NFL Matchups: Los Angeles Chargers at Tennessee Titans Fantasy Football Preview

This a snippet of Adam Pfeifer’s NFL matchups column, previewing the Chargers vs. the Titans for Fantasy Football Lineups. Fantasy rosters needed protective spray because key players continue to miss extended time due to injury. Multiple backup quarterbacks are projected to start, and running backs and wide receivers are getting whittled down every week. As a result, we missed on plenty in this article, but we hit on plenty, as well. Back on the horse. With that in mind, let’s dig into some NFL DFS matchups and NFL game breakdowns for your Week 7 Fantasy Football Lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and FantasyDraft.

To read the FULL column, click HERE.

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Los Angeles Chargers @ Tennessee Titans

Total: 39.5

Line: TEN -2

Chargers passing game

Over the last two weeks, the Chargers offense has looked downright bad. Philip Rivers has thrown two touchdown passes with four interceptions during that span, as the Chargers look much different on offense lately. The good news is that Rivers is super cheap on DK at just $5,500 and has his full group of weapons available. However, there really isn’t anything special about this matchup with the Titans, who are allowing the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing passers (14.6). Tennessee is also coughing up just 1.26 points per drive, the fourth-lowest mark in the league. For the third consecutive week, Rivers is looking like a very “meh” option for me, especially in a game between two of the 10 slowest-paced teams in football. However, his price tag on DK is somewhat intriguing.

What has happened to Keenan Allen? After getting off to a scorching start, Allen has been under six catches, 50 yards and seven targets in each of the last three games. He still leads the league with 75 looks but with the Chargers at full strength on offense, they don’t need to give Allen 15 targets at the moment. You obviously aren’t benching him, especially against a Titans defense that funnels a ton of production to wide receivers. And his price tag has plummeted to just $6,700 on DK, which has me interested. Allen does get the most difficult matchup of the Chargers wideouts, as nickel corner Logan Ryan is the safest and most consistent player in that secondary.

A huge reason why Allen’s targets have come down? Mike Williams is soaking them all up. The big wideout has seen a whopping 30 targets over the last three weeks while seeing double-digit targets in each of the last two games. Interestingly enough, Williams is on pace to set career-highs in receiving yards, receptions and targets but has yet to find the end zone, something he did 10 times last season.

Of course, those 10 touchdowns came with tight end Hunter Henry on the sidelines, and the athletic tight end is back in the fold for the Chargers. He has still seen five targets from inside the 10-yard line this year, equating to 31.3 percent of the team’s looks but that number will continue to drop as long as Henry is active. Williams is still playing a lot and draws a decent matchup with Malcolm Butler, who is six inches shorter than Williams. Butler has allowed 27 catches for 346 yards and three touchdowns in coverage this season. View Williams as a high-upside WR3 for this week.

Henry returned from a four-week absence and wasted no time making his presence felt. He caught eight of nine targets for 100 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers, and despite reports that he would likely be limited, Henry still played 66 percent of the snaps, a number that should continue to rise going forward. Over 15 percent of Henry’s career targets have come in the end zone and he saw two more such targets in his first game back last week, giving him massive touchdown equity at the tight end position. You have to view him as a top-seven tight end (at worst) the rest of the way and because the Chargers played on Sunday night, Henry’s $4,000 price tag on DK is way, way too low. Fire him up against a Titans defense surrendering the ninth-most fantasy points and second-most touchdowns per game to opposing tight ends.

Chargers running game

I really wish Melvin Gordon was still holding out. Nothing against him, but the Chargers offense flowed better with Austin Ekeler as the main guy. It was easier for fantasy purposes, too. In Gordon’s two games since returning from his holdout, here is how the Los Angeles backfield has shaped out:

Melvin Gordon:                   Austin Ekeler:

 

Snaps: 69                             Snaps: 74

Carries: 20                           Carries: 8

Catches: 7                           Catches: 18

Targets: 10                          Targets: 20

Gordon is being used more on early downs but the Chargers aren’t really giving him high value touches, running him right up the gut on first down. Meanwhile, Ekeler is coming off the field, despite being one of the most efficient backs in all of football over the last two years. He is averaging 5.8 yards per touch this year, 11th-best among all running backs, while averaging a healthy 1.27 fantasy points per touch. With both guys active, they will continue to eat away each other’s value. Gordon takes Ekeler’s carries, especially from in close, while Ekeler takes Gordon’s receptions. It is frustrating and has limited both guys to flex status for the time being, while neither will make my player pool in daily leagues.

Titans passing game

The Marcus Mariota era is over in Tennessee, as the Titans turned to Ryan Tannehill in the second half of last week’s game and just named him their starting quarterback ahead of Week 7. The two aren’t too far apart when it comes to talent and numbers, which means my stance on these Tennessee pass-catchers doesn’t really change much. I normally never like to use any of them because there is so little upside with them in this offense.

Corey Davis is is 56th in the league in target share and continues to draw coverage from really good corners. This week, it is Casey Hayward, who has allowed a 69.5 passer rating in coverage this season. Rookie A.J. Brown may be picking up some steam, however. After being under 50 percent of the snaps for most of the first few weeks, Brown has played 65 and 57 percent of the snaps, while Tajae Sharpe’s playing time is dwindling. He’ll line up on the left side of the formation, the best spot to be when facing the Chargers.

Hayward is a top-10 corner, while Desmond King is arguably the best slot corner in all of football. As a result, receivers aligned on the left side of the formation are averaging 13.4 fantasy points per game, the 11th-most in football. We’ve seen the upside he is and at just $3,800, Brown is worth a look in GPPs. The Chargers are second in the league in missed tackles so far, while Brown is eighth in the league in yards after the catch per reception (8.57).

Delanie Walker was better last week, catching three passes for 43 yards. However, he has just five catches for 57 yards and zero touchdowns over the last three games. Walker has been targeted on 15.8 percent of his snaps, the third-highest rate at the position, so there should still be solid opportunity here, but there is no upside with him. By default, he remains a top-10 tight end play but putting him into my lineup isn’t going to generate any excitement.

Titans running game

Tennessee’s entire offense struggled last week, getting shut out by the Broncos. Derrick Henry had his worst game of the season but still handled 15 of the 16 running back carries. He is now fifth in the league with 113 carries and 10th in goal line carries. The Titans are calling run 43.9 percent of the time, which is the eighth-highest rate in the league, while Henry is touching the ball on 52.4 percent of his snaps, the seventh-highest rate among qualified running backs. He should do much better this week, facing a banged up Chargers defense that is allowing the ninth-most fantasy points per game to opposing backfields this year. They just allowed two touchdowns to James Conner last week and couldn’t bring him down, as Conner forced nine missed tackles in that game, easily the most from the past week.

Click HERE to go back to the matchups column.

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