beginning of the 2014 season, Oliver nearly doubled the number of carries of any other Charger running back (Donald Brown had 85) and had 43% more yards than second-place Ryan Mathews. He also was fifth in receptions and receiving yards. While Mathews and Woodhead missed time and Brown proved to be ineffective (2.6 yards per carry on the season), Oliver stepped in with five straight weeks of at least nine fantasy points. Though his overall production fell in the final weeks of the season, he remained a target in the passing game.

Let’s be clear Oliver is not a bellcow back, as evidenced by his 3.6 yards per carry average (featuring seven games under 3.0). This side of Joique Bell, that’s just not going to cut it, so even if Gordon were to miss time there would be split carries in the backfield. However, with a rookie (albeit a very talented one) and a 30-year old coming off a severe leg injury as his competition, Oliver should be in the mix for a few touches per game even if everyone is healthy.

At his price, the 72nd running back in the 18th round according to July ADP, Oliver has some upside with no risk.

Follow me on Twitter @JLFoster10

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