Tag: Josh Palmer

5 Chargers players to watch vs. Giants

Listing five Chargers players whose performances will be pivotal in the matchup against the Giants.

The Chargers are looking to build off of last week’s victory and take out the Giants to move closer to sitting atop the AFC West once more.

To do so, there will be certain players that need to be on their A-game to help guide the team to victory in Week 14.

WR Mike Williams

The other half of the Chargers’ wide receiver duo, Keenan Allen, is out Sunday after testing positive for COVID. So Williams will now have the responsibility of handling the No. 1 role. He is coming off his third 100-yard receiving game last week against the Bengals. With Williams looking to earn a contract beyond this season, this will be an excellent opportunity to show he’s worthy of being kept around without him being in the shadow of Allen.

WR Josh Palmer

Behind Williams, Palmer and Jalen Guyton will share the volume of snaps, according to Brandon Staley. Guyton is coming off a season-high performance, but fans are eager to see what the rookie can do in an expanded role. Palmer has shown glimpses in spurts, but now he has the opportunity to put together a complete performance. He has been targeted 21 times this season, catching 15 of those balls for 168 yards and a touchdown.

EDGE Uchenna Nwosu

The Chargers got to Joe Burrow 27 times, sacking him six of those last weekend, with Nwosu leading the pack after the loss of Joey Bosa early on. Nwosu stole the show with seven pressures, two sacks, two quarterback hits, and a strip-sack that he recovered. Auditioning for a contract extension with Los Angeles or a new one with another team, this will be a good time for him to capitalize off of his last performance, facing a struggling Giants offensive line.

EDGE Chris Rumph II

Rumph benefited from the absence of Bosa, finishing with 31 defensive snaps, the most this season. Now, he is in line for more since the Chargers will be without Kyler Fackrell, who recently had a knee procedure. Against Cincinnati, Rumph finished with three pressures and his first NFL sack. This will be a great time for him to get more reps and show he can win reps off of something rather than pure effort.

S Nasir Adderley

The Chargers could potentially be without Derwin James, who is questionable with a hamstring injury. If James can’t play, Adderley will likely be tasked with taking on his responsibilities as the chess piece of the defense. Adderley has come into his own this season, playing like the guy fans were anticipating when he was drafted back in 2019.

Chargers WR Keenan Allen ruled out vs. Giants

The Chargers will be without their star wide receiver against the Giants.

The Chargers will be without their star wide receiver when they take on the Giants this Sunday.

Keenan Allen was officially ruled out on Friday, according to Brandon Staley.

Allen was placed on the COVID-19 list earlier this week after testing positive.

His status for next Thursday’s game against the Chiefs remains to be seen.

As for Mike Williams and Chris Harris Jr., who also landed on the COVID-19 list, Staley said they continue to test negative, which means they’re in line to play this weekend.

With Allen out, Jalen Guyton and Josh Palmer should expect an uptick in snaps. Furthermore, Los Angeles will likely promote from within the practice squad.

Jason Moore, K.J. Hill, and Maurice Ffrench are possible options.

DFS Fantasy Football: Favorite Pro Plays – Week 14

WinDailySports’ CEO Jason Mezrahi checks in with his top Week 14 DFS fantasy football for FanDuel and DraftKings

Top-ranked daily fantasy sports pro Jason Mezrahi, founder and CEO of WinDailySports.com, breaks down his favorite DFS plays at various salary ranges for Week 14 of the NFL season. We are back for another year of DFS domination and we have some new tools to take advantage of from my team over at WinDailySports.com.

Our projection model, lineup optimizer, and data tools have been revamped and back tested to start the season off right. So what I will do in this article is list some of our highest projected players based off raw points and our highest point-per-dollar plays based on DraftKings.com pricing. Special Huddle Member Discount: If you would like to give our membership at Win Daily a try, take advantage of a FREE 2-week promotion where you will gain an all access gold pass to our DFS package. Use promo code “thehuddle” at checkout for 2 weeks FREE for our DFS Gold Package. Sign up now.
 
 
These are some of the players Jason will be locking in his lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel for this weekend’s slate.

