After spending the entirety of his 11-year career with the Chargers’ franchise, Keenan Allen was infamously traded to the Chicago Bears ahead of the 2024 regular season for nothing more than a fourth-round draft pick. At the time, the move felt necessary given the team’s lack of cap space, but now that the Chargers find themselves in an upswing, the franchise seems to believe that a homecoming is in for 2025 season.
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Allen had been a fan favorite since his first season with the Chargers, where he produced 1,046 receiving yards as a rookie under the guidance of Philip Rivers and Mike McCoy. According to Daniel Wade of the Locked on Chargers podcast, trading away the veteran wide receiver was without a doubt “the most controversial move of the Jim Harbaugh era,” but now that he’s back on the West Coast, “all is forgiven.”
“It’s a big move for a team that has a very young wide receiving core and needed that veteran leadership,” Wade explained prior to noting that the role was initially reserved for Allen’s former teammate, Mike Williams. According to Wade, there may be some “redundancies” in the sense that both Allen and the Chargers’ newest WR1, Ladd McConkey, tend to work predominantly out of the slot, but that’s neither here nor there as “the Chargers are better with Keenan Allen.”
As long as Allen can remain healthy and available on Sundays, something that he routinely struggled with throughout his first stint in L.A., then fans should be able to expect a much more well-rounded approach from the Chargers’ passing game this season.
“It’s up to the offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, to figure out how to use him. With both of these guys now available to you on third down, you can’t just send the house and have them all cover Ladd McConkey. You have options now and now this wide receiver room feels a little bit more fleshed out and a little bit more dangerous,” Wade added.
Allen was able to start in 15 regular season games for the Bears last year, which is the most he has played in any season since 2021, so that certainly bodes well for his chances of success in this season. He may no longer be the primary target of Justin Herbert, but their rich history together should be enough to ensure that he’s routinely included on the stat sheet.
As mentioned, Allen’s veteran presence should help to hasten and improve the development of what is an otherwise young receiving core, but his real value will shine through on third downs. Los Angeles converted just 40.3% of its third down attempts from last season, which isn’t awful, but it’s not enough to reach the playoffs either.
The Chargers haven’t won a playoff game since January 6th of 2019, more than six years ago. Given the current trajectory of their offense, however, it stands to reason that Allen may be able to provide just enough to help them secure their second postseason appearance since 2022.
