2019 Summer Sleeper: Los Angeles Chargers

Joseph Nammour Posted On July 19, 2019

In our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series, 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 to give you the likes of mainstream sleepers, 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 Adam Thielen 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.

There are a few options as sleepers in Los Angeles, but we’ve actually seen the majority of them in extended game action over the past couple seasons for various reasons. Justin Jackson would typically fall into the sleeper category, but he’s rapidly gaining steam as Melvin Gordon has recently indicated he will request a trade if he doesn’t receive the contract extension he believes he deserves.

With the underrated Tyrell Williams moving on to Oakland this off-season, there is a vacancy at the number three receiver spot in Los Angeles. Travis Benjamin signed a one-year deal to remain with the team, but he is most effective as a rotational deep threat and return man. We’ve seen Benjamin as a starter in the past and it hasn’t resulted in fantasy relevance. This leaves us with an athletic freak with a potential opportunity.

Dylan Cantrell, WR

Category: Deep Sleeper

When trying to evaluate players who could be worthwhile dynasty stashes, it’s helpful to attempt to envision scenarios where said player can emerge from anonymity. It helps when your own head coach is in your corner, and Anthony Lynn specifically named Cantrell (and Benjamin) as the two players who would be called upon to replace Tyrell this season.

The 6’3”, 226-pound Cantrell was the 191st player drafted in the 2018 NFL draft and was the most athletic receiver in the class. He lacks top-end straight-line speed but boasts elite agility, posting the best three-cone time of any receiver at the Scouting Combine. Cantrell is also very explosive, with 95th and 98th percentile scores in the vertical and broad jumps, respectively.

There are also some notable NFL talent appears on his list of athletic comparisons, with Andre Johnson, DJ Moore, and Vincent Jackson showing up as comparable athletes.

So Cantrell checks the athleticism boxes. He wasn’t an early draft pick, but most deep sleepers aren’t high-profile players. This franchise utilized Tyrell Williams, an undrafted free agent, as a top option in the offense for years. Draft pedigree, or lack thereof, isn’t a prohibitive factor with this team like it can be with others.

Cantrell’s collegiate production wasn’t elite, but he also shared the field with Keke Coutee, a current dynasty darling, as well as other NFL talents in Cameron Batson and Antoine Wesley. TJ Vasher is a 2020 prospect who will make an NFL team as well, so Cantrell had legitimate competition on his own depth chart throughout his college career.

On the field, Cantrell is a big receiver who plays big, winning with terrific body control and great hands. An underrated aspect to his game is his play strength and his ability as a blocker, which could help him see more playing time. He has the ability to line up all over the formation, and has experience at H-back as well.

He can struggle to separate at times and doesn’t have the best releases off the line of scrimmage against press coverage, but he understands the nuances of playing the receiver position, and you can see his natural ability flash at times. Obviously, it helps to consistently win one-on-one matchups against your defender, but as the number four option (at best) in the passing game, Cantrell won’t be facing off against teams’ top cornerbacks, which will afford him opportunities to improve his craft as a receiver.

But perhaps above all, what separates Cantrell as a sleeper is the opportunity available in Los Angeles this season. Williams’ departure vacates 65 targets, and the Chargers have historically been a team that prefers to spread the ball around behind the top option. In 2018, Melvin Gordon, Mike Williams, and Tyrell Williams had 66, 66, and 65 targets respectively. In 2017, Gordon, Tyrell, Benjamin, and Hunter Henry had 83, 69, 62, and 62 targets respectively.

The return of Henry from injury will siphon many of those vacant targets, and it’s reasonable to project Mike Williams for a larger target share this season as well. But Cantrell has a very reasonable path to winning a starting receiver role for this team in three-wide sets, and that will ensure he is on the field with the potential to receive targets from one of the best quarterbacks in football. He was breaking out in camp last season before succumbing to injury.

Cantrell profiles best as a possession receiver, so it’s unlikely that he will turn into a star on your fantasy squads, since Keenan Allen already plays that role on the team and does it as well as any receiver in the league. Cantrell is a guy to keep an eye on, though. He’s on many waiver wires and is a free addition to monitor over the summer. If he fails to make any noise over the summer, he’s easy to cut loose, as he didn’t cost much to roster in the first place. As a potential starting receiver in one of the league’s best offenses, he’s someone more people should be paying attention to.