Quarterbacks

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

$6,700 DRAFTKINGS
$8,100 FANDUEL

Dak and the passing attack have had rough games in two of the last three weeks, but this should be a get-right spot. With a full complement of weapons now, he is set up for a big week at a nice discount in salary on DraftKings. On FanDuel, I will take the higher floor of Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, but the DraftKings discount may be too big to pass up. The matchup is the best on the board as Washington ranks 32nd against opposing quarterbacks and are allowing the 30th-most passing yards. Vegas has the Cowboys projected to score 26, and Prescott has a passing prop of 287 yards. So if Dak can eclipse that passing prop and get us to 300 and three touchdowns, we should be in a great position in both cash games and tournaments.

Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints

$5,600 DRAFTKINGS
$7,700 FANDUEL

I haven’t looked back and checked yet, but to score 27.7 DraftKings points while throwing four interceptions is a rare occurrence and pretty impressive. The rushing upside that Hill possesses is second to none other than Lamar Jackson, and he scored 27 last week without a rushing touchdown. With Mark Ingram on the shelf with COVID-19, combined with a matchup with the New York Jets, we can easily see a repeat performance out of Hill. Like with Prescott, the price is just too cheap on DraftKings to pass up. Similar to Dak on FanDuel, I may just pay up for Allen or Mahomes, but DraftKings has mistakenly kept his price too low. This is the last week to enjoy the discount, so get a full share of Taysom in both cash games and tournaments on DraftKings. 

Running Backs

Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers

$8,300 DRAFTKINGS
$9,200 FANDUEL

The COVID bug is unfortunately spreading fast through NFL locker rooms, and the Chargers may be extremely short-handed with offensive skill players this week as Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are both leaning on the wrong side of questionable right now. If they are both out, I will be loading up on Ekeler and the cheap receiver options. This slate has a ton of value, and Ekeler is one of the safer pay-up options. Ekeler has a nice matchup against the 25th-ranked rushing defense of the New York Giants. Game script will be in his favor as well with the Chargers favored by 10 and projected to put up 26.5 points as per Vegas. In lineups you want to fade the Taysom Hill chalk, you can play Alvin Kamara and fake Ekeler, but I will be loading up on both in cash games and my tournament lineups.  

Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos

$5,900 DRAFTKINGS
$6,700 FANDUEL

With Melvin Gordon on the shelf last week, Williams shined for a 32.8-point performance on DraftKings. The rookie was effective as the lead back rushing for 102 yards and hauling in six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. If Gordon is out again this week, Williams will be a lock in my lineups at his current price tag with a dream matchup versus the Detroit Lions. The Lions are ranked 30th against opposing running backs, and Vegas has the Broncos favored by nine with a projected point total of 25.5. All in all, this is a great spot for Williams if Gordon sits out, and still a good spot even if Gordon is in. 

Wide receivers

Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills

$8,100 DRAFTKINGS
$8,200 FANDUEL

The Bills face off against the Super Bowl champs in Week 14, and we could see fireworks if Vegas has this 53.5-point total projected right. With the Bucs favored by 3.5, the game script should be in favor of the Bills’ passing attack. After one of the oddest games ever with high winds in Buffalo, the Bills need to bounce back and get this offense moving in the right direction if they want to make a serious playoff run. Diggs is the No. 1 option in this entire offense, and if the Bills can keep pace, Diggs should be in line for a monster game. With the Bucs ranked 19th against the pass and second against the run, everything points to a big game for Diggs. Without an effective run game to even lean on, I will be loading up on Diggs in both cash games and tournaments in Week 14.

Josh Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers

$3,000 DRAFTKINGS
$4,700 FANDUEL

Like I stated above, the Chargers will most likely be without Allen and Williams, so Justin Herbert will be working with Palmer and Jalen Guyton. The passing attack won’t stop just because the No. 1 and 2 receivers may be out. Herbert will continue to air it out, and we have several cheap options to target. I will be taking shots on Palmer, Guyton, and TE Jared Cook in most of my lineups. Along with Ekeler, I will be looking to load up on a couple of other Chargers as well. If I had to choose only one receiver, I would lean on Palmer in the slot. Without much sample size with the two big dogs off the field, I will be splitting up my shares of the passing attack in Week 14 to play it on the safe side. 

Tight ends

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

$7,400 DRAFTKINGS
$7,500 FANDUEL

Kelce and the Chiefs put up a ton of points in Week 10 versus the Las Vegas Raiders, and we can expect more of the same this week. If I’m paying up for a tight end this week, Kelce is my go-to guy. My only worry with playing any of the Chiefs’ skilled players is whether or not the Raiders can keep pace in this one. It didn’t matter much in the 41-14 blowout a couple weeks back where Kelce went for eight receptions and 119 yards. If Deebo Samuel is out for San Fran, I would prefer George Kittle. So check back in as the week progresses and you can always check out our free live stream at WinDailySports.com Sunday morning at 11 am.

