Just in time for Keenan Allen's return to California, this Jobs Battles entry updates the position battles among the Chargers wide receivers, Giants running backs, Dallas running backs, New Orleans running backs and New England wide receivers.
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Ladd McConkey vs. Tre Harris vs. Quentin Johnston vs. Keenan Allen, WR, LAC
Keenan Allen agreed to a one-year deal with the Chargers on Tuesday, reuniting him with Justin Herbert after one year away.
Allen will be roughly 33.5 in October, and he wasn't particularly effective for the Bears in 2024. Allen likely ran no better than a 4.60 40 out of college – he was actually timed in the 4.7s, albeit on nagging PCL injury at the time – but his current age likely dictates Allen is running in the 4.7s at best even when fully healthy.
Allen's only efficient box scores from 2024 were against the Lions, when he was largely just boxing out the 5-foot-8 Amik Robertson for easy catches. Literally every other game was unproductive, even when there was volume present, such as his 28 targets for 15 catches in his two games against Minnesota.
This is all to clarify that at this point Allen is a slot specialist and a likely backup. His signing likely has little or nothing to do with Tre Harris or Quentin Johnston.
Just in time for Keenan Allen's return to California, this Jobs Battles entry updates the position battles among the Chargers wide receivers, Giants running backs, Dallas running backs, New Orleans running backs and New England wide receivers.
Check out the industry-leading fantasy football live draft assistant to get custom rankings for your league and follow along with a live draft on most major platforms!
Ladd McConkey vs. Tre Harris vs. Quentin Johnston vs. Keenan Allen, WR, LAC
Keenan Allen agreed to a one-year deal with the Chargers on Tuesday, reuniting him with Justin Herbert after one year away.
Allen will be roughly 33.5 in October, and he wasn't particularly effective for the Bears in 2024. Allen likely ran no better than a 4.60 40 out of college – he was actually timed in the 4.7s, albeit on nagging PCL injury at the time – but his current age likely dictates Allen is running in the 4.7s at best even when fully healthy.
Allen's only efficient box scores from 2024 were against the Lions, when he was largely just boxing out the 5-foot-8 Amik Robertson for easy catches. Literally every other game was unproductive, even when there was volume present, such as his 28 targets for 15 catches in his two games against Minnesota.
This is all to clarify that at this point Allen is a slot specialist and a likely backup. His signing likely has little or nothing to do with Tre Harris or Quentin Johnston. It certainly has nothing to do with Ladd McConkey, except for that Allen is potentially an upgrade at Backup Slot, where the Chargers would otherwise only have the likes of KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Oronde Gadsden, both Day 3 rookies. McConkey's durability troubles are obvious enough, and Allen gives them a chain-moving option if McConkey continues to miss time.
The more the Chargers rely on Allen, though, the worse they will likely find the results. In his 15 active games last year Allen drew 121 targets – good for a target share of 25.4 percent. The problem is the returns on that usage were plainly not helpful.
The Bears completed 66.74 percent of their targeted passes in Allen's 15 active games, at 6.78 yards per target. Allen caught just 57.9 percent of his targets at 6.1 yards per target. In other words, at a 25.4-percent target share Allen was more than eight points underwater in catch rate and 0.68 yards per target. This means that Allen was overexposed in his usage, and a target share reduction would be mandatory to get his efficiency returns into an acceptable range.
There are probably no position battles to observe here – McConkey is the WR1 and the first-string slot receiver for the Chargers. Allen will play almost always in the slot, meaning he can only play when McConkey is on the perimeter or injured. Especially given McConkey's dominance from the slot, it's unlikely the Chargers subsidize snaps for Allen by making McConkey less productive on the boundary. Rather than McConkey, Harris or even Johnston, Allen is more likely an issue for Lambert-Smith and Gadsden.
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Tyrone Tracy vs. Cam Skattebo (hamstring) vs. Devin Singletary, RB, NYG
On RotoWire's very own Fantasy Sports Today our Nick Whalen and Jeff Erickson spoke to ESPN Giants beat writer Jordan Ranaan, who declared that "there is no competition" between Tyrone Tracy and Cam Skattebo, and that Tracy is the Giants' starter unequivocally.
With respect to Ranaan, who is one of the most reliable Giants reporters, this is probably a hasty conclusion on one of the league's more important position battles, especially when forecasting the full 2025 season. Ranaan's reasoning is basically just deferred to the question of first-team reps to this point, which Tracy is receiving almost all of by default while Skattebo sits with a hamstring injury.
Perhaps there is no visible Competition right now, but things can change quickly and Tracy is far from infallible.
Was there a Competition between Tracy and Devin Singletary last year? There was not, yet you saw how it turned out. There's a strong chance Skattebo's missed practice time is the only reason he hasn't taken more first-team reps by now. If so, then we can't declare the competition Over as much as merely Paused.
The missed time is far from ideal for Skattebo, though, as he has been out since August 1 and might have played through the injury for some amount of time prior to that. Given the missed practice time, Skattebo might begin the season behind both Tracy and Singletary.
