The Los Angeles Chargers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Chargers skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 14 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Justin Herbert, QB
After a nice run of production, Justin Herbert has failed to throw a touchdown pass in consecutive games despite inviting matchups (vs. BAL, at ATL). I believe in his talent, but with a limited supporting cast and Ladd McConkey “working through a couple of things,” per Jim Harbaugh on Monday when detailing his rookie’s nagging knee injury, I’m ranking him as a top-12 quarterback in this spot isn’t for me.
The Chiefs pressured Herbert on 13 of his 27 passes against them in Week 4, a rate that I think could be sustained with them not required to respect a running game led by Gus Edwards these days. McConkey has more receiving yards than any two of his teammates combined this season, so if he is functioning at anything less than full strength, asking Herbert to clear 17 fantasy points is awfully optimistic.
I have him ranked at the very end of my starter tier for Week 13, more the result of six teams being on a bye than any level of optimism. I prefer Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson to Herbert this week with Will Levis and Geno Smith being the two names directly behind him for me.
Gus Edwards, RB
Sans J.K. Dobbins (knee, IR), Gus Edwards got the first Charger carry on Sunday in Atlanta. Hassan Haskins was given the next one, and that told me all I needed to know about Jim Harbaugh’s plan — read and react.
That’s certainly not optimal for our purposes. It helped add some clarity when Haskins put the ball on the turf, but I’m not at all confident that this running game can support a single player, let alone a committee situation.
Chargers RB snap shares, Week 13:
- Edwards: 52.2% (4.3 PPR points)
- Scott Matlock: 32.6% (1.2 PPR points)
- Kimani Vidal: 26.1% (2 PPR points)
- Hassan Haskins: 15.2% (-2 PPR points)
I was out on Dobbins as the head of this snake, and now I’m done with this backfield altogether. Edwards and Vidal deserve to be rostered due to their proximity to a role in an offense that I grade as above average the rest of the way, but without clarity, there’s no path to feeling good about this situation.
I’m aware that the Chiefs gave up 116 yards on 25 carries to the Raiders on Black Friday, a running attack led by the much-feared duo of Sincere McCormick and Ameer Abdullah. Sixty iffy minutes aren’t enough to change my opinion — Kansas City has the third-best defensive success rate against the run and has allowed running backs to pick up a league-low 3.3 yards per carry.
I have Edwards ranked ahead of Vidal this week, but not by much and not in a spot where I’m Flexing him with confidence.
J.K. Dobbins, RB
We knew the risk was there in a profile like this, but it’s still a shame to see J.K. Dobbins (knee) being placed on injured reserve last Saturday. This designation requires him to miss at least four games, making a Week 17 return (at Patriots) the next time we have a chance to see Dobbins, the fantasy Super Bowl in most leagues.
I’m moving on. The Chargers want to make noise in the postseason and they need to win games down the stretch, but I can’t imagine they rush this injury-prone back at such a level that he is fantasy viable with a title on the line in a game that will carry some weather risk.
The 900 yards and eight touchdowns you’ve squeezed out of Dobbins this week have been helpful — you can cut ties now if you don’t have the luxury of an available IR slot. This is a player who has appeared in 35 games during five NFL seasons — asking him to produce top-24 numbers IF he returns when first eligible is far too optimistic for my liking.
Kimani Vidal, RB
Kimani Vidal is a great oyster stash with J.K. Dobbins on the shelf and Gus Edwards yet to impress. The rookie was on the field for only 26.1% of snaps last week, and while that number by itself isn’t impressive, the fact that he was given the first carry of the second half should have your interest.
I find it unlikely that you ever feel great about Flexing Vidal, but the willingness to call his number out of the locker room tells me that Jim Harbaugh is trending toward a hot-hand backfield. Of course, we lack evidence that Vidal can outearn Edwards over the course of a game, but we know what Edwards does/doesn’t bring to the table, and I’m confident that his limitations at least give the rook a chance to produce.
I’m rostering with patience. There aren’t many backfields as up in the air as this one, and that makes all pieces involved reasonable stashes.
Joshua Palmer, WR
Joshua Palmer has surpassed seven expected PPR points just once over his past six games, a role that keeps him on waiver wires in most leagues. His 16.2-yard aDOT carries natural variance, and that means there’s always a chance for him to break out, especially against the ninth most vulnerable deep-ball defense on a per-pass basis.
If you want to play this lottery ticket, you have my best wishes. It’s not for me, but if this game script works in his favor and he repeats the 197-air-yard showing from Week 12, there’s a path to WR3 production.
Ladd McConkey, WR
First and foremost, there is a nagging knee injury to consider when it comes to Ladd McConkey. It doesn’t sound overly serious, but with this game being played on Sunday night, it requires your full attention, as you might be forced to make tough decisions without an official game status in hand.
At this moment, I’m operating with optimism until told otherwise, he’s been that good. If you’re trying to really protect yourself, adding JuJu Smith-Schuster, Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert, or Andrei Iosivas is a savvy move.
McConkey has surpassed PPR expectations based on his targets in six straight games and has done so with only a single look in the end zone — he’s caught 81% of his targets across those contests in a connection that is producing efficiency numbers well beyond what you’d expect in a first season together.
We know that this slot machine can win in a hurry off the line of scrimmage, we’ve seen that from Day 1. What has my attention in a league-winning sort of way is the fact that he posted 113 air yards on Sunday (his second-highest of the season) and has three straight games with multiple deep receptions (zero such performances through 10 weeks).
He deserves to be locked into lineups in all formats at this point, and you might be surprised at just how high he projects when we take a first look at 2025 rankings in two months.
Quentin Johnston, WR
If it wasn’t for the artist known as Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Quentin Johnston scoring once every four receptions would be the poster profile when it comes to regression. It’s been more than a month since Johnston caught more than two passes in a game, and the inefficiencies have hit a fever pitch over his past three games (four catches on 17 targets).
Johnston hauled in just one of five targets for a whopping nine yards in the first meeting with the Chiefs, though I think there is more upside this week than that ugly stat line suggests (KC: ninth-most yards per deep pass attempt allowed).
There’s a time and place for rolling Johnston out there as your Flex, and if you’re in a position to swallow risk for reward, go for it. I rank based on mean outcomes, and until we see Johnston earn looks at a consistent rate (under four catches in eight of 10 games), he’s not going to grade as a play.
Will Dissly, TE
Will Dissly entered Week 13 having given us at least eight PPR points in three straight (and five of six) games, giving streamers a consistent fall-back option with the hope that he’d provide value the rest of the way as this offense opens up.
The thought process was sound, but after earning just a single target on 20 routes in Atlanta over the weekend, it’s clear that he remains more of a week-to-week band-aid than a locked-and-loaded option that we can bank on routinely.
I’m not going to site Brock Bowers’ big Week 13 as a reason to play Dissly in this matchup as the usage is simply too different, but the Chiefs allowed Ja’Tavion Sanders to turn three targets into 7.9 PPR points the week prior and Dawson Knox to earn six looks in Week 11.
There are seven tight ends I feel good about and then another eight that are in a muddy tier of ugliness — he’s right in the center of that with names like Cade Otton and Pat Freiermuth when discussing Week 14.
