Fantasy Upside
Gerald Everett joined the Chargers last offseason coming off the best year of his career — and promptly set career highs in catches and yards with the Bolts in 2022. As the team's official website notes, the versatile tight end's big year was even more impactful by the injury-plagued year that saw many offensive pieces miss time. Everett played in 16 games and set career bests in receptions (58) and receiving yards (555) while tying his career high with four scores during the regular season. Not only was Everett productive as a safety valve, SBNation notes he was also the team’s best YAC threat not named Austin Ekeler. After recording a new career high in 2021 with the Seahawks (249), Everett topped that by a good margin with 326 in 2022. He capped off the season by hauling in six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown in the AFC Super Wild Card game. "I think that with Gerald Everett, we know that what we're getting," Staley said about Everett. "That guy was a weapon for us."
Fantasy Downside
Necessity was one reason Everett became a weapon. With injuries limiting Keenan Allen to 10 games and Mike Williams to 13 (not to mention the season-ending knee injury Jalen Guyton suffered early in Week 3), the tight end ended up drawing the fifth-most targets on the team (87). A similar workload is not guaranteed.
2023 Bottom Line
With a new wideout in the mix in first rounder Quentin Johnston, it’ll be interesting to see just how the target share gets split between the team’s playmakers. Assuming Ekeler, Allen, and Williams remain healthy, Everett's role could well be diminished. The concerns push him down to the tail end of the TE2 conversation.