Los Angeles Chargers don’t need to find a replacement for Tyrell Williams

The most notable player that is leaving the Los Angeles Chargers is Tyrell Williams, who the team will be fine without in the 2019 season.

The Los Angeles Chargers had several players hitting free agency this offseason and have been able to bring back some of the most impactful players.

The Chargers re-signed free agents Denzel Perryman, Adrian Phillips and Brandon Mebane while also agreeing to contracts with Tyrod Taylor and Thomas Davis. With all things considered, the Los Angeles Chargers have had a fairly successful offseason.

The one major loss that the Chargers have had this offseason is wide receiver, Tyrell Williams. Williams signed a four-year, $44 million contract with the rival Oakland Raiders.

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First of all, good for Williams. He got paid much more than the Chargers were likely willing to offer him to be the third-best receiver on the team.

Williams is obviously talented enough for the Raiders to pay him $44 million. He was the Chargers’ best deep threat, and while he was prone to dropping balls, he was always responsible for the big plays when Philip Rivers and the offense needed it.

However, he still was going to be the third-best receiver on the team. Keenan Allen is the obvious number one and Mike Williams made huge progressions last year. Williams has elite receiver potential and will be targeted much more in 2019.

That still leaves a hole in the slot on the depth chart. Many football and Chargers analysts are trying to rack their brains to think about how the team will replace Williams. Will it be a free agent? A trade? A draft pick?

It won’t be anything because the Chargers don’t need to replace Williams. There is a receiver that many have forgotten about because he has slid down to fourth in the depth chart with the emergence of Mike Williams: Travis Benjamin.

Benjamin is in the last year of the four-year, $24 million contract that he signed with the Chargers prior to the 2016 season. Benjamin had two promising years with the Chargers, posting a combined 1,244 yards and eight touchdowns.

However, he had just 12 receptions in 2018 for 186 yards and a touchdown. It is easy to see why he has been forgotten about.

Is Benjamin as good as Williams? Not at all. However, Benjamin came up big in one of the most important games of the year, proving that he can be a reliable target for Philip Rivers when the opportunity presents itself.

Benjamin had two receptions for 57 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs in the team’s Week 15 victory to move into a tie for the AFC West.

It might not seem like much but both receptions came in the team’s eventual game-winning drive and were the two biggest passes aside from the actual touchdown and two-point conversion pass.

The first was a 31-yard connection over the middle in which Benjamin got lit up from the safeties and held on. This came after a holding penalty, which forced the Chargers back to first and 20.

The second came on fourth and seven. With the game on the line, Rivers dumped a picture perfect pass right into Benjamin’s breadbasket. Benjamin got just enough separation to turn and perfectly time the reception.

It was unguardable. Rivers put the ball in the one place that it could be caught and Benjamin timed the reception perfectly. It truly was a play that makes a football purist proud.

He might not go over the top as often as Benjamin and he is better on shorter routes in which he can use his athleticism to get in the open field and make tacklers miss. He has the athleticism to run those go-routes and deep comebacks, as well.

The Los Angeles Chargers will eventually have to replace Williams, obviously. This is the last year of Benjamin’s contract. However, for the time being, the team is just fine.