Jared Cook, Los Angeles Chargers

$3,200 DRAFTKINGS
$5,100 FANDUEL

Out of all the value plays in LA, Cook may be the safest option on the board. Cook already has an established connection with Herbert and his role is set. The play is simple and doesn’t need too much explanation. Presuming the big guns are out for LA, Cook is priced way too cheap, and we have a plus-matchup against the New York Giants. Long story short, the Chargers are the easiest value on the board, so pick wisely and get the right shares of this offense in Week 14. 

Good luck in Week 14, and if you ever have any questions, please hit me up on Twitter!

Jason Mezrahi has been a professional, top-ranked Daily Fantasy Player on FanDuel and DraftKings for more than eight years. He has won FanDuel’s $155,555 King of the Diamond competition and placed second in DraftKings’ Fantasy Basketball World Championship, earning him $300,000. He owns and operates WinDailySports.com, which supports the DFS and Sports Betting community with resources such as tools, projection models, expert chat, in-depth written analysis and podcasts, plus much more.

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4 bold predictions for Chargers in Week 14 vs. Giants

Laying out four bold predictions as the Chargers look to avoid the trap game against the Giants.

The Chargers are facing the Giants on Sunday, Dec. 12.

There’s always bound to be some things that occur that most people would not have forecasted.

With that being said, here are four bold predictions for Week 14’s matchup:

Josh Palmer goes for 50+ yards & touchdown

Interesting to note, Austin Ekeler said, “Keenan’s [Allen] not playing” at his media availability on Wednesday. Allen is currently on the COVID-19 list, so it’s possible that his tests could be showing positive still or he’s showing symptoms, which means that he would be ruled out this weekend. If that’s the case, Palmer would be due for more of a prominent role, likely north of his 30% offensive snaps that he’s received in each of the last five games. On 21 targets, he has caught 15 of them for 168 yards and a touchdown. Given his ability to consistently get open and catch nearly everything, I can see this being the most productive day of the season for Palmer.

Austin Ekeler scores 3 touchdowns

Ekeler has been haunted by dropped passes and fumbles as of recent, but this has the makings of a breakthrough performance. Not only could his target share benefit from Allen being out, the Giants currently are allowing the eighth-most receiving yards (576) to running backs through 13 weeks. Furthermore, the team has allowed 72 receptions to backs. Look for Ekeler to exploit New York’s zone-heavy defense.

The defense has 25+ pressures and 5+ sacks

Last Sunday, the Chargers lived in the Bengals’ backfield, finishing with 27 pressures and six sacks. Now, they’re in a great position to do the same to a Giants offensive line that has struggled this season. New York recently allowed three sacks to the Dolphins, which marked the sixth time the team allowed multiple sacks in the last seven games. In addition, 16 quarterback pressures and eight quarterback hits were surrendered.

Chargers win by three touchdowns

With first place in the AFC West in sight, I expect the Bolts to come out firing on all cylinders following their big win over the Bengals. Justin Herbert, who has 300-plus yards and at least two touchdowns in three straight games, should have his way against the Giants’ defense, even with the possibility of not having Allen at his disposal. On the other side of the ball, New York’s offense has not been efficient at all this season, and they’re slated to start Jake Fromm, who has yet to make an NFL start. Trap game? Let’s hope not. But I’m predicting the Chargers to win big before taking on the Chiefs on Thursday night.

Chargers WR Josh Palmer due for an increased role

It’s time to unleash the Chargers’ third-round pick.

Following a standout summer, Chargers rookie wide receiver Josh Palmer was viewed as the team’s clear-cut third option heading into the regular season.

The third-round pick out of Tennessee showed off his size, ability to separate and catch everything on a regular basis, finishing the preseason with 10 receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown.

However, his snap count has not been reflective of that role to the slightest.

Instead, Palmer has been buried behind Los Angeles’ No. 3 wideout, Jalen Guyton, who has been on the field nearly three times as much as Palmer, yet has not been as productive with his playing time.

On 304 snaps, Guyton has only caught ten passes for 139 yards on 20 targets. On the other hand, Palmer has seen just 102 snaps and has turned 11 targets into seven receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.

As the Chargers’ passing offense has been underwhelming the past two games, it needs a spark and involving Palmer more frequently could lead to more positive results, as seen this past Sunday against the Patriots.

