Chargers targeted as shocking bet worth a look before Week 1

There’s some interesting hype around the Los Angeles Chargers right now after free agency and the draft. 

As things settle and onlookers zoom out across the NFL, the fact Jim Harbaugh teams tend to trend upward after Year 1 and the Chargers made the playoffs last year looms larger than ever. 

It helps that the Chargers had a rather well-received offseason, too, upgrading the offense around Justin Herbert and possibly continuing to trend upward after a top-10 showing from a defense coordinated by Jesse Minter. 

Hence, Matt Bowen at ESPN actually picking the Chargers as a favorable futures bet to win the entire AFC: 

“Outside of the big four in the AFC -- the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals -- I'd give the Chargers the best shot to make a deep run in the playoffs. Quarterback Justin Herbert enters his second season under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Look for Herbert to make a jump here. The club made upgrades on offense with rookie running back Omarion Hampton and guard Mekhi Becton, two players who can boost the run game, and receivers Tre Harris and Mike Williams give Herbert more vertical stretch ability on the perimeter.”

Are the Chargers going to win the entire conference? Probably not, but when looking for nice futures lines to consider, the +1000 mark for Harbaugh’s team doing so is indeed pretty spicy. 

Before anything else, the Chargers will need to worry about surviving the AFC West, where the Kansas City Chiefs just went on a deep run during a “down” year. Sean Payton has the Denver Broncos soaring, and Pete Carroll has the Las Vegas Raiders on a turnaround, too. 

Those factors aside, the Chargers indeed look like a noteworthy team to keep tabs on over the summer.