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The Los Angeles Chargers will take on the Denver Broncos in Week 16, and their skill position players are widely owned in fantasy football leagues. While most of them haven't been fun to have this season, in deeper leagues, many more players have value and are rostered.
Running back Gus Edwards, wide receiver Quentin Johnston, and tight end Stone Smartt are three players who are reasonably being considered for starting lineups.
So which of them should you start? Let's take a closer look at the case for each.
Should I Start Gus Edwards for Fantasy Football?
No. While he's rostered in a majority of leagues, he has not turned in a single start-worthy performance this season. He has yet to crack double-digit PPR fantasy points this year, largely because he doesn't have much pass-catching upside and he's just not a very good RB.
Every Gus Edwards carry this year
-1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 6, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 ,6, 6, 6(that's the mark!), 1, 2, 6, 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, 0, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 9, 10 ,11 (hey not bad), 0, 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, -7 (oh dang), -2, 0, 0, 1, 3, 4, 4, 8, 2, 3, 3,… pic.twitter.com/XOcegmHQ6X
— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg) December 18, 2024
The list of every single Edwards carry can give you a great idea of how his season has gone. He's not made a single explosive play this season (i.e. a play of over 15 yards). You can see that if you look at the list above, where all the numbers are under 15. Edwards is 29 and is washed. He fell into the end zone 13 times last season, so people may have thought he was good.
He hasn't been. The entire offense has taken a step back in the absence of lead RB J.K. Dobbins (knee), and Edwards is doing a poor job of filling in his shoes. He may begin losing more snaps to rookie back Kimani Vidal.
Should I Start Quentin Johnston for Fantasy Football?
Johnston is back on another one of his hot streaks, being marked by... you guessed it, touchdowns! If only we could predict every game in which he would get a touchdown (we can't). He grabbed a score in Week 14 off a busted coverage, but to his credit, his score last week was an effort thing.
Quentin Johnston 8th touchdown of the year:
— ًBoltUpYo (@BoltUpYo) December 15, 2024
Powering his way through defenders is something that it makes sense he can do since he's 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. Perhaps the team should use him in this way more often, but it remains to be seen if they will. The opposing Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary started off the season poorly, then got hurt by injuries, though.
The Denver Broncos are a different beast altogether. It looks like their star cornerback and lockdown player, Patrick Surtain II, won't be missing time, so Johnston becomes a very risky player to start. QJ caught three of his four targets for 22 yards against the Broncos the last time they met up, though he got injured in that game.
So we don't recommend you start him. But we'd prefer him over Edwards, at least.
Should I Start Stone Smartt for Fantasy Football?
With starting tight end Will Dissly (shoulder) set to miss Week 16, Smartt becomes the team's top TE option available. The Broncos aren't quite as good at stopping TEs from producing as they are at holding WRs to bad games, but that's probably because they "allow" the second-most targets to tight ends by opposing offenses per game in the league.
Stone Smartt stacked another 50-yard game together yesterday. Seems like a perfect fit for this offense.
Heck of a job tracking this football. pic.twitter.com/GyXnoSQYOe
— Tyler Schoon (@tylerjschoon) December 17, 2024
This suggests that teams just prefer to throw it to their TEs. This makes perfect sense, as challenging Surtain this week has been a losing endeavor. Smartt is fine to start in deeper leagues or for teams that are desperate for TE production. If Chargers QB Justin Herbert isn't able to find McConkey or Johnston open much, he may chuck it to his tight end a few more times instead.
Popular Week 16 Searches - Start/Sit Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 16 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Gus Edwards, Quentin Johnston, Stone Smartt compared to others. You can also use the free Who Should I Start tool to run your own start/sit comparisons, up to four players at once:
Jalen Mcmillan or Quentin Johnston
Adam Thielen or Quentin Johnston
Jakobi Meyers or Quentin Johnston
Jerome Ford or Quentin Johnston
Josh Downs or Quentin Johnston
Christian Watson or Quentin Johnston
Diontae Johnson or Quentin Johnston
Dk Metcalf or Quentin Johnston
Jalen Mcmillan or Quentin Johnston
Javonte Williams or Gus Edwards
Justice Hill or Gus Edwards
Rashod Bateman or Quentin Johnston
Sincere Mccormick or Quentin Johnston
Tucker Kraft or Stone Smartt
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Adam Thielen or Gus Edwards
Alexander Mattison or Gus Edwards
Amari Cooper or Quentin Johnston
Amari Cooper or Quentin Johnston
Amari Cooper or Quentin Johnston
Brenton Strange or Stone Smartt
Brenton Strange or Stone Smartt
Christian Watson or Quentin Johnston
Cooper Kupp or Quentin Johnston
Dalton Kincaid or Quentin Johnston
Dalton Kincaid or Stone Smartt
David Njoku or Stone Smartt
Deandre Hopkins or Quentin Johnston
Deebo Samuelsr or Quentin Johnston
Devaughn Vele or Quentin Johnston
Devonta Smith or Quentin Johnston
Isaac Guerendo or Gus Edwards
Isaiah Davis or Gus Edwards
Jakobi Meyers or Quentin Johnston
Jalen Mcmillan or Gus Edwards
Jalen Mcmillan or Quentin Johnston
Jalen Mcmillan or Quentin Johnston
Jameson Williams or Quentin Johnston
Jalen Mcmillan or Quentin Johnston
Jaylen Warren or Gus Edwards
Alexander Mattison or Gus Edwards
Juwan Johnson or Stone Smartt
Kareem Hunt or Gus Edwards
Rashod Bateman or Quentin Johnston
Michael Pittmanjr or Quentin Johnston
Najee Harris or Quentin Johnston
Rome Odunze or Quentin Johnston
Sam Laporta or Quentin Johnston
Tank Bigsby or Gus Edwards
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Tyjae Spears or Gus Edwards
Zay Flowers or Quentin Johnston
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