San Diego Chargers 2012 Fantasy Outlook; Offense

With many fantasy drafts coming hard and fast, we thought it would be interesting/helpful to take a look at the Chargers Fantasy prospects for the coming season. 

Philip Rivers is the top pick the Chargers have in terms of fantasy (because he is a QB and he is very talented). He will be even more of an asset to your team this year with the solid offensive line and fast receivers. 

The great (and somewhat fascinating) fact about the Rivers, is that unless your league consists of Charger fans or long-time Rivers believers, he typically can slide down a little further than he should. It still depends on the number of people in your league and their knowledge on football. But you could get Rivers in the late first or early-mid second. He may slide even more this year because of the less than great performance last year (throwing 20 INT with an overall record of 8-8). If he's still around in the second round, definitely pick him up. First round talent for second round value. 

Ryan Mathews can also be a big contributor to your fantasy team. He will be getting a majority of the carries this year for San Diego and will be going into the season 100% healthy. 

However, he will be sharing carries with Ronnie Brown, who may also not be a bad pick since they will be looking to him in goal line situations. It is hard to tell how Norv Turner will split up the carries at this point. He has complete confidence and trust in both players and it sounds as though they will be fairly close. 

Nevertheless, Mathews will hit the home run many times and can have explosive games and earn you big points. But since he is apart of a tandem, look a little bit later for him because of carry splitting. Look for Mathews in the late second through as far as the late fourth. 

Don't be surprised if Brown is left on the waiver wire. He didn't have much success in Philadelphia last year and is a well kept San Diego secret thus far. 

Wide Receivers Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal can both be great picks, but like Mathews and Brown, the ball will be spread around through the two of them and other receivers. Meachem would be a great fourth or fifth round pick and will be consistent from week to week. Royal will most likely be left on the waivers, look to pick him up for good matchups or when you have an injured player. 

Last, but certainly not least. is fantasy diamond Antonio Gates. Antonio Gates will be highly revered once again going into the 2012 season. He is still very high on top TE boards. If you are looking to pick up Gates, you will have to look earlier than you would with other TE's. He still will turn out great productivity, but it will cost you an earlier pick than you may like. 

Just make sure you don't pick all of these players in your fantasy draft, it's the main reason I end up losing every year!

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