Welcome to the twenty-fifth part of a thirty-two-part series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. Fantasy football tasseography is deeply rooted in predicting future fantasy fortunes. Some of the team tea cups we'll be looking into may be larger than others. The smallest of cups may have the most alluring blends of offensive weaponry, or be set to bloom after a long steep. This series will aid in your approach to Redraft and Dynasty leagues by bringing you up to date on:

• Free Agency
  • Re-signings, additions, who signed elsewhere, and what it means for fantasy.
• NFL Draft
  • What can we decipher about the direction a team is headed in based on their draft selections?
• Coaching Changes
  • Who's in, who's out, and how do the coaching philosophies translate to fantasy production?
• Fantasy Fortunes
  • What does this all mean for your fantasy football drafts?

Like tasseography, the arrangement of these four sections will vary as we digest each team's offseasons and see how the offensive pieces settle. Each article will interpret what this NFL team has told us about their future plans based on what they've done since their 2025 season ended.

Reading the Los Angeles Chargers' 2026 Offseason

The Offensive Line Reshuffle

The Chargers' offensive line saw a few shake-ups, starting with the release of Mekhi Becton and Zion Johnson signing with the Cleveland Browns in free agency. We don't care, though, because the Chargers improved the line overall by bringing in Tyler Biadasz and Cole Strange.

Although they aren't technically linemen, the addition of FB Alec Ingold and TE Charlie Kolar will add an extra dimension to the blocking schemes the Chargers can deploy, as both are stellar in that facet of the game. Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are recovering from injuries that ended their 2025 campaigns. 

Coaching Changes: Enter Mike McDaniel

Former Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel was hired on as the Offensive Coordinator for the Chargers this spring. Get ready for an extremely dynamic offense that yields at least one high-end RB in fantasy.

We've seen McDaniel-led offenses sustain two top 24 rushers in previous seasons, and whoever the lead back is will carry weekly RB1 upside. McDaniel is going to have a lot of fun scheming up the offense in 2026, and will elevate the fantasy ceilings for all of the Chargers' players.

The WR Room

On to the skill players! The Chargers elected not to resign WR Keenan Allen when his contract expired. Quentin Johnston, Ladd McConkey, Tre Harris, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and rookie speedster Brenen Thompson will lead the WR corps for the Bolts.

Johnston has taken steps forward each year in his NFL career after an abysmal rookie season. He is now a serviceable X who's still better on quick hitters that get him into space. McConkey is set to see the most volume of the WRs and will continue to be the flanker/slot in the offense in a role that moves him in motion around the formation.

Harris was deployed similarly to how the team used Keenan Allen at the end of 2026. Harris found some success as the short-yardage/underneath target, and the film was promising.

Brenen Thompson has game-breaking speed, and you know McDaniel is burning the midnight oil scheming up ways to put Thompson to use in this offense.

The TE Battle

David Njoku joined the team late in spring and will compete with second-year TE Oronde Gadsden for the primary TE role, with Kolar primarily playing the blocking TE role. There are a lot of mouths for Herbert to feed, and it's difficult to project how many targets the TE group will see.

I prefer Njoku at cost, and if they were all similar in value, I would still ride with Njoku on my fantasy roster.

Hampton & the Backfield

RB Kimani Vidal was re-signed, and the team also brought in another explosive playmaker in Keaton Mitchell. The team did not bring back veteran RB Najee Harris, who tore his Achilles last season.

Omarion Hampton will continue to see the bulk of the running back workload in this offense, with Vidal and Mitchell mixing in.

Justin Herbert's Career-Year Case

Signal-caller Herbert is poised for a career year if the offensive line remains healthy and McDaniel works his offensive magic. Last year Herbert was running for his life, which led to him setting career highs in rushing attempts, yards, and yards per carry.

If things break right for the Chargers, Herbert may instead set career highs in passing yards and TDs. The potential of Herbert breaking out in 2026 is baked into his ADP, but he is a fine QB to draft at cost if you've filled the rest of your starting roster slots.

Fantasy Fortunes

Expect the veteran Herbert to put up another QB1 season while supporting a high-end RB2, a WR2 and WR2-3, and a TE2. It's more likely that there are multiple WR3s for fantasy purposes on this offense than multiple WR2s.

There are a lot of mouths to feed, but I believe the coaching staff can keep everyone fed. This is a unit that continues to ascend, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were a top-five offense by the end of the year. The TE battle is one to keep an eye on. I personally like Njoku, but whoever wins will be a high-end TE2  at best.

This is a strong offensive ecosystem to buy into for 2026.

Cam White is a Senior Analyst & Host at Optimus Fantasy. You can find more of his work on our YouTube channel, and make sure to follow him on Bluesky.