Mychal Rivera, TE
The Los Angeles Chargers are left with a lot of questions at the tight end position. Hunter Henry tore his ACL in practice and will most likely miss the entire season. The best-case scenario is that he can return for the postseason if need be.
This situation is only uglier as the Chargers decided against re-signing veteran tight end, Antonio Gates. Even after the Henry injury, it seems as if Gates is not a priority for the Chargers.
Gates would be a smart signing for the Chargers to serve as a short-yardage and red zone target for Philip Rivers. However, that does not seem to be the case and the Chargers have a very small pool of tight ends to look at, most of which are in their later years like Gates.
If the Chargers are against bringing in a tight end past their prime, they should look to sign 28-year-old Mychal Rivera. Rivera will not light up any stat sheets but did prove early in his career that he can be a good contributor in the passing game.
In 2014 Rivera started the most games of his career (10). In that season, Rivera made 58 receptions for 534 yards with four touchdowns. Aside from that year, Rivera has made a combined five starts for the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. The last two years combined Rivera has 472 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
While his numbers are not impressive over the last two years, Rivera did prove when he was given a bigger role he could help in the passing game.
With Rivera as the starting tight end and run-blocking specialist Virgil Green as the back-up, the Chargers should be just fine. It is no Hunter Henry, but it is better than what the team has.