Los Angeles Chargers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Chargers TE Donald Parham has signed his exclusive-rights tender, meaning he'll be back with the team for the coming season. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that Parham is "healthy and expected to compete for the starting tight end job." Parham's 2021 season ended with the scary concussion against the Chiefs on Dec. 16. We'll be watching to see what role he's expected to fill this season, but it's tough to imagine he truly has a shot at the top job after the Chargers guaranteed $8 million of TE Gerald Everett's 2-year deal.

Ravens HC John Harbaugh said Monday RBs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards are "making progress" in their recoveries from last year's torn ACLs. It's the first real update of any kind that we've gotten on these guys since they tore their ACLs in late August and early September, respectively. Harbaugh added that Dobbins and Edwards will "likely" start training camp on the PUP list. But the timing of the knee injuries makes both guys good bets to be available come Week 1.

The Bengals agreed to a 1-year deal with TE Hayden Hurst. It's a solid landing spot for the former 1st-round pick. Hurst figures to step into C.J. Uzomah's role, which produced a 49-493-5 line in 16 games last season. Uzomah finished 19th among TEs in PPR points while seeing 12% of Bengals targets. Hurst will likely struggle to reach every-week TE1 status without injuries to Cincinnati's WR corps. But he should bring intriguing upside as a spot-start option in lineup-setting leagues and is a fine TE2 target in best ball.

Former Rams DT Sebastian Joseph-Day is expected to sign a 3-year, $24 million deal ($15 million guaranteed) with the Chargers, according to Chris Carlin of ESPN New York. Joseph-Day lost 10 games to a chest injury that required surgery last season but otherwise played every game for the Rams over the past 2 years. He'll help rebuild a Chargers front that the team clearly believed needed attention after 2021. Joseph-Day delivered nice tackle production in 2021 before his injury but hasn't otherwise been a special IDP contributor. Don't expect to see him high in our 2022 IDP rankings.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that former Giants DT Austin Johnson is expected to sign with the Chargers. Johnson began his career a stronger run defender than pass rusher, but his Pro Football Focus grades point to that flipping in a breakthrough 2021 campaign. Johnson still doesn't look like a special performer, but he joins a Chargers front that struggled in 2021 -- especially against the run. Don't expect Johnson to be a high-impact IDP producer, but he cracked the top 30 last year in his 1st shot as a full-time player.

TE Will Dissly is re-signing with the Seahawks for $24 million on a 3-year deal, according to multiple reports. It's particularly surprising money because Seattle just acquired Noah Fant in the Russell Wilson trade. The Seahawks have clearly liked Dissly's run-blocking, but the $8 million per year on his new contract suggests we shouldn't dismiss him as a passing-game piece. That said, Dissly averaged just 1.8 targets per game over the past 2 seasons. So perhaps Seattle is just wildly overpaying for a blocking TE.

The Bears have agreed to send EDGE Khalil Mack to the Chargers for 2nd- and 6th-round picks in the 2023 draft. Mack has 3 years left on the deal he signed with Chicago, which would run through his age-33 season. Mack missed 10 games last season with a foot injury that required surgery. He'll need to pass a physical for this trade to go through, so there should be no concern for the issue if it happens. The trade will reunite Mack with Chargers HC Brandon Staley, who served as LBs coach in Chicago before taking the DC post with the Rams in 2020. It will also position him opposite Joey Bosa in what will be 1 of the NFL's toughest pass rushes. Expect the Chargers' D to land high in our 2022 fantasy football rankings. Mack -- after posting 6 sacks in just 7 games last season -- should remain a good option in sack/pressure-friendly IDP leagues. As for Chicago, Trevis Gipson looks like the top incumbent candidate to replace Mack. Gipson got 9 starts in his 2nd season -- with Mack out -- and tallied 7 sacks.

Chargers S Derwin James carries no injury designation into Sunday's game against the Broncos and is expected to return to the starting lineup. James remained limited in practice this week, but the lack of a game status suggests we should expect full playing time. We'd roll with James in IDP lineups in most cases, chasing the upside over worrying about lingering risk with his hamstring issue.

Chargers HC Brandon Staley said Wednesday that he's "hopeful" S Derwin James can play Sunday against the Broncos, according to Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times. James did manage a limited practice Wednesday, something he didn't do until Friday last week. We'll watch for more on James' status heading into Sunday.

The Chargers on Monday added 7 more players to the COVID list. That group included S Nasir Adderley, starting CBs Chris Harris Jr. and Michael Davis, and S Alohi Gilman, who filled in for Derwin James in Sunday's loss to the Texans. We'll see about the status for all of them as the week progresses.

Giants DL Austin Johnson (foot) is active for today's game against the Eagles.

Chargers S Derwin James (hamstring) is active for today's game, but the team listed no inactives because of the number of players missing on the COVID list. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, it's still "TBD on if he plays." If we don't hear ahead of kickoff, you'll need to start someone else in your IDP lineup.

It sounds like Chargers S Derwin James will carry plenty of risk as an IDP option today even if he's active against the Texans. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that James is a game-time decision. "While he has progressed as well as hoped, the true test will be in the workout," Rapoport says. James played through his hamstring injury last Thursday night against the Chiefs but made it through just 39% of the defensive snaps before leaving. He then managed just 1 limited practice Friday. James remains in starter territory in our Week 16 IDP rankings, but we have moved him down a few spots. Consider, too, the possibility of the Chargers jumping out to a big lead on Houston and then pulling James early to rest his hamstring.

Chargers S Derwin James is questionable for Sunday's game against the Texans. The hamstring injury that kept him out of Week 14 and ended his Week 15 appearance early allowed James only a limited Friday practice this week. He'll clearly carry some risk even if active for this game. We'll check James' status Sunday morning.

The Seahawks have placed TE Will Dissly on the COVID list. He's not a player whose potential return we need to sweat for our fantasy rosters. But Dissly's absence could only help the fantasy outlook for TE Gerald Everett. Dissly played 46% of the snaps or more in each of the past 3 games and totaled 6 targets over that span.

The Chargers on Monday placed EDGE Joey Bosa on the COVID list. HC Brandon Staley said he’s out for Sunday’s game against the Texans

Chargers HC Brandon Staley says S Derwin James did "no damage" to his hamstring in Thursday night's loss to the Chiefs, according to Gilbert Manzano of the Orange County Register. The coach added that he's optimistic James will be back in time for next Sunday's visit to Houston. We'll see how the star safety fares during the upcoming practice week. James, of course, entered Thursday's game questionable with the hamstring issue. So he'll carry at least some re-injury risk into Week 16 as well.

Chargers S Derwin James left Thursday night's game against the Chiefs with a hamstring injury and is questionable to return. James was a game-time decision for the hamstring issue that kept him out in Week 14. It's not immediately clear whether he aggravated that or sustained a new injury, but we'd bet on a tweak of the existing injury.

Chargers S Derwin James (hamstring) is active for tonight's game against the Chiefs. He'll carry some risk with the hamstring issue that kept him out last week, but James resides low in DB1 territory in our Week 15 rankings.

Chargers S Derwin James is questionable for Thursday night's game against the Chiefs because of the hamstring injury that kept him out on Sunday. James put in limited practices Tuesday and Wednesday, but HC Brandon Staley says they want to work him out pregame to see if he's ready to play. We'll update James' status about an hour-and-a-half before kickoff.