Norv Turner and his offensive unit need to establish a running game. With the departure of LT there will be a lot of pressure on the rookie shoulders of Ryan Mathews. Over the years it is pretty obvious that Turner prefers to use Sproles sparingly and allow him to continue to be the big play threat that he is, so Mathews will be the every down back come opening day. He will get his touches and will have some success with a decent offensive line in front of him, but if he struggles it could spell trouble for San Diego because of their depleted receiving corps. Outside of Antonio Gates the Chargers really lack a true number one guy. Floyd has potential to be a big downfield threat and the addition of Josh Reed from Buffalo gives them some depth but they are going to need more than just him to be successful and that could come in the form of Legedu Naanee. Although he only caught 24 balls last year, he will be a major player in the Chargers offense this year. He may not have the best speed in the league but he has solid hands and is a great physical presence down the middle of the field. Without Jackson in the lineup he will get more attention from Rivers and could be a solid back up in the early weeks while Jackson watches from home.
The Chargers will again be in the drivers seat in the AFC West division this year with their only true competition being the Denver Broncos, but with the loss of Brandon Marshall and questions at QB could struggle mightily on offense. Their overall schedule does not seem too daunting and could be a major asset as they try to get their revamped offense on track, with their only major challenges being New England, Indianapolis, and Houston, the rest of their opposition is on par with them talent-wise and if they can get over those minor speed bumps are poised to have an 11-5 year and will rest atop the AFC West once again.
Antonio Gates: TE is one position in the Charger lineup where there are no questions. Gates is one of Rivers favorite targets on third down and in the red zone and consistently produces when called upon. Besides his rookie campaign, Gates has scored a minimum of 8 touchdowns and had at least 700 receiving yards. The trickle down effect of possibly missing Vincent Jackson for most of the season could affect Gates the most. Gates will become Rivers' primary target, especially in the Red Zone, and his numbers will increase accordingly. There is potential for this to be one of Gates' biggest years to date and I see him going for 1,200 yds and 10-13 touchdowns.
Vincent Jackson: With his suspension fresh in everyone's mind it is going to be hard to see Jackson and the Chargers entering the season on amiable terms and even when, and if, he comes back it is uncertain what sort of role he will continue to play. If things look promising he could be a good player to pick up in later rounds of your draft and keep hidden on the bench til the time comes, but until then the Chargers organization need someone, anyone, to step up on the outside, which leads us to this guy…
Malcolm Floyd: The number two WR in San Diego last year, if Jackson is absent Phillip Rivers he will be the go to guy in 2010. Floyd has great size at the position but had limited productivity as a third option for Rivers with only 45 catches for 776 yds last season. Those aren't pedestrian numbers, but his fantasy impact is in a little bit of doubt because he was rarely ever a target in the red zone with only 1 touchdown. He needs to become a bigger impact player in Jackson's absence and is certainly poised to do so. Look for all of his numbers, including red zone targets, to jump this year as he will become a 1,000+ yd, 6 TD guy this season.
Even though they had a losing record and things just weren't going their way, the Chargers were able to turn it around by winning 11 straight games in a row and heading into the playoffs as arguably the hottest team in the league.
Despite being able to turn their season around they still couldn't avoid losing to the New York Jets in the playoffs and ultimately being knocked out of the playoffs much earlier than anticipated.
The Chargers may have been unable to live up to expectations last season, but coming into the 2010-2011 NFL season they will be a serious force to be reckoned with once again as they have gone through a drastic change in their backfield after releasing superstar running back LaDainian Tomlinson during the offseason.
Without LT in the backfield, the Chargers will look to Darren Sproles and rookie running back Ryan Matthews out of Fresno State.
Obviously, LT has left some pretty big shoes to fill in San Diego, but the Chargers believe they have found their running back of the future in Matthews and in order to avoid a holdout by the rookie they have agreed to terms with their new feature back.
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