Keenan Allen returns to Chargers: Fantasy projections now become slightly more complicated for Ladd McConkey

Keenan Allen is back with the Chargers after he signed a one-year, $8.52 million contract Tuesday. And now things get complicated for Fantasy managers when it comes to the Chargers receiving corps.

Allen started his career with the Chargers in 2013 -- when the team was still in San Diego -- and spent 11 seasons with the franchise through 2023. He left Los Angeles in 2024 to play in Chicago, and now Allen is back with Justin Herbert.

At 33, Allen is on the downside of his career, and he struggled last season with the Bears. He averaged 12.3 PPR points per game, which isn't awful, but that matched the worst full season of his career since he also averaged 12.3 PPR points in 2014. However, keep in mind that Allen did have four outings with at least 20.2 PPR points, which is impressive since Caleb Williams struggled as Chicago's starter in his rookie campaign.

Allen was a star in 2023 with the Chargers, and he averaged 21.6 PPR points per game. He had 108 catches for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns on 150 targets in 13 games.

No one should expect that level of production from Allen, but he could still make an impact this season, especially if he lines up in the slot. It's worth taking a flier on Allen with a late-round pick in all leagues.

Allen's signing will impact all the receivers for the Chargers, including Ladd McConkey, Tre Harris, Quentin Johnston, and Keandre Lambert-Smith. All of them get downgraded to some degree with Allen's arrival. 

Start with McConkey, who was awesome in his rookie campaign in 2024. He was the No. 19 receiver at 15.1 PPR points per game, but he averaged a whopping 20.7 PPR points per game over his final eight outings, including the playoffs. He scored at least 16.5 PPR points in six games over that span.

McConkey was the primary slot receiver for the Chargers last season, but Allen could steal that job. It doesn't mean that McConkey can't win as an outside receiver, but Allen's presence lowers McConkey's ceiling.

He was being drafted toward the end of Round 2 or beginning of Round 3 in the majority of leagues, and now I'll drop him toward the back end of Round 3. I'm certainly not going to panic about McConkey -- and he might remain in the slot over Allen -- but he should be drafted after Tyreek Hill and Tee Higgins, and potentially Davante Adams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Garrett Wilson as well.

Harris and Johnston, in that order, will only be worth late-round fliers now. Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz told The Athletic that McConkey and Allen are going to play a lot, which is bad news for the younger receivers.

"You get good players on the field, and you play them," Hortiz said about playing McConkey and Allen together. "You can get creative with a lot of different players."

Harris and Johnston still have some upside and can make the occasional splash play. But their targets will be limited in Greg Roman's offense if McConkey and Allen are healthy.

Long-term, I still like Harris a lot, but we might not see the best of him until 2026. Harris, a second-round pick in the NFL Draft from Ole Miss, had 114 catches for 2,015 yards and 15 touchdowns on 72 targets in 20 games in the past two seasons. He had a 66.3 percent catch rate and averaged 11.7 yards per target, and he should eventually emerge as the No. 2 receiver for the Chargers behind McConkey.

As for Johnston, he struggled through the first two years of his career after he was the No. 21 overall selection in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He had 38 catches for 431 yards and two touchdowns on 67 targets as a rookie, and then he had 55 catches for 711 yards and eight touchdowns on 91 targets last year.

It's hard to envision a third-year breakout for Johnston because of McConkey, Allen, and Harris, but Johnston did score at least 15.5 PPR points in three of his final five games last season with 45 targets over that span. Now, however, any potential upside is capped because of Allen.

And you can forget about Lambert-Smith doing much of anything in his rookie campaign. He looked good in the Hall of Fame Game against the Lions with two catches for 43 yards and a touchdown on two targets, but the fifth-round pick will struggle for playing time if everyone is healthy.

Herbert is a winner with all of this talent around him, and Allen is a nice security blanket given their history together. I like Herbert as a sleeper, but he still remains a late-round pick in one-quarterback formats and a mid-round selection in Superflex and two-quarterback leagues.

Herbert only averaged 19.5 Fantasy points per game last season, and this is still going to be a run-first team with Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris. Herbert only had seven outings with more than 20 Fantasy points in 2024, but all of them came in the final 12 games of the season.

The Chargers attempted another reunion this offseason with Mike Williams, but he retired at the start of training camp. Allen should provide a quality veteran presence to the young receivers and help Herbert, and Allen could help Fantasy managers as well.

We just hope he doesn't impact McConkey in a negative way. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out during the season now that Allen has returned to the Chargers.