• Will Dissly scores first for the Los Angeles Chargers: The Chargers have a crowded receiving room, and his usage could suggest a decrease in routes run rather than an increase.

• Rookie wide receivers make the highlights of the first half: KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Isaac TeSlaa and Dominic Lovett all gained over 20 receiving yards in the first half.

The best deal of the year: Use the discount code earlybird to save up to 33% on your PFF+ subscription.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.

The Chargers’ tight end room remains complicated: Will Dissly scored on his only drive but is unlikely to be the Chargers’ primary receiving tight end.

The Chargers’ tight end group was the one fantasy-relevant unit where all noteworthy players were active and playing in this game. Los Angeles ended last season with Dissly as its primary receiving tight end despite being used as a blocker for most of his career. Tucker Fisk was the Chargers’ blocking tight end, while defensive linemen Scott Matlock played as a converted fullback and tight end. The Chargers moved on from both Hayden Hurst and Stone Smartt, while adding veteran free agent Tyler Conklin from the New York Jets and drafting Oronde Gadsden in the fifth round.

Conklin was a veteran who didn’t play in this game, while Dissly, Gadsden, Fisk and Matlock played. This suggests Conklin is currently the Chargers’ lead receiving tight end. The fact that Dissly played at all was a little surprising, given his age and experience. At times, we’ll see a veteran play more if there is a shortage at the position, but either Fisk or Matlock could have easily taken Dissly’s first drive snaps.

The Chargers started this game with both Dissly and Gadsden at tight end. Dissly played five of six snaps compared to Gadsden’s two, but there was only one snap on the drive out of 11 personnel that wasn’t a goal-line situation, and on that play, Gadsden was at tight end. This suggests that Gadsden is ahead of Dissly for that receiving tight end role, but it’s also a sample size of one play. Dissly stopped playing after the first drive, so Gadsden took the receiving role for the rest of the first half, while Fisk and Matlock assumed the blocking snaps as usual. There has been a lot of hype for Gadsden as a receiving tight end throughout OTAs and training camp, and there is still time for him to surpass Conklin on the depth chart. While Dissly had the highlight play and should have a lot of playing time, it looks like he will play the run-blocking role he played in the first half of last season as well as earlier in his career with the Seattle Seahawks. This makes Dissly the least likely of the three to lead the tight end room in fantasy points.

If one player clearly wins the tight end job for Los Angeles, they have a chance to be fantasy-relevant. Greg Roman’s offenses have a long history of targeting tight ends at an above-average rate. His offenses have featured five top-six fantasy seasons by a tight end, including Mark Andrews and Vernon Davis. In 11 seasons as an offensive coordinator, his lead tight end has failed to finish in the top-24 only once.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith makes a big play: While Tre’ Harris is expected to start for Los Angeles, Lambert-Smith made the highlight 28-yard catch.

The Chargers had an unsettled wide receiver depth chart beyond their starting three players last season. Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and Joshua Palmer all played between 600-750 snaps, while Simi Fehoko, Derius Davis, Jalen Reagor and D.J. Chark Jr. all played between 100-250 and another four players played at least one offensive snap.

Los Angeles lost Palmer, Fehoko and Chark and replaced them with Harris and Lambert-Smith. Jim Harbaugh announced earlier in the week that veteran traditional starters wouldn’t play. Among skill players, that only meant wide receivers McConkey and Johnston. McConkey also missed practice earlier in the week due to an undisclosed minor injury. Reagor also didn’t play for the Chargers, as he’s dealing with a lower-body injury. 

With McConkey, Johnston and Reagor out, it was not surprising to see the rookie draft picks as the primary wide receivers, while Derius Davis entered the game in three-receiver sets. Lambert-Smith tended to be the X receiver while Harris played the Z receiver role. Considering Johnston was an X receiver last season, it makes sense for Harris to take the Z spot. Lambert-Smith will be competing with Reagor for the top backup spot on the outside. Reagor also primarily played the X receiver role last season. Davis will likely only be a backup to McConkey in three-receiver sets, as well as a returner. The three receivers continued in this role throughout the first half.

This game shouldn’t be held against Harris, but it was a good reminder that Lambert-Smith could play significant snaps this season.

Omarion Hampton starts: Hampton played on the Chargers’ first drive before his night was done.

Hampton was the Chargers’ first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. It wasn’t surprising to see him start, given Najee Harris’ injury. The Chargers’ free-agent addition running back remains on the non-football injury list after sustaining an eye injury on July 4th. There is still no timetable for his return.

This game didn’t mean anything for his fantasy value. It showed he is ahead of Kimani Vidal, among others, on the Chargers depth chart, which should be no surprise. Other recent high draft picks at running back, such as Bijan Robinson, didn’t play in their first preseason game. Jahmyr Gibbs and James Cook only played in the first quarter, while Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Walker III and Breece Hall played into the second quarter of their first games. None of that mattered for their performance in the regular season.

While this game shouldn’t move Hampton up or down any fantasy rankings, the longer Harris stays out, the more Hampton should move up over time.

Isaac TeSlaa makes his Lions debut: TeSlaa was the Lions’ primary source of offense in the first quarter, catching two passes for 46 yards.

The Lions retained their top four wide receivers from last season. Their receivers had the second-highest team offensive grade, so wide receiver wasn’t a need for Detroit heading into this offseason. Despite this, the Lions drafted TeSlaa in the third round and Dominic Lovett in the seventh round. None of the Lions’ top four players played this week, so this game did not indicate how much they will play this season. However, it did give a hint of how they might be used if their name is called upon.

TeSlaa was an every-down player for Detroit in the first quarter, playing across from veteran Tom Kennedy, while Lovett played in three-receiver sets as the slot receiver. TeSlaa tended to line up as the X receiver while Kennedy was the Z. These roles should be no surprise, given each of their size and previous usage. This means that TeSlaa will be competing with Tim Patrick for snaps, Lovett will likely be Amon-Ra St. Brown’s backup in 11 personnel, and Kennedy will be fighting for a roster spot at Z behind Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond.

Lovett’s gotten some buzz as a punt returner during training camp and was used in that role to start the game, but the Lions still have Raymond, who was the highest graded punt returner in the NFL last season. This makes it unlikely Lovett will be the primary punt returner this season, unless Raymond suffers an injury.

Miscellaneous Notes

• The Lions rested running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick and Kalif Raymond, and tight ends Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. The Lions similarly rested their starters and key backups last preseason, so it wouldn’t be surprising if none of these players play until Week 1.
• Lions’ second-year running back Sione Vaki missed all of practice last week due to a hamstring injury. He returned on Monday for individual drills and walkthroughs, but the Lions opted not to play him in this game. He will need to surpass third-string Craig Reynolds on the depth chart to have any chance of fantasy value this season.
• It was interesting to see Jaret Patterson start the second drive ahead of Kimani Vidal, who played later on the second drive. Hassan Haskins also played multiple first-quarter snaps. This suggests the third-string job, or potentially the second-string job if Najee Harris misses time, is up for grabs.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.