Week 5 at Oakland
Philip Rivers threw for 321 yards and two TDs in Week 4, but it was another late, crushing loss for the Chargers. Fortunately, fantasy owners don't have to worry about that. Rivers threw his first inception of the season, but it was a second consecutive 300-plus yard performance for Rivers.
Despite not having Keenan Allen, Danny Woodhead and Antonio Gates, Rivers continues to put up fantasy numbers and remains a pretty good QB1 option. Dontrell Inman was his go-to target last week (with a 7-120-1 line), but Rivers is spreading it around to whoever he can find open. This week, Rivers gets the Raiders on the road. Oakland is in the middle of the pack when it comes to allowing fantasy points to QBs, but Rivers is again proving he deserves to be in lineups.
Week 4 vs. New Orleans
Philip Rivers threw for 330 yards last week, although he didn't record a TD. Ironically it was his first 300-plus yard performance of the season and first game without a TD pass. He had three games last year without a TD pass, which came in the span of four weeks.
This week Rivers gets the Saints at home. The Saints are just 12th in allowing fantasy points to QBs but it feels like it should be much worse. New Orleans defense was lit up by Matt Ryan last week at home, but played pretty well on the road against the Giants. Despite this game being on the road for the Saints, Rivers gets a very nice rank at second on our QB list for Week 4. He's a must-play despite a depleted passing attack missing Keenan Allen, Danny Woodhead and possibly Antonio Gates again. Travis Benjamin and Tyrell Williams have proved to be worthy targets.
Week 3 at Indianapolis
Philip Rivers threw for 220 yards, but had four touchdowns in Week 2. It was a pretty impressive performance despite missing his top target in Keenan Allen. But it wasn't all good news as reports came out this week that RB Danny Woodhead is now lost for the season, as well.
This week, Rivers gets the Colts on the road, a team that's 18th in allowing fantasy points to QBs. This should be a good matchup for Rivers this week, as the Colts defense hasn't exactly been impressive, especially in a Week 1 loss to Detroit. Rivers hasn't piled up the yards as of yet, but the team will likely count on him in the red zone to put up touchdowns, so Rivers should still be productive despite the loss of his two top weapons. With that in mind, we think Rivers is a QB1 play this week coming in seventh on our list. This should be a matchup with lots of points.
Week 2 vs. Jacksonville
Philip Rivers threw for 243 yards and a TD last week. The Chargers got out to a big lead and did use the running game a bit until the lead slipped away and eventually turned into a loss. Of course the big blow to Rivers is the loss of Keenan Allen at WR for the rest of the year.
Many an owner are now wondering what to do with Rivers, who has been down this road before having no Allen to throw to. Rivers has some favorable matchups right through Week 5, however, so he's at least worth hanging on to until then. This week, he gets the Jags who he has lit up over the last three matchups to an average of 320 yards and 2.67 TDs - that includes seven total TDs in his last two contests. Rivers is ranked 10th on our list this week as the Jags are 22nd in allowing fantasy points to QBs. Rivers should be a safe play this week if you need him and we have him ranked higher than Blake Bortles, Kirk Cousins and even Andrew Luck.
Week 1 at Kansas City
Last year over his first eight games Philip Rivers threw 18 TD passes and 7 INTs before going hot and cold over the second half. Ironically, it was Week 8 where WR Keenan Allen was lost for the season. With Allen healthy and some new (Travis Benjamin) and old targets (Antonio Gates), owners are hoping Rivers shows them some real late round draft value at the position in 2016.
It's not the greatest matchup in Week 1 as Rivers is just 15th on our QB list. The Chiefs were 21st in allowing points to QBs last year but Rivers seemed to struggle in both matchups against KC. He didn't threw a TD and had two INTs in 2015 so Rivers gets a bump down our list as a result. Both games were without Allen in the lineup. But over Rivers last four contests against the Chiefs, he has 2 TD passes against 5 INTs so this could be a matchup to consider keeping Rivers on your bench.