It does not necessarily hold any sway over how the season ends, however. Indeed, there is little or no reason to think the Giants offense will be particularly successful. When the margins get pressed and the Giants need someone to extend drives and score touchdowns, eventually Brian Daboll will have no choice but to go down the list of options. Given their respective prospect profiles, there is reason to think that Skattebo will force his foot into the door at that point and only gain ground from there.
I'd suggest the details most important to Skattebo's long-range projection are the facts that he is the best pass catcher and short-yardage back between himself, Tracy and Singletary. How long it takes for those facts to materialize on the field is a different question, making this one of the more contentious ongoing fantasy football position battles.
Javonte Williams vs. Miles Sanders vs. Jaydon Blue, RB, DAL
There's been a swell of recent optimism for Jaydon Blue in training camp reports after he reportedly did poorly in OTAs, and now the fantasies of Blue starting for Dallas have resumed in full force, especially after Brian Schottenheimer compared Blue to Darren Sproles.
Blue still likely won't win any position battles against Javonte Williams and maybe not even Miles Sanders. One reason is that he isn't actually like Sproles, despite Schottenheimer's hazy recollection. Something maybe in the Nyheim Hines range could be Blue's eventual outcome, but Sproles was one of the best players of all time.
Blue, on the other hand, would have been the third-string running back for Texas last year if C.J. Baxter hadn't gotten hurt. This is a direct example of how, while Blue's sub-4.4 speed does indeed make him a unique big-play threat, Blue lacks the well-rounded game necessary to fit consistently into base package play calls.
More specifically, the complete void of power in Blue's running makes him a liability with power concepts, and in the meantime he also faces questions about both ball security and pass blocking. Blue may well excel in a role with novel functions, but they are just that – novelties, the effective deployment of which is said more easily than done.
Williams will almost certainly win this position battle because he's by far the most passing-down proven between himself, Blue and Sanders. Additionally, and crucially, Williams is the one of the three who doesn't tip off the play call. With Sanders you know it's probably not a pass play, with Blue you know with certainty it won't be a power concept and if it's a passing play he's running a route, etc. With Williams you can't assume anything about the play call, because he can function in all phases of running back play and all run concepts.
Kendre Miller vs. Devin Neal (hamstring) vs. Cam Akers, RB, NO
Rookie sixth-round pick Devin Neal will likely miss a couple weeks with a hamstring injury, which is unfortunate timing for the former Kansas star given the heated position battles between himself, Kendre Miller and Cam Akers for the RB2 role behind Alvin Kamara.
Given Akers' veteran-minimum contract with zero guarantees, any neutralization of Neal would likely make Miller the heavy favorite for the RB2 role, at least in the short term. There's reason to believe a guy like Neal will eventually have his day in the NFL, it's just that as a former third-round pick Miller likely has the talent to make his own impact if his health would for once cooperate.
If Akers claims this RB2 role then it likely means both Neal and Miller got hurt, as opposed to Akers actually winning the position battles against either of the two prospects. Miller and even Neal are the better bets to follow Kamara on the Saints depth chart.
Kayshon Boutte vs. Kyle Williams vs. Mack Hollins, WR, NE
Kyle Williams understandably inspires optimism in much of the fantasy football world, because the speedy third-round pick was a highly productive player in college and seemingly offers the Patriots a downfield threat they otherwise badly lack.
It's worth recalling, though, that Kayshon Boutte was a consensus top prospect not long ago and if not for character concerns might still be held in that general regard. Crucially, Boutte seemed to establish himself as New England's best downfield threat and 'X' wideout in 2024. The numbers were of course underwhelming, but Boutte is still just 23 years old and should continue to develop for the next couple years.
In any case, Boutte has consistently functioned as the first-team 'X' wideout in training camp, with Stefon Diggs and DeMario Douglas respectively locked in at flanker and the slot rep. The exception is when Mack Hollins rotates in.
The Patriots obviously saw something they liked in Hollins during his one year in Buffalo, and presumably those functions are designated for Hollins specifically. Given that he's somewhat lumbering and doesn't offer anything unique as a pass catcher, the Patriots likely value Hollins for his blocking ability rather than his viability as a target.
In that sense, Hollins is an obstacle for Williams' playing time but not necessarily for targets. That competition would primarily be Boutte. If Hollins, Boutte or Diggs were to miss time then Williams should plug in easily, but in the meantime the rookie might more realistically be in a position battle to function as a swing backup to any of the first four wideouts on the Patriots depth chart.
Daniel Jones vs. Anthony Richardson, QB, IND
Just a quick update on one of the league's dreariest position battles: the competition is ongoing, with predictably neither playing well enough to neutralize the other.
The latest development is that Richardson will start Indianapolis' first preseason game, while Daniel Jones will start the second. It's not clear what coach Shane Steichen is waiting to see from either player, but for now the ambiguity will persist.
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