How did the 2019 Chargers team, players stack up against preseason odds?

Preseason odds for NFL teams is a good way to look back to see expectations for the season and start to understand where things went wrong or right. Below, we will take a look at DraftKings Sportsbook’s preseason odds for win totals, division titles, player props and more while we discuss what led to their triumphs or disappointments.

Team Futures

Super Bowl: +1500
AFC West: +180 (finished last)
Win Total Over/Under: 9.5 (finished 4-11)

Player Props

Philip Rivers MVP: +2000
Philip Rivers passing yards: 4,250.5 (finished with 4,615)
Mike Williams receiving yards: 825.5 (finished with 1,001)
Keenan Allen receiving yards: 1,200.5 (finished with 1,199)
Hunter Henry receiving yards: 750.5 (finished with 652)
Hunter Henry receiving TDs: 6.5 (finished with 5)
Joey Bosa DPOY: +2000

The Los Angeles Chargers were quietly one of the best teams in the AFC in 2018, but played second fiddle to their divisional rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. They dismantled a piping hot Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round of last season’s playoffs before falling to the New England Patriots.

A year later, Los Angeles didn’t get close to the playoff picture. The Chargers won back-to-back games once en route to a 5-11 finish. They finished last in the AFC West, and it wasn’t only because of the poor play of Philip Rivers. Melvin Gordon started off the season with a contract holdout, causing him to miss four games. Star safety Derwin James suffered a stress fracture in his foot and was placed on the IR with an expected recovery time of three months. The Kansas City Chiefs remained a powerhouse while Los Angeles dealt with all this, and the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders improved.

Rivers totaled more passing yards than he has since 2015, but saw a noticeable dip in touchdown passes while his interception numbers rose. ESPN has reported that the signal caller has permanently sold his home in San Diego to move his family to Florida. This indicates that Los Angeles has likely elected to move on from him and draft a new quarterback. It has the pieces to be successful again soon should it find a strong replacement.

Many predict that Oregon’s Justin Herbert will become the Chargers’ next quarterback. He’s tall with great arm strength and will have quality receivers at his disposal in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. He’ll also have a diverse running back group that includes Austin Ekeler, who nearly became the third Charger to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in 2019. Ekeler finished with 993 receiving yards and ran for 557. If Los Angeles can gets its health together, it should be able to be competitive in a conference where two other teams are still trying to figure things out.

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