{"id":52128,"date":"2025-08-01T08:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/52128\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:44:07","slug":"immediate-fantasy-football-takeaways-from-thursdays-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/52128\/","title":{"rendered":"Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Thursday’s game"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2022 Will Dissly<\/a> scores first for the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>: The Chargers have a crowded receiving room, and his usage could suggest a decrease in routes run rather than an increase.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rookie wide receivers make the highlights of the first half: KeAndre Lambert-Smith<\/a>, Isaac TeSlaa<\/a> and Dominic Lovett<\/a> all gained over 20 receiving yards in the first half.<\/p>\n

The best deal of the year:\u00a0Use the discount code\u00a0earlybird<\/a>\u00a0to save up to 33% on your PFF+ subscription.<\/p>\n

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes<\/p>\n

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PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> @ Detroit Lions<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Chargers’ tight end room remains complicated: Will Dissly<\/a> scored on his only drive but is unlikely to be the Chargers\u2019 primary receiving tight end.<\/p>\n

The Chargers’ tight end group was the one fantasy-relevant unit where all noteworthy players were active and playing in this game. Los Angeles ended last season with Dissly as its primary receiving tight end despite being used as a blocker for most of his career. Tucker Fisk<\/a> was the Chargers’ blocking tight end, while defensive linemen Scott Matlock<\/a> played as a converted fullback and tight end. The Chargers moved on from both Hayden Hurst<\/a> and Stone Smartt<\/a>, while adding veteran free agent Tyler Conklin<\/a> from the New York Jets<\/a> and drafting Oronde Gadsden<\/a> in the fifth round.<\/p>\n

Conklin was a veteran who didn\u2019t play in this game, while Dissly, Gadsden, Fisk and Matlock played. This suggests Conklin is currently the Chargers’ lead receiving tight end. The fact that Dissly played at all was a little surprising, given his age and experience. At times, we\u2019ll see a veteran play more if there is a shortage at the position, but either Fisk or Matlock could have easily taken Dissly\u2019s first drive snaps.<\/p>\n

The Chargers started this game with both Dissly and Gadsden at tight end. Dissly played five of six snaps compared to Gadsden’s two, but there was only one snap on the drive out of 11 personnel that wasn\u2019t a goal-line situation, and on that play, Gadsden was at tight end. This suggests that Gadsden is ahead of Dissly for that receiving tight end role, but it\u2019s also a sample size of one play. Dissly stopped playing after the first drive, so Gadsden took the receiving role for the rest of the first half, while Fisk and Matlock assumed the blocking snaps as usual. There has been a lot of hype for Gadsden as a receiving tight end throughout OTAs and training camp, and there is still time for him to surpass Conklin on the depth chart. While Dissly had the highlight play and should have a lot of playing time, it looks like he will play the run-blocking role he played in the first half of last season as well as earlier in his career with the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>. This makes Dissly the least likely of the three to lead the tight end room in fantasy points.<\/p>\n

If one player clearly wins the tight end job for Los Angeles, they have a chance to be fantasy-relevant. Greg Roman\u2019s offenses have a long history of targeting tight ends at an above-average rate. His offenses have featured five top-six fantasy seasons by a tight end, including Mark Andrews<\/a> and Vernon Davis<\/a>. In 11 seasons as an offensive coordinator, his lead tight end has failed to finish in the top-24 only once.<\/p>\n

KeAndre Lambert-Smith<\/a> makes a big play: While Tre\u2019 Harris<\/a> is expected to start for Los Angeles, Lambert-Smith made the highlight 28-yard catch.<\/p>\n

