Fantasy Football

For the past two years at the draft now, I’ve heard that the Chargers do not need their picks, that they’re just over-loading a loaded roster. That’s two years, and the people covering the draft are so dead-fucking-serious about it you think their capable of murder should someone disagree with them at that very moment. Well, I guess I’m just not seeing this innate superiority.

That isn’t to say I don’t think they’ll win this division, because they most certainly are. But it has more to do with the inferiority in their conference than their incomparable harem of talent. It’s easy flaunt your prowess when the Raiders are in your division and your stiffest competition is the Kansas City Chiefs (who we like as a dark horse. But they’re just that: a dark horse, very few are expecting anything from them).

With that said, I really don’t want to under-sell this team because I think they actually make the leap this season. They’re returning everyone, their schedule is pretty light relative to other teams who made the divisional playoffs (because of a disappointing 8-8 season) and Shawne Merriman is coming back. In today’s league that buys you a playoff spot and probably a bye (though that’s obviously debatable). Their weaknesses are easily masked and compensated for in other facets of the team. Expect them to be exceedingly annoying and successful just like they were last year, except to a greater degree.

Can’t Miss (for what one could reasonably expect): Vincent Jackson,

Sorry Phil, this picture never gets old.

Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates. I’m tempted to put more because I feel like this entire passing game could be on a roster in the right league. I’m pretty sure they’ll have offensive lineman with more illegal receptions than the Oakland Raiders receiving corps. by year’s end. But these are the three that will undoubtedly perform for you and perform well. Rivers will probably lead the league in insufferable post-game interviews as well, make sure your league scores for those. He’s basically Ryan Leaf with NFL-made talent.

Tread Lightly: Chris Chambers and LaDainian Tomlinson. These two essentially have one thing in common: they’re both old. Old as the day is long. This is all relative, of course. They’re both 31 and 30, respectively; but this is increasingly a young man’s league. With virtually no margin for error, which means those in their 30’s are a dying breed. Their like the toucan at this point. Not to mention that these two tend to have more miles on them than most of their contemporaries. I’d be very wary of each. Especially Tomlinson, who I’ve seen as high as a second round pick on a draft ranking.

Dark Horses: A slew of Chargers backups are earning this title. Malcolm Floyd, Darren Sproles, Jacob Hester and the defense are leading this helm, though. All three of them earn the rank as “dark horse” since the people they’re playing behind are like Tom ‘n Jerry old. Floyd is a talented wide out just waiting for his contract to end/Chambers to leave, Hester is durable fullback with as much heart as anyone in the league, and we all saw what Sproles was capable of last season. You can probably hold off on drafting Floyd and Hester, but Sproles is an absolute must if the remaining options aren’t guaranteeing anything, we’ve been labeling him a dark horse for close to a year now.

This season is going to be a litmus test for this core group of players, but especially for Norv Turner, whose hiring (and replacement of Schottenheimer) people still question to this day. If he can take them to a 12-4 division title and make the conference championship game, the front office (more specifically, AJ Smith) will be validated. If they can’t, we might see an unnecessary rebuilding akin to what we’re watching in Denver right now.

Speaking of which, we’ll offer a full helping of Denver Broncos dismemberment on Monday. Have a good weekend.