San Diego Chargers future hall of fame tight end Antonio Gates will return to the team this week after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's PED policy. Although LaDarius Green has been putting up great numbers in Gates' absence, Gates is fully expected to reclaim the starting job immediately.
Quarterback Philip Rivers has always loved throwing the football to Gates and we have no reason to believe anything has changed. Sure, Gates is another year older and can't be expected to be as good as he used to be, but he'll undoubtedly see a ton of targets on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially considering Malcolm Floyd (concussion) and Stevie Johnson (hamstring) are dealing with injuries.
If you've held onto Gates during the first four weeks of the season, your patience should begin to pay off in week 5. If he's available on your waiver wire, make him your No. 1 pickup this week. He's an immediate TE1.