Summer Sleeper: San Diego Chargers

Scott Peak

The Chargers are a mess right now and it’s hard to recommend much on this team for dynasty. Truthfully, I wouldn’t blame you for staying away from all players on this team for a lot of reasons. The recent past has been agonizing watching a Chargers team that seemed to tune out its former head coach, Norv Turner, and clearly a change was needed. Mike McCoy is now in charge and he has a limited track record, having played quarterback in college and, briefly, in the NFL. The new offensive coordinator is Ken Whisenhunt, and he has experience with tight ends, both as a player and coach. Whisenhunt guided the Pittsburgh Steelers to a top ten offense in 2006. When he moved on to Arizona, the Cardinals finished second in passing offense, third in scoring, yet last in rushing offense in 2008. In fact, Arizona finished dead last in rushing three out of five years under Whisenhunt and averaged a ranking of 30th in rushing during his tenure as head coach of the Cardinals. Dynasty owners of Ryan Mathews hoping for a career resurgence from this coaching change shouldn’t get their hopes up.

In terms of choosing an unheralded player with potential for dynasty owners in San Diego, the cupboard seems to be bare. Savvy dynasty owners, including all DLF premium members, already know about Vincent Brown, Danny Woodhead, and Keenan Allen. I do think two less heralded players on San Diego are worth watching.

Ladarius Green, TE SD

ladarius_greenGreen is a tight end drafted by San Diego in the fourth round of the 2012 draft. Dynasty owners are likely familiar with his name as he was drafted in the middle or later rounds of most rookie drafts last year. San Diego signed John Phillips in free agency, but he is likely to be used more as a blocker. The Chargers offensive line was dreadful last year and they will be starting Max Starks at left tackle and a rookie at right tackle, DJ Fluker. I doubt Phillips will have much of an impact as a receiving tight end, given the Chargers desperately need his blocking skills. Antonio Gates is 33 years old and his numbers have steadily declined over the past three years. There will be no Tony Gonzalez career arc for Gates and his value is fading fast in dynasty formats. Green has intriguing measurables and he stacks up well against two more well-known NFL tight ends (see table below). Green was picked in the third round or later of rookie drafts last year, and owners may be disappointed with his production. It is not too late for Green to fulfill his potential and he came into the NFL as a raw prospect. Whisenhunt is a former tight end and has helped coach talented players like Heath Miller, Mark Bruener and Jay Riemersma. Green gets criticized for below-average blocking skills, but players like Jermichael Finley, Owen Daniels, Brandon Pettigrew, Gates, and Aaron Hernandez have been successful tight ends despite having limited pass-blocking production. While Green is far from a sure thing, if you are looking for a player on the Chargers with a combination of talent, upside and opportunity, Green is a decent target to monitor.

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Michael Hill, RB SD

Hill played Division II college football at Missouri Western State and was the nation’s leading rusher in 2012 with 2,168 yards rushing at seven yards per carry. He also had 19 touchdowns, 21 receptions and 220 yards receiving. He has decent size at 5’10’’ and 209 lbs. as well. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by San Diego. Hill burst onto the scene in 2011 when he rushed for 1,305 yards, 12 touchdowns, 31 receptions and 257 yards receiving for the Griffons. Hill is a tough runner, is hard to tackle, is explosive and has a mean stiff-arm. He is also very adept as a receiver. His long speed is not ideal, with a 4.60 in the 40 yard dash. Hill was second in the voting for the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, called the Harlon Hill trophy. He was a late add to the Raycom All-Star Classic, and was voted Offensive MVP of the game after rushing for 148 yards on 12 carries and scoring two TDs. The Raycom All-Star game had players from big schools in it such as Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State, South Carolina, Notre Dame, LSU, Ole Miss, Florida, and Hill proved he could play with the big boys. Players like Montori Hughes, Quinton Dial, Ryan Griffin and Onterrio McCaleb played in that game, so it was a good test for Hill. The Chargers depth chart at running back is not exactly stellar, with the brittle Mathews doing his best to give up his job. Ronnie Brown doesn’t have much left at age 31 and Woodhead is more of a receiving, third-down running back. It is ironic that Hill will be playing next to Woodhead, as he himself came from a Division II school, Chadron State. Before we quickly dismiss a player like Hill, let’s compare him to Woodhead and a starting running back in the NFL, Benjarvus Green-Ellis.

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Woodhead has the edge on speed, but Hill has it on size and strength. Hill’s pro day numbers compare favorably to Benjarvus Green-Ellis, who has been a decent RB2/3 for a few years now. Woodhead was able to translate a successful career at a Division II program to the NFL, and now Hill will get a shot to prove himself on the Chargers. Hill could make some noise for your teams if Mathews falters, and his shot at NFL glory could come sooner than expected. For more on Hill, check out our Super Sleeper article we posted prior to the draft.

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