The Chargers had an unsettled wide receiver depth chart beyond their starting three players last season. Ladd McConkey<\/a>, Quentin Johnston<\/a> and Joshua Palmer<\/a> all played between 600-750 snaps, while Simi Fehoko<\/a>, Derius Davis<\/a>, Jalen Reagor<\/a> and D.J. Chark Jr.<\/a> all played between 100-250 and another four players played at least one offensive snap.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles lost Palmer, Fehoko and Chark and replaced them with Harris and Lambert-Smith. Jim Harbaugh announced earlier in the week that veteran traditional starters wouldn\u2019t play. Among skill players, that only meant wide receivers McConkey and Johnston. McConkey also missed practice earlier in the week due to an undisclosed minor injury<\/a>. Reagor also didn\u2019t play for the Chargers, as he\u2019s dealing with a lower-body injury<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With McConkey, Johnston and Reagor out, it was not surprising to see the rookie draft picks as the primary wide receivers, while Derius Davis<\/a> entered the game in three-receiver sets. Lambert-Smith tended to be the X receiver while Harris played the Z receiver role. Considering Johnston was an X receiver last season, it makes sense for Harris to take the Z spot. Lambert-Smith will be competing with Reagor for the top backup spot on the outside. Reagor also primarily played the X receiver role last season. Davis will likely only be a backup to McConkey in three-receiver sets, as well as a returner. The three receivers continued in this role throughout the first half.<\/p>\n

This game shouldn\u2019t be held against Harris, but it was a good reminder that Lambert-Smith could play significant snaps this season.<\/p>\n

Omarion Hampton<\/a><\/a> starts: Hampton played on the Chargers’ first drive before his night was done.<\/p>\n

Hampton was the Chargers’ first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t surprising to see him start, given Najee Harris<\/a>\u2019 injury. The Chargers’ free-agent addition running back remains on the non-football injury list after sustaining an eye injury on July 4th. There is still no timetable<\/a> for his return.<\/p>\n

This game didn\u2019t mean anything for his fantasy value. It showed he is ahead of Kimani Vidal<\/a>, among others, on the Chargers depth chart, which should be no surprise. Other recent high draft picks at running back, such as Bijan Robinson<\/a>, didn\u2019t play in their first preseason game. Jahmyr Gibbs<\/a> and James Cook<\/a> only played in the first quarter, while Zach Charbonnet<\/a>, Kenneth Walker III<\/a> and Breece Hall<\/a> played into the second quarter of their first games. None of that mattered for their performance in the regular season.<\/p>\n

While this game shouldn\u2019t move Hampton up or down any fantasy rankings, the longer Harris stays out, the more Hampton should move up over time.<\/p>\n

Isaac TeSlaa<\/a> makes his Lions debut: TeSlaa was the Lions’ primary source of offense in the first quarter, catching two passes for 46 yards.<\/p>\n

The Lions retained their top four wide receivers from last season. Their receivers had the second-highest team offensive grade, so wide receiver wasn\u2019t a need for Detroit heading into this offseason. Despite this, the Lions drafted TeSlaa in the third round and Dominic Lovett<\/a> in the seventh round. None of the Lions’ top four players played this week, so this game did not indicate how much they will play this season. However, it did give a hint of how they might be used if their name is called upon.<\/p>\n

TeSlaa was an every-down player for Detroit in the first quarter, playing across from veteran Tom Kennedy<\/a>, while Lovett played in three-receiver sets as the slot receiver. TeSlaa tended to line up as the X receiver while Kennedy was the Z. These roles should be no surprise, given each of their size and previous usage. This means that TeSlaa will be competing with Tim Patrick<\/a> for snaps, Lovett will likely be Amon-Ra St. Brown<\/a>\u2019s backup in 11 personnel, and Kennedy will be fighting for a roster spot at Z behind Jameson Williams<\/a> and Kalif Raymond<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lovett\u2019s gotten some buzz as a punt returner during training camp and was used in that role to start the game, but the Lions still have Raymond, who was the highest graded punt returner in the NFL last season. This makes it unlikely Lovett will be the primary punt returner this season, unless Raymond suffers an injury.<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous Notes<\/p>\n

Table Notes<\/p>\n

\u2022 Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won\u2019t count for the total number of carries in the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2022 Will Dissly scores first for the Los Angeles Chargers: The Chargers have a crowded receiving room, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-52128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}