What the heck just happened.  Smooth sailing on the ship of the S.S. Fantasy, and then, we hit the large iceberg known as the “injury”.  From a fellow owner of the some of the guys injured, like most of you, survival mode is kicking into high gear.  The news about Keenan Allen is particularly troubling, because I completely bought into Allen, drinking the Kool-aid preseason and basically owning him everywhere.  I even own him in the two-team league that I share with my mom.  Yeah it’s sad, but we share a league, but draft six teams a piece.  The winner gets a sundae at the local ice cream shop with unlimited toppings.  The league is fun, but not accepting new applicants!  So back to the land of Whale’s Vaginas and who in Sam hell will benefit from the pass happy attack of the Bolts.  The names are fairly well bantered around fantasy circles: Stevie Johnson and  Malcolm Floyd are the main beneficiaries of the unfortunate-ness that is the kidney injury to Keenan.  So what you are asking yourself is who to grab, who will be the main beneficiary and basically what the hell do you do with the void that is a WR2 that you now (and me) have.  Well, the good news is that in the sum of several 100 words, the answer or for lack of a phrase, the non-answer will pronounce itself like a lighthouse set in the middle of Iowa.  So hang out, get relaxed, and put on some comfy pants for the next 2-7 minutes, depending on reading level and we can talk this out in a group format.
[graphiq id=”1MqiKjVkUt” title=”Stevie Johnson Overview” width=”640″ height=”545″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/1MqiKjVkUt” link=”http://football-players.pointafter.com/l/10610/Stevie-Johnson” link_text=”Stevie Johnson Overview | PointAfter”]
So the Chargers have been one of the most pass happy offenses in the NFL, this is a fact. Â The problem is that there is not one guy you can point a finger at, fantasy-wise, to say “You, you are now my Keenan replacement, deal with it”. Â If it were that easy, I would be pointing fingers like I was J.P.P. at a 4th of July party and I had the only matches. Â Now, the Chargers pass the ball on over 66% of plays and are a top-four team in that said category on the year. Â So overnight, it is not going to change, it is just a matter of who to roster, trade for, or acquire via waiver. Â The best guess I can give you is Stevie Johnson. Â He fits the role of a possession receiver better then the Floyd’s and Inman’s. Â Because in that offense, that is what Allen was bringing, a 10-14 target receiver who can be that guy for Philip Rivers. Â The truth of the fact is that Stevie isn’t Allen. I am sorry to break the news, but… he is going to useful to you. Â Even at 80% of himself with what Allen was producing he will be a fantasy asset, and is the number one guy I would look to acquire.
The Chargers this week get the Bears.  The Bears are a bottom-five team in total team defense, and even more dirt on the Bear defense is that they are a bottom-eight against the pass.  I wish I could implore you to convince yourself that the Chargers aren’t going to re-invent the wheel with their offense.  Rivers is still going to sling the ball 30-40 plus times a game and the targets will be diversified, but someone has to absorb the Keenan targets.  Malcolm Floyd is the deep threat who gets 5-7 looks a game deep down field, rarely getting any receptions within 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. Enter Stevie into the fray, he is mainly owned everywhere, but the potential to be better for fantasy is there.  His targets will go up by 3-4 per game on top of the 6-8 he already receives.  He isn’t a rookie, he can be the adaptive receiver that the 2-6 Chargers need to be for a fantasy-worthy offense.  They aren’t going to catch the Broncos, hell they won’t even catch the Raiders.  None of that matters in the world of fake football.  We want, need, and implore Stevie to be the new Keenan.  He can be that guy, it’s just is a matter of what you need to trade for him, spend FAAB wise or have a little self-roster ability to use him.  He is in for a heavily targeted last eight weeks, and whether you believe me or not, the Bears are just going to show us that it is possible.  Play, trade, or bid with confidence as someone in that pass-happy offense will be the inheritor of fantasy fortuitousness. Smokey Predicts: 12 targets, 8 receptions, 101 yards, and 1 touchdown.
You can follow Smokey on Twitter or play some Fantasy Soccer with him.
