Raiders vs. Chargers Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 2

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 2 matchup between the Raiders and Chargers.

Find a breakdown of every Week 2 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Raiders vs. Chargers Fantasy Quarterback Preview

Justin Herbert

Herbert connected on 17 of 27 throws (63%) for 209 yards (7.7 Y/A) with a touchdown and an interception in Week 1.

He rushed 5 times for 29 yards, closing the week as the QB22 (13.3 points).

This was at home as a double-digit favorite against the Cardinals.

We may look back on this the same way we did the Raiders going into New England in Week 1 last year, but this Chargers offense has several issues that need fixing quickly, because unlike the 2025 Patriots, the schedule gets significantly harder moving forward.

Things got off to a great start.

The Chargers drove 77 yards in 8 plays to open the game with a touchdown.

They then gained more than 24 yards on just two of their remaining nine possessions.

I was excited to see the marriage of what Mike McDaniel and Herbert could bring, but for at least one week, McDaniel asked Herbert to run the Tua Tagovailoa version of his offense rather than catering to the new roster.

Herbert did not play well on top of things.

We saw Herbert in the pistol for a league-high 15.7% of snaps.

He was under center just 23.5% of the time, 29th in the league in Week 1.

Herbert threw to his first read 77.8% of the time but only averaged 7.5 yards per attempt on those throws (23rd).

When he came off his first read, Herbert was 6 for 7 for 9.6 Y/A.

The interior line was a huge question mark coming into Week 1, and it proved to be an immediate problem.

Herbert was pressured on 42.9% of his dropbacks (26th).

The Chargers rotated left guards, with Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins each entering the game.

Pipkins was a disaster, while Awosika allowed no pressures, so this rotation may sort itself out quickly.

Cole Strange allowed a team-high 5 pressures at right guard.

The Miami offense has had growing pains under McDaniel in the opening six weeks.

Tagovailoa threw 1 or fewer touchdowns in four of his first games in this offense.

I don't want to overreact.

The Chargers are still a home favorite with a good team total here.

But I do want to adjust the ceiling expectations for Herbert and this offense in Week 2.

He is more of a fringe QB1 option.

Outside of the offensive line issues, Ladd McConkey‘s health is a big thing to watch this week.

McConkey was the best player the Chargers had on Sunday, but he suffered a rib injury and is questionable for this weekend.

When McConkey was on the field, he commanded 53.8% of targets, 80% of the air yards, and averaged 4.56 yards per route run.

The offense averaged 6.3 yards per play and had a 41.4% success rate per play on 25 snaps with McConkey on the field, whether run or pass.

On 26 snaps without McConkey, they averaged 4.2 yards per play with a 33.3% success rate.

Herbert was 9 of 13 (69.2%) for 134 yards (10.3 Y/A) with McConkey on the field compared to going 8 of 14 (57.1%) for 75 yards (5.4 Y/A) without him.

Without McConkey on the field Sunday, Herbert's 42.3 rating was last in the league.

With him, it was fourth.

The Raiders went against Miami in Week 1, so we will learn more about them this week as well.

I believe they were a better defense than they got credit for last year (they are certainly not great, but they were more middle-of-the-pack than a disaster), and they came out playing well in Week 1.

The Raiders allowed a 55.6% completion rate (4th) without a passing touchdown.

But they allowed chunk gains when Malik Willis completed passes, averaging 14.7 yards per completion (28th).

Kirk Cousins

Cousins was 21 of 30 for 160 yards (5.3 Y/A) with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in Week 1, leading the Raiders to a win in his first start.

That was only good for QB21 (13.8 points) because of the turnovers and low yardage totals, as Cousins was the lowest-scoring fantasy quarterback who threw multiple touchdown passes.

Without the turnovers, he would have been a higher-end QB2.

Without Brock Bowers and facing the Dolphins, the Raiders didn't ask much of Cousins.

Only 24.1% of his passes went 10 or more yards downfield.

When Cousins threw the ball 10-plus yards, he was 1 for 7 for 21 yards with zero touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

If the Raiders want to play that style of offense, it can work here if Chargers DC Chris O'Leary takes the same approach he used in Week 1.

The Chargers played a lot of shell coverage while generating little pressure against Jacoby Brissett, which led to a death-by-a-thousand-cuts game and allowed the Cardinals to control the clock.

The Chargers had a 25% pressure rate (26th) and only 20.7% without blitzing (30th).

As a result, Brissett completed 73% of his passes (6th) with 15 passing first downs (4th).

Cousins is still a floor-based QB2, but he can operate a similar game plan.

Raiders vs. Chargers Fantasy Running Back Preview

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