The Los Angeles Chargers’ decision to part ways with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler this offseason puts WR Joshua Palmer in a position to contend for the WR1 role in this offense this upcoming season. However, the impact of a new head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman — who are both known for wanting to run the ball — clouds his fantasy outlook.
What can fantasy football managers expect from Palmer in 2024?
Joshua Palmer’s 2024 Fantasy Forecast
Explaining Palmer’s drop in production from his second to third season requires a bit of context. Palmer sustained a knee injury last year that kept him off the field for seven games in 2023, which helped him finish as the WR65 overall with just 38 receptions for 581 yards and a career-low two scores. His 2023 production also requires the additional context of QB Justin Herbert missing four games.
Palmer’s WR37 finish in 2022 correlated in large part with either Allen or Williams being out of the lineup. Yet, Palmer has produced four 100-yard receiving performances over the last two seasons. Regardless of the circumstances, that does suggest Palmer can be a productive player when he sees an appropriate amount of work.
This is exactly why Palmer truthers should be very excited about his fantasy outlook in 2024. At this moment, Palmer’s best target competition on the roster is a rookie in Ladd McConkey, and a player who had a dreadful rookie campaign in 2023, Quentin Johnston.
Regardless of where you fall on your opinion of these other players, there is no denying there is an enormous amount of targets to be earned with the departures of Allen, Williams, Ekeler, and Gerald Everett — who accounted for 229 receptions and 2,339 receiving yards worth of production in 2023.
Palmer is best suited for X-receiver duties out on the perimeter, which makes him an unlikely candidate to see the type of volume we saw from Allen last year — who operated highly efficiently out of the slot.
Ultimately, he has a very intriguing opportunity to earn the leading role in this passing attack at a very reasonable draft-day price. Could this offense mainly rely on the running game this year? Sure, but I don’t see the Chargers throwing the ball fewer than 400 times. This means the passing volume has to go somewhere, and Palmer certainly had a plausible case to lead the team in targets in 2024.
Palmer’s ADP at No. 100 overall in the ninth round (WR52) feels low considering his existing rapport with Herbert and the lack of a proven top option in the receiver room could give him legitimate WR2 upside in 2024.
For some additional context, Tyler Lockett, Curtis Samuel, and Courtland Sutton are all currently going just ahead of Palmer and he is being drafted just before Rashid Shaheed, Khalil Shakir, and Romeo Doubs.
Palmer has been a relevant contributor to fantasy rosters when Allen or Williams have been hurt over the last two years. With both players off the roster, it is completely reasonable to believe he could be a fantasy difference-maker for the entire 2024 campaign.
Sure, he will face competition in the form of McConkey and Johnston, but Palmer feels well-positioned to see reliable volume every week from one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. That alone is worth the current price of admission in the ninth round.