Will Dissly has been a consistent number for Justin Herbert to call upon in his first season with the Los Angeles Chargers. In Year 1 with Los Angeles, Dissly was on pace to have arguably the best season of his career.
However, a shoulder injury kept him out of Week 15. Is Dissly coming back for the Chargers this week?
What Is Will Dissly’s Injury?
Without Dissly last week, Los Angeles struggled mightily against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A 40-17 thrashing, a week after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs again, has the Chargers’ playoff hopes dwindling some.
While Stone Smartt has been excellent in the new opportunities presented to him, losing Dissly is hard to ignore. This season, he’s totaled 418 yards with 43 catches on 55 targets.
Will Dissly Play in Week 16?
Dissly wasn’t a part of the team’s Week 15 rout by Tampa Bay. After missing practices throughout, the team officially declared him out.
The shoulder injury isn’t yet properly healed, and with the Chargers anticipating a playoff run this season, his availability will be critical to Los Angeles’ success.
In the meantime, however, there are some positives for LA. The tight end position should get a major boost with Hayden Hurst being activated ahead of the Chargers’ Thursday night matchup against the Denver Broncos after he missed five straight games. His return, alongside Smartt’s ascension, should give Los Angeles a quality TE room.
In the last two games, Smartt has tallied 50+ receiving yards and played an impressive 67% of the snaps for the Chargers against the Buccaneers.
Fantasy Impact of Dissly’s Week 16 Status
Dissly (shoulder) was inactive last week after not partaking in a single practice rep, paving the way for Smartt to post double-digit PPR points in the loss to the Buccaneers (five catches for 50 yards).
For the season, Dissly has a 78.2% catch rate and has provided a level of stability to a passing offense that largely lacks outside of Ladd McConkey.
But might Dissly’s role be more valuable than the player himself? That is, with Smartt coming in last week and essentially being a skinny version of Dissly, I’m tempted to think that “insert chain-moving TE” in this Jim Harbaugh offense has a path to low-end appeal in PPR leagues.
Operating under that logic, I prefer Smartt to Dissly moving forward. That’s not to say he’s the better player, but if we are in a position to play him, it means that Dissly is still not yet fully healthy.
This role isn’t one that I’m confident can be divided and provide us with much. But if we can project the bulk of that usage for one player, the case could be made for a fringe-TE1 ranking.