Chargers Christmas List: Keenan Allen

Christmas is this week and it’s a good time to tell you all that I am a FIEND for the holiday season. I eat up everything about it. The lights. The music. The BAKED GOODS!

I can’t get enough of it. So understandably, I wanted to put a little holiday spirit into some posts this week and I thought it’d be a sweet idea to make a couple “Christmas lists” for various players on the Chargers. These lists will include a handful of things they’ll hope the big man in red will bring them this season, whether that’s more yards, touchdowns, wins, etc.

So, first up we have wide receiver Keenan Allen and his short wish-list from Santa, himself.

1.) To pass Gary Garrison for #4 on the Chargers’ all-time receiving yards list before the 2020 season ends

The first thing on Allen’s Christmas list is another 137 receiving yards across the Chargers’ final two games so he can move up one more spot on the team’s all-time receiving list. Right now, he sits at 7,397 yards. Garrison sits at 7,533. After passing the former Bolts wideout who played 10 years with the franchise (1966-1976), he’ll then have quite the bit of distance to cover to reach Charlie Joiner, who is third on the list with 9,203 receiving yards.

2.) To set a new career high for touchdowns in a single season

Allen is only a single touchdown away from setting a new career high with nine scores on the year. It’s odd to look back on, but Allen has been chasing his career best of eight touchdowns ever since he was a rookie back in 2013.

One of the more peculiar stretches of Allen’s career has been the three-year span from 2017-2019 when he scored exactly six receiving touchdowns in each season. No more, no less. Yes, that consistency is nice, but Allen would be the first to tell you that he’d prefer to average something closer to double-digits as opposed to just six.

After being on a snap count against the Raiders, Allen will likely get back to large snap count this week against the Broncos. Knowing how strong his and Herbert’s connection is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Herbert pelt the Slayer with targets from the first whistle until the last.

3.) To set a new career high for receptions in a season

Finally, Allen would love Santa Claus to bring him at least five more receptions over the next two weeks in order to set a new personal high-water mark for catches in a single season. He’s currently at 100 on the season and his career-high is 104, set this past season in 2019. If he’s not too beat up heading into this week’s matchup with the Broncos, he’ll likely secure his new personal best on Sunday before adding on to it in the season finale.

It’s been a regular season for Allen in terms of gobbling up catches, but the Slayer is currently on his way to averaging less than 10 yards per receptions for the first time in his career. His current average is 9.9, so chances are that he finishes on the right side of 10, but you never know. Allen’s been Herbert’s most-reliable target in 2020 and plenty of those looks come in short-yardage situations (third-and-three, etc.) when the Chargers need to move the chains. Those certainly don’t help the average all that much, but Allen is too dang good after the catch to let himself fall short of double-digit YPR.