Fantasy Upside
Philip Rivers led the league in passing attempts (661) and completions (437) in 2015, and finished second in passing yards. He also threw for more than 4,000 yards for the seventh time in his 12-year pro career. The Chargers finished with a 42-percent conversion rate on third downs, good enough for No. 8 in the NFL. Rivers completed 66.1 percent of his passes (No. 7 in the NFL) and finished with 29 passing TDs (tied for No. 12). The passing yards marked a career high for Rivers, which is saying something considering some of the offenses he engineered under Norv Turner. Then again, it was necessary for survival with everything crumbling around him.
Fantasy Downside
About that whole “everything crumbling around him” thing... For a second straight season, the Chargers struggled to consistently run the football, which seemingly forced Rivers to make every critical play on offense with his arm. Rivers was sacked 40 times, eighth-worst in the NFL. According to the Sports Xchange, the Chargers threw the football 63 percent of the time in 2015 and Rivers threw a league-leading 639 times from shotgun or pistol formation -- that's 100 times more than the No. 2 quarterback on the list.
2016 Bottom Line
It's a testament to Rivers that he was able to finish with such impressive totals in 2015. He received little help from rookie running back Melvin Gordon and lost wide receiver Keenan Allen to a season-ending injury while trusted target Malcom Floyd also battled injuries. This season should provide Rivers with more opportunity to stay upright and improve on last season's touchdown total -- even if his attempts drop back down below 600 (Rivers had at least 500 attempts in each of the five prior seasons). Floyd is now retired and was replaced by a field-stretching presence in Travis Benjamin. Allen is back, and rookie Hunter Henry was drafted to replace free agent defection Ladarius Green as a complement to Antonio Gates. The offensive line can't help but improve, although the ongoing uncertainty with Gordon's knee still leaves the ground game as a significant question mark.
Week 17 at Denver
Philip Rivers threw for 277 yards and a TD last week against the Raiders. Really just OK fantasy numbers in terms of what we've seen from Rivers. But Rivers doesn't have a lot of weapons these days which is capping his fantasy ceiling.
This week, it seems best to just stay away from Rivers. He's ranked all the way down our list at 29th, going against a Denver defense that's eighth in allowing fantasy points to WRs. Rivers should bounce back and be a solid, middle round option next year with a healthy Keenan Allen back. Antonio Gates is rumored to also want to return, but the team is in need of a running attack that Melvin Gordon didn't supply this year.
Week 16 at Oakland
Philip Rivers bounced back last week. It was a good matchup and he may not have had a lot of his targets but he went over 300 yards and added three TDs against the Dolphins. He ended a streak of two games without a TD.
This week Rivers comes in as a higher-end QB2 option at 15th against the Raiders who are 20th in allowing fantasy points to QBs. Rivers had a big day against Oakland earlier this season going for 336 yards and three TDs but did have two picks. It's a pretty friendly matchup and as he proved last week, it doesn't always matter who Rivers is throwing the ball to, he can still produce fantasy numbers.
Week 15 vs. Miami
Philip Rivers threw for 263 yards last week and had another interception, giving him 10 on the year. It was a tough matchup for Rivers going in against the Chiefs. But this is now two straight games with no TD passes and he's thrown a pick in each of the last two games as well.
The good news is, Rivers gets a nice matchup against the Dolphins this week who are ranked 24th in allowing fantasy points to QBs. But Rivers continues to be without some key weapons at wide receiver and as a result his ranking takes a hit all the way down to 16th, making him just a middle of the road QB2. It's tough to trust Rivers even in that capacity in what is very likely a playoff game.
Week 14 vs San Diego
Philip Rivers threw for just 202 yards and added his ninth INT of the year last week. Unfortunately for Rivers, things likely won't get easier this week with a game against the Chiefs. KC is second in allowing fantasy points to QBs, and with a big chunk of Rivers' weapons injured at this point in the season, this probably isn't a matchup where you want to start Rivers in what could very week be a playoff game. Rivers comes in way down our list this week at 27th.
