What Austin Ekeler's return means for the rest of the Chargers pass-catchers

Liz Loza and Matt Harmon examine how Austin Ekeler's Week 12 return will affect the Chargers going forward.

Hear the full conversation on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

[CHEERING]

LIZ LOZA: It was not bonanza-ish, but what we did get was the return of Austin Ekeler. Which, according to the sign behind you, you're quite pleased about. And also Keenan Allen continued to eat.

MATT HARMON: This was great if you've got Austen Ekeler on your fantasy team if you had to pull him out of a lot of IR spots, which I did today and felt great about it. He was on the field for 72% of the Charger snaps. He saw-- he was responsible for 32.9% of their yards from scrimmage, owned a massive share of the red zone targets. Obviously, Josh Kelley ends up popping in the touchdown after Ekeler is like this close.

I-- frankly, I think he might've scored on that catch. But maybe that's personal bias considering I told you I just yanked him off a bunch of IR spots today. So be that as it may, whatever. The opportunity was great for Ekeler. There was nothing even close to a pitch count. He has 11 catches. That was a team high. But as you mentioned, I think also the other good news here-- Keenan Allen still gets 10 catches.

LIZ LOZA: Yeah.

MATT HARMON: Keenan Allen still finds the end zone.

LIZ LOZA: 10 targets.

MATT HARMON: 10 targets, four catches, 40 yards. Like, I don't think Ekeler's return takes any of the shine off of Keenan Allen. Now, it might take some of the shine off of a guy like Mike Williams, who was definitely a disappointing player in this match-up with 3 for 26. Tyron Johnson actually ends up getting the deep catch 55 yards. So that's going to happen to Williams when you're not getting the same amount of volume with Ekeler back in there. That's going to be part of the equation.

LIZ LOZA: But that's also because the team-- the entire game didn't turn into the bonanza, as you described, right? Like, we were advocating for Williams based on the projected over-under, based on this back and forth. And sometimes game flow like, just doesn't go the way you anticipated. And because of that, Williams lost out. That play when Herbert threw it into triple coverage was absolutely incredible, and good for that kid for going up and getting it.