Los Angeles Chargers Start-Sit: Week 13 Fantasy Advice for Justin Herbert, Kimani Vidal, Keenan Allen, Oronde Gadsden II, and Others

The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.

This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Los Angeles Chargers players heading into their matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders to help you craft a winning lineup.

Justin Herbert, QB

For me, Justin Herbert, statistically, is trending in the direction of peak Aaron Rodgers.

He has five straight games with both a 30-yard completion and a 10-yard rush. His rushing total is already at a career high for a season, and I don’t think it’s crazy to say that, as the focal point of everything Jim Harbaugh wants to do offensively, his best passing days are ahead of him.

With four top-5 finishes on his 2025 resume, this has already been a wildly successful campaign, and I think we could see him add to that total against a defense that was lit up by Dak Prescott two weeks ago.

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Herbert is pacing for a career high in-pocket completion percentage while seeing his out-of-pocket YPA jump by 51.1% from a season ago. You’re playing him with confidence every week for the remainder of the season. I’m not breaking news there.

Could he be considered a Tier 1 fantasy option at the position in August?

Kimani Vidal, RB

For as long as Omarion Hampton is out, Kimani Vidal is worthy of our attention, but it’s more of wanting access to volume than anything.

Before the blowout loss in Jacksonville, the second-year back was handling 72.9%of Los Angeles’ running back touches over a three-game sample, a role I’m penciling in until they get their starter back on the field.

Vidal did suffer a high injury before the bye, and that at least requires our attention. I’m assuming that the off week is enough on that front, and against a bottom-5 run defense in terms of success rate, that gives him an outside chance to return top-12 value.

I’m not ranking him for that ceiling, but he’s in my top 20.

Keenan Allen, WR

We were in on the floor of Keenan Allen to open the season, and for a month, we looked great.

The way things are trending, the veteran receiver is a fringe PPR flex at best, and there’s the risk of him falling outside of lineup consideration altogether.

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Allen’s profile is simple: make the most of the targets you get and sustain drives. He’s only hauled in half of his targets this month, and the scoring profile has been removed from the equation with one score since his three-game streak to open the season.

The chain-moving role will continue to hold value to the Bolts, and I do not doubt that he can make a big play when called upon. He showed nice athletic juice on the 30-yard catch in Jacksonville before the bye, but with a limited target ceiling and four straight without an end zone look, this isn’t an asset I want to count on moving forward.

Ladd McConkey, WR

Ladd McConkey was drafted as the unquestioned WR1 for the Chargers, and while it took a little while to get there, I think we are about where you expected to be entering the final month.

• Weeks 1-5: 8.4% of LAC fourth quarter receiving yards
• Weeks 6-12: 43.5% of LAC fourth quarter receiving yards

When the chips are down, Herbert has shown us, through his actions, that there is a clear top option in this offense. The running game is a bit of a moving piece, and should they gain stability on that front, maybe McConkey sees his value tick down moving forward, but I’m not worried about that in the scope of Week 12.

This season, McConkey has caught 74.4% of his targets coming short of the sticks (eight catches on nine such targets this month). The Raiders are a forgiving defense across the board, and if Los Angeles wants to negate the impact of Maxx Crosby, quick passes to McConkey are a good way to do that.

He’s a locked-in WR2 for me, and I think there’s a chance he returns top 12 production in PPR leagues this weekend.

Quentin Johnston, WR

You can spare me the complaints about Quentin Johnston becoming Johnston.

I understand that you thought you stumbled into a golden ticket with Johnston back in September, and the ride was fun, but we may have overreacted to a hot stretch because it was the first thing we saw this season.

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That’s not to say he can’t have his moments, but he’s not the best receiver on this offense and isn’t a reliable fantasy starter (under 55 receiving yards in five straight, a run that includes not one, but two goose eggs).

• September: 3 TDs on 11 deep targets
• Since: 1 TD on 8 deep targets

The quantity and quality of those looks are on the decline. This matchup shouldn’t scare you, but Maxx Crosby’s impact is felt in this pass game (below-average opponent aDOT with a top-10 mark in yards per opponent completion) and leaves me thinking that this dry spell is more likely to sustain than change course.

QJ is a low-end flex, a ranking he earned more based on my confidence in the scoring environment than anything his profile suggests is likely.

Oronde Gadsden II, TE

Week 10 was cut short with a quad injury for Orondo Gadsden, but he wasn’t listed on the final injury report before the Week 12 bye, thus making “health” something we can’t use as an excuse for his subpar showing.

• Last two games: 11 targets and 54 yards
• Four games prior: 27 targets and 377 yards

We may have gotten ahead of ourselves in labeling him as locked in TE1, but that doesn’t mean this profile is fraudulent. He owns an 8.8 aDOT for the season, a strong mark for a tight end that has fueled him to average over two PPR points per target this season.

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The Chargers should threaten 30 points Sunday afternoon, and that sort of game environment elevates Gadsden into my top 12 at the position.

He’s not an elite option, but ranking that high in a week with no one on a bye is impressive and should give you confidence in playing him, even with the recent struggles.