While the Chargers got blown out of the water in Week 7, it still resulted in a successful fantasy football day for nearly everyone (except for RB Kimani Vidal). The squad now has to get ready for primetime with Thursday Night Football against the Vikings.
Let’s look at this week’s fantasy football start/sit decisions for the Bolts.
Start: QB Justin Herbert
After a bit of a difficult stretch, Herbert has bounced back with stellar performances in consecutive games. No. 10 has thrown 93 times over the last two weeks, which has been due to a combination of game script and the absence of Omarion Hampton. His six interceptions on the season raise a bit of concern for fantasy football, but it’s not enough to warrant benching him.
Herbert has still been a top-10 quarterback for the 2025 season, and the Vikings’ pass defense is coming off a less-than-stellar effort. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts went for 326 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Vikings in Week 7. Expect Herbert to throw the ball 35+ times again, which qualifies him as a start in your lineup.
Sit: RB Kimani Vidal
This is a difficult decision that you could argue either way. On the positive side, Vidal continues to dominate volume in this running back room with Hampton out. In Week 7, he got nine of the 10 total carries from the running back room and snagged four receptions as well. On the flip side, it wasn’t an efficient effort from Vidal, and he was a complete dud in fantasy as a result.
The game script did affect things greatly, as the Chargers fell behind almost immediately. This week is an average matchup, as the Vikings are the 13th-most difficult matchup for running backs in fantasy football. This decision mainly comes down to what other running backs you have on your roster, but you don’t have full confidence if you do have to start Vidal.
Start: WRs Keenan Allen & Ladd McConkey
Things seem to be rounding into normalcy with Allen and McConkey dominating underneath and Quentin Johnston used as the deep play threat. This duo combined for 20 catches, 186 yards, and a touchdown in Week 7 and should be quite excited for this primetime matchup after they saw what the Eagles’ wideouts did to the Vikings.
Allen leads the team in both catches (44) and receiving yards (435), whilst he’s second in touchdowns (4). McConkey has now strung together three consecutive strong outings and seems to be back to the guy he was in 2024.
Sit: TE Oronde Gadsden II
The rookie fifth-rounder flew under the radar throughout the summer, and he’s now emerged as the clear No. 1 tight end in Los Angeles. Early Week 8 projections put Gadsden as the sixth-rated tight end, ahead of the likes of Tucker Kraft and Dalton Kincaid.
That seems a bit too early to be putting him that high, even with the consideration of his last two weeks. In that stretch, the former Syracuse product has amassed 14 catches for 232 yards and a touchdown. Albeit impressive, it’s impossible for that kind of target share to continue, particularly with all of the other weapons in this offense. With that considered, I’d like to see it happen for just another week or two before I’m fully convinced of him being a fantasy starter.
Sit: WR Quentin Johnston
Johnston began the season blazing hot with four consecutive 70+ yard performances. The former first-rounder totaled four touchdowns in that span and was a top-five fantasy wideout to begin the season. Things have cooled off since, and he shouldn’t be considered a must-start in your lineups.
Johnston averaged 9.3 targets in the first four games of the year, but he’s combined for just 10 total targets in his last two contests. It’s resulted in six catches for 70 yards and a touchdown in that span, which is not reflective of the start he had. With the emergence of Gadsden as well, it feels like Johnston will be more boom-or-bust moving forward.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Fantasy football: Should you start Chargers TE Oronde Gadsden II in Week 8?
Reporting by Spencer Schultz, Chargers Wire / Chargers Wire
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