The Chargers have lofty goals in mind for the 2019 season. In order for them to achieve them, they will have to get the most out of their players.
With that, here are five goals for Los Angeles’ top offensive skill players this upcoming year.
QB Philip Rivers wins 2019 MVP
Rivers is entering his 16th season and is coming off one of the best years yet as a professional. He posted 4,308 passing yards for 32 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 105.5 quarterback rating.
Even though Rivers is continuing to play at a high level, his career is close to an end. Now is the time for him to be labeled as the league’s most valuable player if he wants to solidify his name in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The veteran quarterback will have a variety of weapons to help his case. Tight end Hunter Henry is back from last year’s torn ACL, wide receiver Mike Williams should continue to see an uptick in his production as the No. 2 receiver and Keenan Allen continues to be dominant.
Along with that, running backs Melvin Gordon, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson certainly help his case, as a good chunk of Rivers’ numbers come from check downs.
Rivers will have stiff competition with Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Patriots’ Tom Brady, Saints’ Drew Brees and Packers’ Andrew Luck, as well as a few others. But he is more than capable of bringing home the honors if he plays just like a season ago, along with leading the Chargers to the Super Bowl.
WR Keenan Allen catches 10 touchdown passes
After missing the most of the 2015 and 2016 season, Allen has quickly established himself as one of the best wide receivers. In a two-year span, Allen has amassed 199 receptions, 2,598 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Since being drafted in 2013, he has surpassed the 1,000-yard and 100 reception mark. The only thing that Allen hasn’t amassed is at least 10 touchdowns in a single season. The closest he came to it was back was during his rookie season (8).
The one thing separating Allen from the other top receivers in the league is that one statistical category. DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Mike Thomas and Odell Beckham Jr. have all amassed 10 touchdowns at least once in their career.
Achieving that in 2019 is certainly possible, as his target share has been over 125 in each of the past two seasons.
RB Melvin Gordon goes for over 12 rushing touchdowns
Gordon failed to score a rushing touchdown during his rookie season. Since then, he’s been a scoring machine. In his last three campaigns, Gordon has totaled 28 touchdowns on the ground.
Coming into 2019, things should be much of the same for the talented running back. Even though the Chargers possess two other backs in Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson, the former Wisconsin product should expect to receive the rock over 250 times this season.
In his four-year career, Gordon has scored 10 or more rushing touchdowns twice. Los Angeles could see their bell cow find his way into the end zone 12 times in his contract season, barring any injuries that keep him off the field.
WR Mike Williams posts over 1,000 yards receiving
Williams’ rookie season wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows as he dealt with a back injury, keeping him limited pretty much all of 2017. In 2018, things changed big time for the former Clemson product, having him fully healthy and finding his way onto the field with consistency.
Williams posted 43 receptions on 66 targets for 664 yards and 10 touchdowns. With Hunter Henry out all of the 2018 regular season, he got the majority of the targets near the goal line.
Philip Rivers will want to continue to target his big man on the outside. With Tyrell Williams no longer on the team, Williams should be in line for 90-100 targets in 2019, making it more likely that he will be targeted deep in jump ball situations to tally up his stats.
TE Hunter Henry leads the league in TDs for a tight end
Henry is coming off of an ACL injury and is completely healthy. Still just 25 years old, Henry already has an eight-touchdown season on his resume.
In the first two years of Henry’s career, in which he played alongside Antonio Gates, he scored 12 touchdowns and finished both seasons in the top 10 in red-zone targets.
Philip Rivers is notorious for favoring his tight ends. Along with that, the departure of Tyrell Williams and knowing there aren’t any other notable pass-catching tight ends to take targets away from him, should only help his case even more.
There are plenty of other talented tight ends like Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle to beat out. But despite the competition, it’s well within reason for the former Arkansas product.