Amid all the drops, Palmer raised eyebrows with his touchdown grab in the end zone on the final drive. Over two defenders, he used body control, toughness, and hands to high-point and come down with the ball.

“When the ball’s in the air, I don’t think receivers think about the possibility of not catching it, you know we want to catch every ball,” Palmer said. “We put in a lot of work every day after practice just high-pointing the ball so that’s what I wanted to show.”

The problems with the passing game go beyond the drops that have come up as of late, and the inability to push the football down the field is one of them. Luckily, Palmer is a player who can shine on the vertical plane, possessing the separation skills off the line, deep speed and burst.

Palmer has stayed after practice to build chemistry with quarterback Justin Herbert since Day 1, and it is only a matter of time until we get to see that translate to live game action on more of a consistent basis.

Recently released WR DeSean Jackson could add explosive element to Chargers’ offense

The Chargers would benefit from adding a player like WR DeSean Jackson.

The Chargers’ offense has come to a screeching halt the past two games. In particular, it has been the passing game that has been problematic.

Early-down play-calling and the right side of the offensive line are to blame. However, we have not seen Justin Herbert do much of this season that is proven to have success: taking shots down the field.

Herbert’s air yards per attempt is 7.6, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. Furthermore, he is only averaging 7.9 yards per play-action attempt, according to Pro Football Reference.

While Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are one of the league’s better duos, Los Angeles would largely benefit from a proven speedster to unlock Herbert’s cannon of an arm more often to establish efficiency again.

One solution could be veteran DeSean Jackson, who the Rams recently waived.

Jackson, 34, was not let go of because of an injury or lack of production, but the team did not have many opportunities for him to contribute.

He left the Rams with eight receptions for 221 yards and one touchdown and showed that he has plenty of juice to be a downfield threat.

Furthermore, despite the injury concerns, Jackson is the healthiest in the past three seasons.

Since it’s now after the NFL trade deadline, Jackson is subject to waivers. If the Chargers were to claim him, they would take on his current $4.5 million contract. If Jackson clears waivers, he becomes a free agent.

Currently, Los Angeles is 20th on the waiver wire.

The bottom line is while he would not fix the pass protection problems or the drops that have been detrimental, Jackson is capable of bringing a downfield specialist that would allow Herbert to do what he does best.

Chargers WR Josh Palmer’s first NFL touchdown among few positives in loss to Patriots

Chargers WR Josh Palmer made the most of his limited action.

The Patriots defense stifled Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Sunday.

Heading into the final drive, Herbert completed just 12 of 26 passes for 143 yards while being down 10 points.

After taking its foot off the gas, New England allowed Herbert to scamper up the field on Los Angeles’ final offensive drive.

With 40 seconds left in the game, Herbert found rookie wide receiver Josh Palmer in the end zone. Over two defenders, Palmer showed the body control, toughness, and hands to high-point and come down with the ball.

The touchdown grab was the first of Palmer’s professional career.

“Hell of a catch. Hell of a catch,” wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “That’s the type [of] stuff we need. Especially late like that, we need a play, somebody’s gonna make one, Josh came up and made a play.

It’s big time … A ball like that, a catch like that, that’s a momentum shift. You make a catch like that; you automatically think we’re gonna get the onside kick. It was good stuff.”

Selected by the Bolts in the third round out of Tennessee, Palmer has flashed in spurts when he has been on the field. On 11 targets, he has caught seven of them for 82 yards (11.7 yards per reception).

In need of an offensive spark after stalling the past two games, Palmer could possibly see his target volume increase moving forward.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert positioned for big performance vs. Cowboys

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is in a great spot to build off of last weekend’s showing.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert started his sophomore campaign on a strong note against Washington, who was second in the NFL in both total and passing defense a season ago.

Connecting with eight different targets, Herbert finished with 337 passing yards and a touchdown. Had his receivers not dropped seven passes, two of which would have been scores, Herbert might been the most productive signal-caller in Week 1.

Herbert now looks ahead to this weekend’s matchup against the Cowboys, who allowed 379 yards and four touchdown passes to QB Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the season opener.

After putting together a solid outing against one of the most premiere defenses, Herbert should benefit immensely from Dallas, who has some holes along the defensive line and question marks in the secondary.

