Los Angeles Chargers: 3 players who could surprise in 2021
There are extremely high expectations for the Los Angeles Chargers heading into the 2021 season. Justin Herbert was the QB3 of the 2020 NFL Draft but wound up as the QB1 pretty easily in terms of on-field production.
Herbert’s rapid ascent to stardom as a rookie will not be easy to duplicate or surpass in his sophomore campaign. The Chargers have a new offensive scheme with new head coach Brandon Staley hiring on Joe Lombardi as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Lombardi’s best success in the NFL has, frankly, come when riding the coattails of Sean Payton and Drew Brees with the New Orleans Saints, though to his credit, he was part of one of the only Detroit Lions playoff teams in 2014.
The new offensive system will certainly be a learning curve for everyone, but ultimately, most people seem to be assuming that the talent the Los Angeles Chargers have across the board will be a trump card over any offensive schematic issues.
Following the 2021 offseason in which the Chargers added big-time players like Northwestern left tackle Rashawn Slater in the 2021 NFL Draft, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. in round two, and veterans like Corey Linsley and Jared Cook, the pieces appear to be in place.
Based on the talent this Los Angeles Chargers team has, it would be unfair to assume regression just because Joe Lombardi is not exactly proven outside of being Drew Brees’ position coach.
Which players could be surprises for the Chargers this year, or perhaps surprises to those outside of Los Angeles? Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Los Angeles Chargers: 3 players who could surprise in 2021
1. Tyron Johnson, WR
Unless you’re a Los Angeles Chargers (or Oklahoma State) fan or maybe a fantasy football player in a 16-team league, you’re probably learning about Tyron Johnson for the first time.
Johnson is a rather slender receiver at 6-foot-1, 193 pounds who has big-time track speed.
He ran a 4.34 in the 40-yard dash at the Oklahoma State pro day in the 2019 offseason. He could be considered a late bloomer given he was once a five-star prospect who committed to his home-state LSU Tigers and transferred to Oklahoma State after just one season in Baton Rouge.
After bouncing around between a few teams in 2019, Johnson landed with the Chargers in 2020 and the timing was right.
Not every longshot player had the easiest of circumstances to make a roster in 2020, to say the least, but Johnson parlayed his practice squad shot with the Chargers into some legit production.
He was targeted 26 times on the season and caught 20 passes, averaging just a shade under 20 yards per catch with three touchdowns, including this one against the champs.
https://twitter.com/Chargers/status/1312804430606032897
The Chargers had activated Johnson off the practice squad for that game against the Buccaneers, and he wound up catching another couple of touchdowns over the course of the seasons.
His first three NFL receptions were all 50 yards or longer.
Johnson has a chance to really entrench himself as a WR3 for the Chargers this offseason and if they air it out with Justin Herbert as most expect them to, he should be a surprise breakout player without question.