Who will be this year’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba in fantasy?
Yahoo Fantasy's Josh Norris and Joel Smyth look at several players who could make a massive fantasy jump in 2026.
Video Transcript
Waddle, DeVonta Smith.
Who do you think has the highest chance to be the next JSN?
So I'm gonna need a full ranking from you with these four names.
But, Joel, again, our favorite round, four slash five.
Who do you think is the next JSN of this group?
Yeah, so JSN went from wide receiver 19 in year two to wide receiver two overall.
So if we're talking like that top three ceiling, I would say my two names at the top would be Waddle and DeVonta Smith.
Waddle more just because I like a lot of his situation.
He is switching teams, maybe a little closer situation to like a George Pickens.
But DeVonta Smith, it is pretty like one-to-one.
Like new offense coordinator coming in, new play callers, changes going on there.
His wide receiver one leaves, so he has more opportunity.
He has the quarterback chemistry there in an offense that should be pretty solid this year, and still like a really good defense, like run-heavy team, but he's the number one option, and he's very talented.
So I do really like DeVonta Smith and just his opportunity as a wide receiver one overall here.
And like Mekhi Lemon is dealing with a hamstring, and he's slowly coming back.
A rookie that's missing camp.
They don't really have many other options there.
So I would say DeVonta Smith is my main pick.
You know, a couple months ago, I would've said Ladd McConkie for this reason.
Like 51% of Jaxon Smith-Njigba's production last year came on 38% of the routes that he ran with like heavy personnel sets.
And Ladd was probably gonna be the biggest beneficiary of his team going to heavy personnel sets in terms of Mike McDaniel, you know, bringing Charlie Kolar and Davion Joku and Alec Ingold.
He already had Aranda Gadsden there.
And the reason that's important, we've talked about it, is with more heavier bodies, meaning tight ends, then passes and targets gets funneled to the better players and the best ones, and that, that really is Ladd McConkie.
But Joel, to right that equation, you know, the Chargers would've gone from like the projected 16th best offense to maybe top five, which, you know, we have seen Mike McDaniel offenses be, you know, top three in scoring.
I just get nervous about like this offensive line as we go along now, and like maybe their ceiling is top 10, and, and it's not top five anymore.
Losing Tyler Biadasz, who was a big-name center.
Obviously, you drafted Jake Slaughter in the second round, who had been playing backup left guard, but now he's a starting center, and then, you know, Cole Strange is abysmal anyways.
And their left tackle hasn't been practicing all of camp.
So what I'm trying to say is I, I am more afraid now than I was back in June that the Chargers' ceiling is capped versus if we ever got a healthy offensive line for Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel, that could've been the pathway for me for Ladd McConkie to be, quote-unquote, "this year's JSN."
