It’s easy for fans and the local sports press to get swept up in the excitement of a new NFL season.

Then the games roll around, and in many instances, it becomes clear that the local team, for all the hoopla, has no chance to bring home the Super Bowl trophy.

In San Diego, the risk is slim that folks are overly giddy about the 2016 Chargers, simply because of the club’s 4-12 record last year that included an 0-6 mark in intradivisional contests.

Chargers players, for their part, seem to like the low profile they carry. They leave the hoopla-creating to others.


What makes these Chargers atypical for a team coming off a poor season, however, is that they actually have a formidable array of talent in one key aspect. The passing game.

Philip Rivers’ credentials are well known. Among active quarterbacks, the longtime Bolts starter is a top-10 passer in several career statistics.

It is the dangerous array of Chargers pass-catchers, here, following, that will get special note.

These guys are good.


Really, they are.

It’s an objective, demonstrable truth that Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates, Danny Woodhead and Travis Benjamin can create mismatches against NFL pass defenders.

NFL tradition is that standout units get a colorful nickname. Let’s call these guys the Four Pillars. The flair is in the performance, less so the nickname.

Keenan Allen


The wide receiver’s 62 catches through seven games last season were the most in NFL history over the initial seven games of a season.

Allen blistered cornerbacks who were quick and darty, and others who were tall and fast. Veterans who knew all the tricks also failed to cling to him.

No defender stopped Allen for long. Only a lacerated kidney did.

The injury, sustained when the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder thudded to the end zone in Baltimore -- yes, he held onto the ball -- ended his season in the eighth game.


Fully recovered, the 24-year-old regained his form in recent weeks and whipped not only Chargers defenders but opponents with the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals.

Rivers said Allen has improved on his ’15 standard, and appears faster than last year.

Antonio Gates

Sure, he’s had a great career – but is he still dangerous at age 36?


He breezed through the team’s conditioning drill. When Gates did line up in practices and exhibitions, which was seldom, he got open and caught passes.

The tactics of opponents provide a terrific clue of a player’s capabilities, and Chargers opponents last year generally treated Gates like he’s still a big-time threat on third downs and in the red zone.

One team that gave him less regard in the red zone, the Jacksonville Jaguars, saw Gates get wide open and snap up two touchdown passes.

He missed four games last year because he tested positive for a banned, performance-enhancing-substance. A knee sprain cost him one game and limited him in others.


Gates nonetheless averaged 5.1 catches per game, his most since 2005.

With eight touchdown catches, Gates would supplant Tony Gonzalez as the NFL’s all-time leader among tight ends.

Danny Woodhead

In training camp this summer, Woodhead was Woodhead.


Quick. Crafty. Sure-handed.

With 80 catches last season, he led all AFC running backs and was matched only by Theo Riddick of the Detroit Lions.

Woodhead also led NFL running backs with six touchdown catches. No other had five.

His knack as a potential pass blocker, runner or receiver in the cat-and-mouse game with defenders makes Woodhead an elite third-down back.


A special dimension he provides is as a threat to tame pass rushers. They must be mindful of his ability to improvise with Rivers on short passes, as he did against the defensively awesome Broncos in the season finale.

By then, the Chargers were trotting out a skeletal crew of playmakers. Allen and No. 3 receiver Stevie Johnson were unavailable, as were running backs Melvin Gordon and Branden Oliver. Malcom Floyd, on the cusp of retirement, was playing with a damaged shoulder and looked beaten down.

Considering that San Diego’s blocking unit was also below average and that Denver was desperate to gain homefield advantage for the playoffs, it was impressive that the Chargers were able to move the ball.

Woodhead was responsible for much of the success. He caught eight of 10 targets. A talented Broncos pass rush had to check itself, in some aspects, to make sure it didn’t allow Woodhead an outlet pass.


Travis Benjamin

The speedster is faster than almost everyone he encounters, unless Usain Bolt joins an NFL defense.

The Miami alumnus ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine.

Though Benjamin had reconstructive knee surgery in 2013, he showed breakaway speed two years later – when such recoveries tend to take flight – while leading Cleveland Browns wideouts with 68 catches, 966 yards and five wideouts.


Benjamin, who also returned a punt 78 yards for a score, should add juice to San Diego’s slip-screen game.

“It’s nice to get an explosive player like Travis that can take a short completion and take it to the house at some point in time,” coach Mike McCoy said.

Of the Four Pillars, Benjamin is the least versatile pass-catcher.

His speed is scary, but in a Chargers pass-catching corps that’s more talented than his previous team’s, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver profiles as more of a complementary player.


With Cleveland, Benjamin drew 125 targets, tied for first on the team with tight end Gary Barnbridge.

The heavy workload didn’t play to his strength, evidenced by a 54.4-percent catch rate was below-average for a No. 1 receiver. The Chargers have enough talent to isolate Benjamin against Nos. 2 or 3 cornerbacks.

The track record of several other Chargers pass-catchers isn’t on par with the Four Pillars – but their youth could put their potential production on a higher plane.

Sophomore wide receiver Tyrell Williams is smooth and fast. Though the Western Oregon alumnus has a lot to learn, whispers are that he has Pro Bowl potential.


Running back Melvin Gordon took a pass for a touchdown last month. Rivers described rookie tight end Hunter Henry as a fifth-year pro because he’s so polished. Reliable receiver Dontrelle Inman enters his third year in McCoy’s system, and newcomer Isaiah Burse, a slot receiver, offers quickness and agility.

“It’s a talented group overall,” McCoy said. “There’s a bunch of guys out there that can make plays. We’ve had more speed than we’ve had the last couple of years.”

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