Starting edge defenders Demarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory will not play. Even with Lawrence and Gregory on the field last week, Brady was only knocked down twice and he was never sacked despite throwing 50 times.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ offensive line only allowed six pressures on 49 dropbacks against a fearsome front. With backups Dorance Armstrong and Tarell Basham starting, Herbert should have plenty of time to distribute the wealth.

Even with Bryan Bulaga out, Storm Norton should provide a serviceable starter at right tackle after holding his own against reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, Chase Young.

With time to throw, Herbert should have success against a secondary that was sliced a week ago aside from cornerback Trevon Diggs, who blanketed wide receiver Mike Evans.

Here were Brady’s stats against Dallas’ two other primary corners.

• Anthony Brown: 7 of 8 passing, 121 yards, one touchdown, 158.3 passer rating.

• Jourdan Lewis: 6 of 11 passing, 74 yards, one touchdown, one interception, 68.0 passer rating.

Keenan Allen and Mike Williams will draw the majority of the attention. Even then, Jalen Guyton, Josh Palmer, Jared Cook and Austin Ekeler are all capable of making good things happen in the passing game.

Like last weekend, look for offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi to let Herbert cook early and often this Sunday.

Fantasy owners, Herbert is a must start.

Chargers WR Mike Williams on track to play in season opener

The Chargers are expected to have one of the key pieces of the offense in Week 1.

Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams is on schedule to return to the football field for the team’s season opener on Sept. 12 against the Washington Football Team, according to head coach Brandon Staley.

Williams spent the majority of Los Angeles’ training camp and preseason sidelined with a hip flexor injury.

Entering the final year of his contract, Williams is looking to have a big season in hopes of finally getting his production to match up with his talent.

In order for him to do so, he must stay on the field, as injuries the last two seasons have slowed him and prevented him from living up to his first-round billing.

This season, Williams is set to man the “X receiver” role in the new offense, which was formerly held by Saints’ Michael Thomas. That means plenty of targets could be coming his way, but he must remain healthy.

1 bold prediction for every Chargers positional unit: Offense

Making one bold prediction for each position on the offensive side of the ball for the Chargers.

The Chargers are just a week away from kicking off the 2021 regular season, and after some roster reconstruction the team is equipped with plenty of talent on both sides of the ball.

How will the positional groups shape up? Let’s take a crack at making a bold prediction for each one, starting with the quarterbacks room.

Quarterback

Justin Herbert leads the NFL in passing yards

Herbert amassed 4,336 passing yards in his rookie season, in only 15 games. Knowing that he will have a full season and Joe Lombardi’s offense will allow him to air it out often to an array of stud skill players all behind a bolstered offense, Herbert could very well sit atop of the league in this category.

Running back

Larry Rountree takes over as RB2

Despite still drawing injury concerns, Justin Jackson is set to resume his role as the primary backup to Austin Ekeler to start the season. If the preseason is any indication, Rountree’s ability to win on the ground, as a receiver and in pass protection is the perfect skillset to manage a decent-sized load. I’m predicting Rountree to go from a short-yardage specialist to being used as the compliment to Ekeler by season’s end.

Wide receiver

Josh Palmer finishes second among team’s receivers in receptions

It’s expected that Mike Williams is going to be ready for Week 1 and there’s a lot of hype with him expected to man the “X receiver” which was formerly held by Saints’ Michael Thomas. However, an injury could still hold Williams back. Tyron Johnson was released, which benefited Palmer significantly. Jalen Guyton will likely only be used as downfield threat. Nonetheless, it’s hard not to believe that a guy who consistently got open at different areas of the field and caught everything during the preseason isn’t going to emerge as one of Herbert’s top targets.

Tight end

Donald Parham outproduces Jared Cook

Cook is the first tight end on the depth chart, but that doesn’t mean his receiving production will resemble just that. Last season, Cook recorded 10 catches for 159 yards (15.9 yards per reception) and three touchdowns on 20 targets with Herbert under center. Parham’s upside is endless due to his elite physical and athletic traits and improved route-running ability coupled with Lombardi’s system which gets tight ends heavily involved. Look for him to work up the seams and in the red zone.

Offensive line

Rashawn Slater allows no more than three sacks

Making the smooth transition from the college to the pro level at the tackle position in Year 1 is not an easy task by any means. Very few are capable of maintaining the high level of play against NFL pass rushers right out the gate, but Slater’s college film and showing this summer might suggest otherwise. Despite has lack of measurable, Slater’s light feet, balance and technically-refined and heavy hands are competent enough to slow the cream of the crop.