Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey, Chargers Fantasy Projections Amid Keenan Allen Contract

Wide receiver Keenan Allen is back with the Los Angeles Chargers after the franchise agreed to terms with the 12-year veteran, who spent his first 11 seasons with the Bolts before suiting up for the Chicago Bears in 2024.

From a fantasy perspective, this is great news for quarterback Justin Herbert. He formed a tremendous rapport with Allen, who enjoyed a phenomenal 2023 season. In a 13-game campaign shortened due to injury, Allen caught 108 passes (150 targets) for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns.

Now, the 2023 season wasn't an immensely productive one for Herbert. Per FantasyPros, the ex-Oregon star finished as the QB11 on the year. But that's partially because it largely wasn't a great year for Chargers pass-catchers outside Allen, with no player amassing more than 51 catches, 581 yards or four scores.

But Allen brings the Chargers some exciting depth, something that Herbert had in 2021, Herbert's best fantasy season. He finished as QB2 behind only Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills.

During that season, Herbert had numerous targets to spray the ball around between Allen (106/1,138/6), wideout Mike Williams (76/1,146/9), running back Austin Ekeler (70/647/8) and tight end Jared Cook (48/564/4). Four other players had 20 or more catches.

In the present date, adding Allen gives Herbert a needed weapon. The Chargers already have an entrenched WR1 in Ladd McConkey, who had 82 catches for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns last season before adding a 9/197/1 stat line in the AFC Wild Card round versus the Houston Texans.

Allen could very well be the second-most productive wideout by year's end.

The Chargers also have Quentin Johnston, who showed flashes of explosiveness in year two (13/186 in the regular season finale versus the Las Vegas Raiders) and scored eight times but alternated that with quiet games, including a catchless one in the playoffs.

But L.A. also has more talent to work with, notably rookie Tre Harris, the former Ole Miss star and a second-round pick. That aforementioned quartet appeared to be the top four in the wideout room, and they also have capable backs in veteran Najee Harris and first-round rookie Omarion Hampton.

Long story short, while it's unlikely that Herbert becomes QB2 again, he could very well be a solid top-10 QB in 2025, with a shot at even being top five. He's someone fantasy football players can draft as a starter with confidence, and adding Allen is a big help.

As far as other Chargers go, it's hard to see how this negatively affects wideout Ladd McConkey. In theory, Allen could siphon a few targets away from him, especially given his previous rapport with Herbert.

But the guess here is that Allen settled into the WR2 role and McConkey builds off an amazing season and entrenches himself as a legitimate star in this league.

Matt Harmon of Yahoo Sports, who extensively studies wide receivers, their routes run and where they win via Reception Perception, raved about McConkey recently.

Scott Barrett of Fantasy Points had this to say as well:

Here's the overarching point: McConkey is so good that it wouldn't make sense for the Chargers to take even a little work away from him. He enjoyed a fantastic rookie season and showed how great he was in the playoffs, when the entire Charger offense was dormant except for him (Herbert had four picks, no running back had more than 26 rushing yards and no pass-catcher outside McConkey had more than 16 receiving yards). He's the man in L.A., and the Allen signing isn't changing that. Bottom line: please consider locking in McConkey as a top-10 wide receiver this year on your rankings, at worst.

If anything, adding Allen would affect the rest of the wideout room. Johnston could get a big knock here, and Harris could be negatively affected. Allen is going to be a great safety blanket for Herbert, someone he can count on when they need to move the chains. Johnston can be that guy down the road, but he isn't right now. Harris can too, but he's an unproven rookie at the moment. Both can grow more with time and certainly stand out; they're electric talents at their best.

However, Allen is the proven commodity, so the guess is he's second on the team in target share, with everyone else not named McConkey in the wideout room moving down one peg on the depth chart.