Los Angeles

Chargers

It wouldn’t be an NFL season with a surprise injury to Chargers defender. Samuel didn’t appear on the injury report until Friday when he was added as a limited participant. Per Jim Harbaugh, he suffered the injury in practice. Harbaugh told reporters he didn’t see the injury occur and didn’t give any more details. Samuel appears to be a true coin-flip for Week 1 given the lack of information.

Herbert suffered a plantar fascia injury in camp and missed some time while recovering. Herbert was listed as a full participant in all three practice sessions this week before being removed from the report. The injury could limit his mobility slightly, but there has been no indication that it will be a long-term issue. Herbert is a top-10 talent at quarterback, but Jim Harbuagh’s run-first style will severely limit his passing volume. Fantasy managers should treat him as a high-end QB2 going into the season.

Chark got plenty of run with the first-team offense in the summer and appeared to have a shot at playing ahead of former 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnston. Despite a horrific rookie season, Johnston is now a safe bet to play in three-receiver sets to start the year. Fantasy managers can stash Johnston to see what he offers in Week 1, but he is not a viable starting option in redraft leagues.

“We don’t overthink that,” Roman said Thursday. “They’re both going to play and whoever’s got the hot hand, as I tell them, has got the hot hand. So, we’re going to go with the hot hand. And they know that and they get that. Really nothing scientific.” Although in some ways frustrating, Roman’s comments are likely honest, and also just stating the obvious. Possessing a better recent health history with more overall experience in Roman’s system, Edwards will probably get the first crack, especially in the red zone, but Dobbins drew raves for his training camp work. J.K. is also the clear favorite to handle passing-down work in this committee. Both backs should be rostered as fantasy managers wait for the situation to play out.

New coach Jim Harbaugh probably has some injury report shenanigans cooking up for his NFL return, but back-to-back DNPs have Chark almost certainly out vs. the Raiders. Although there are targets for the taking in this wide open position group, Chark is not re-draft relevant.

Palmer was still listed as a full participant, but that sometimes just means the issue occurred at the end of practice. More likely is that Palmer felt some soreness but practiced through it. At least as of now, we aren’t worried about the Sunday status for this low-end WR4.

Per Popper, the team said nothing has changed with Herbert since Wednesday’s practice. The veteran quarterback was not on yesterday’s report, but the league has advised them to add him to the report despite him being back on the field for over two weeks. It’s an odd request by the league, but it doesn’t sound like there’s anything to be worried about here. We fully expect Herbert to play in Week 1 against the Raiders barring any legitimate setbacks.

Herbert had missed much of camp and preseason with a foot injury, revealed to be plantar fascia. He returned to practice towards the end of the preseason and now appears to be good to go for Week 1. Foot injuries can be difficult to shake, so there is a chance Herbert will be back on the injury report managing the issue. However, things look good for him to play through it for now. Expect Herbert to be in the high-end QB2 range this week.

Dobbins is coming off a ruptured Achilles suffered in Week 1 of last season. He has had major leg injuries throughout his four-year career, but Popper reports Dobbins is looking healthy and the “low-risk bet is going to pay off for the Chargers.” The Chargers have Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Kimani Vidal competing for touches in the backfield. A healthy Dobbins has averaged 5.8 yards per carry through 24 games in his career and could provide burst as a late-round fantasy flier this season.

Chark has been out of practice this week while dealing with a hip issue. He still has a few days to get back on the field, but it looks like the veteran receiver may be forced to miss Week 1 against the Raiders. Chark played ahead of Quentin Johnston in camp, so this injury could leave the door open for the former first-round pick to see an uptick in routes in Week 1. Day Three rookie Brenden Rice is also worth stashing in dynasty formats.