The San Diego Chargers could be without Antonio Gates for a few games with a knee injury and that makes Ladarius Green a solid fantasy football free agent option for Week 8 at tight end. The Chargers have Danny Woodhead looking like a better option over Melvin Gordon in Week 8 after the running back had his carries limited last weekend.
Gates was inactive last week for the Chargers while dealing with a knee injury and the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, Gates could miss "multiple games" with the MCL injury. According to Michael Gehlken, it wouldn't be a "surprise" if Gates has to miss a few weeks and that means Green likely will be slotted into the starting lineup for San Diego. Gates said that he was "not close" to playing against the Raiders on Sunday and now he could miss time moving forward.
Gates missed the first four games of the season with a suspension and in two games played this year he has 18 catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns. The Union-Tribune reports that Gates is holding off on having an MRI heading into next week and he said that he will look into having one if the knee injury doesn't start getting better. Gates suffered the sprain against the Packers and Gates said that he will be "playing it by ear" as he heads into Week 8.
Green has been a solid fantasy option with Gates missing time already this year, as he has 26 catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns this season. Green has put up career high numbers this season and he could be a worthy start option if Gates can't go next week. Last week Green had four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown and he also scored two two-point conversions for San Diego.
Melvin Gordon has been struggling a bit and the rookie had his carries limited in Week 7 as part of the game plan, according to head coach Mike McCoy. Gordon did not play in the first half and had just seven carries in the loss last week. Gordon has 328 rushing yards this season and over the last two weeks he has had just 14 carries overall. Gordon had double digit carries in every game leading into Week 6 and he has been in the single digits for the last two.
Danny Woodhead has been a more consistent fantasy football option and he comes in after putting up over 100 total yards last week. Woodhead had 11 catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns and he also added 26 rushing yards. Woodhead is strong player in PPR leagues and he has 38 catches for 408 yards and four total touchdowns this season.
