Fantasy Football Fallout as Chargers Reveal Ladd McConkey, Keaton Mitchell Injuries

Ladd McConkey | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We’ve warned already that the Los Angeles Chargers are a fantasy football wasteland now. 

With Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel ruining Omarion Hampton via Keaton Mitchell usage, it became clear within three games that something was seriously wrong in Los Angeles and the club was a no-fly zone in the fantasy football realm. 

Now? Here comes the injury bug, too. 

As the 0-3 Chargers prep to play the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4, injuries for wideout Ladd McConkey and running back Keaton Mitchell have popped up to spoil things. 

Ladd McConkey, Keaton Mitchell Injuries Fantasy Football Impact

Keaton Mitchell | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ladd McConkey might have been the one exception to the poor fantasy football outlook for the Chargers. If there were one guy who could pop off in McDaniel’s system on a good day, it was surely him. 

But McConkey can’t avoid injuries. He had limited usage recently due to a rib injury suffered after a big hit in the season opener. 

Now, McConkey has a new injury that the team classifies as a “foot” on the report, which caused him to be limited in practice. So, while McConkey leads the Chargers with 12 catches for 183 yards and a score, a bulk of that production came in the opener before the rib injury. We don’t, in fact, even know if that rib injury is all the way healed or if it’s a nagging issue that will stick around just like this new foot ordeal. 

As for Mitchell, reporters spotted him in a walking boot in the locker room this week, so the Chargers appeared to suddenly add him to the injury report in response to that, too. 

The Chargers are playing off Mitchell’s walking boot as not a big deal, but it’s a no-go for fantasy footballers. He's carried it just 17 times compared to 50 chances for Omarion Hampton as it is. He’s also only been targeted four times through the air in three games, although one of those did go for a touchdown. 

And no, none of this does much for Omarion Hampton’s fantasy football value, either. He’s running in a lost-looking offense behind a terrible interior offensive line. Hence, 193 yards and two scores over three games, but on a 3.9 per-carry average. He’s lost two fumbles and been targeted through the air three times. 

All Chargers weapons are very much sell-high candidates right now for fantasy football players. The only real leverage in trying to dump them via trade is trying to sell someone on the idea things could rebound for the entire offense, but that’s pretty unlikely to be anything dramatic at this point. 

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