Los Angeles Chargers Start-Sit: Week 5 Fantasy Advice for Justin Herbert, Omarion Hampton, Keenan Allen, Ladd McConkey, 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 Washington Commanders to help you craft a winning lineup.

Justin Herbert, QB

Is it possible that we put the cart before the horse with Justin Herbert?

Jim Harbaugh has opened up this offense in a dramatic way, and we are looking at an offense with a versatile RB next to three viable receivers.

That’s a pretty good setup for a high-degree player, but we’ve gotten just one QB1 finish this season. Your view of Herbert’s fantasy stock, both this week and for the next few weeks at the very least, is reasonably simple: are you buying more into the volume than you fear the pressure?

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Through a month, Herbert ranks second in opportunities at the position (pass-plus-rush attempts). This roster insulates him, and if they continue to put their fate in his hands, it’s not difficult to see him volume his way to top 10 weeks.

On the other hand, Joe Noteboom is going to miss some time, and over the past three weeks, Herbert is 15-of-42 (35.7%) when pressured, firing one touchdown against two interceptions in the process.

The Commanders create pressure at the ninth-highest rate this season, while Los Angeles’ next two opponents rank in the bottom 10 (Indianapolis and Miami). He’s a fringe QB1 for me, but I want you to know that even if he struggles this week, I encourage you to sit tight and not do anything rash.

Omarion Hampton, RB

Injury breeds opportunity, and there may be no better example in 2025 than Omarion Hampton.

Najee Harris was lost for the season in Week 3, and that has spurred back-to-back top 7 finishes at the position for Los Angeles’ first-round pick.

In both of those games, he rushed for a score (the 54-yard one last week saw him outrun every angle that the New York defenders had), earned 5+ targets, and picked up 19+ yards on one of his receptions. Hampton is a do-it-all back capable of carrying the mail at a high level for a potentially elite offense.

The concern for the foreseeable future is running room. This was already a struggling offensive line, and now it will be without Joe Alt for a bit. Remove the 54-yard dash last week, and Hampton is averaging a tick over four yards per carry, something that isn’t reflective of his overwhelming talent.

You’re starting Hampton and not thinking twice about it, but I’m inclined to look elsewhere in DFS contests this weekend.

Keenan Allen, WR

There are two receivers in the league with 5+ catches in all four weeks this season: Puka Nacua and Keenan Allen.

Allen has been great to start his age-33 season and even leads the team with five end zone targets. I think he’s basically a fancy Khalil Shakir for the Chargers, but is benefiting from a system that is now very pass-heavy.

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That likely won’t change moving forward, though a weakening offensive line and any resurgence from Ladd McConkey could add more volatility to Allen’s short-area role. For now, though, he remains a dependable PPR flex you can trust.

Ladd McConkey, WR

OK, people, here is where we get sucked down a rabbit hole and overthink a decision at a high level.

Let’s start with the obvious: McConkey has been terrible for fantasy purposes. He’s been held under 50 receiving yards in back-to-back-to-back contests, finishing outside the top 40 at the position in each of those weeks, in part because he hasn’t been targeted in the end zone yet — the magic elixir for WRs struggling in the yardage department.

For the season, his aDOT and catch rate have both dropped from his rookie season, two stats that are almost always inversely correlated.

You’re likely 0-4 or 1-3 if you spent up on McConkey this summer, and I say that based on experience.

But this Charlie Brown is going to try to kick the football again this week, and I’ll tell you why.

The Chargers are easily atop the PROE (Pass Rate Over Expectation) leaderboard through the first month, and that’s a good place to start. This isn’t calling my shot on an Eagles offense that might not complete a pass for two hours of real-life time; this is me targeting dropbacks, something that I expect there to be plenty of if Jayden Daniels can help push this game pace.

That’s a start.

Connected to that is the Joe Alt injury. You know what teams don’t do more of when losing a key interior piece? Run the ball. Again, the volume position of this is an easy sell.

Without another offensive lineman, it’s easy to make the case that the Commanders post an impressive pressure rate in this one. They are the ninth-best unit at doing so through four weeks, and, in my opinion, they are going to like their chances of making Herbert uncomfortable given the patchwork nature of the line in front of him.

Targets via quick throws:

• McConkey: 55.6%
• Keenan Allen: 40%
• Quentin Johnston: 38.9%

We might be onto something here (McConkey has three of the four lowest aDOT games of this trio this season); let’s keep going.

Last week, in a game where at no point did McConkey have anything going and the Chargers were trying to squeeze out a victory, who do you think led the receivers in third-down targets?

Yes, indeed.

What if I told you that Washington was the third-worst defense in terms of YAC allowed per catch on short receptions?

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And who doesn’t enjoy some symmetry? Last October, with the Chargers seeking their fourth win of the season, two weeks removed from a one-score win over the Broncos and fresh off of a heartbreaking road loss, Mr. McConkey turned six targets into a 6-111-2 stat line, his first true breakout game of what turned out to be a strong rookie campaign.

Hmmmmm.

Quentin Johnston, TE

The “not all development is linear” crowd is having a field day with this, starting with Quentin Johnston, a 2023 first-round pick who was the butt of jokes and is now a top 5 fantasy receiver.

The craziest part of his success this season (pace: 1,432 yards and 17 TDs) is that he continues to earn looks as the game wears on.

That may sound simple, but it’s not as if his breakout season has the Chargers scheming up easy looks his way early in games; he’s instead earning them on his own, and that’s even better.

First two drives at Giants, Week 4:

• Keenan Allen: 1 catch (9 yards) on 2 targets
• Johnston: 1 catch (4 yards) on 2 targets
• Omarion Hampton: 1 catch (2 yards) on 1 target
• Oronde Gadsden II: 0 catches on 1 target
• Ladd McConkey: 0 catches on 2 targets

The stutter-and-go touchdown was a work of art, and the wide-open nature of his offense (Johnston ranks fifth in the league in routes run despite playing alongside two very viable receivers) gives this QB/WR connection the potential to do great things all season long.

Johnston has yet to be held to under 14.5 PPR points in a game this season. In 2022, Justin Jefferson was the only WR who was four-of-four in that regard through four weeks. In 2023, again, just Jefferson.

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The splash plays are unlikely to hit at the rate they have thus far (three of his four scores have come from 20+ yards out), but everything else in this profile looks legitimate, and Johnston has earned himself a long fantasy leash after a massive September.