Growing up in Brampton, Ontario children aspire to be the next Wayne Gretzky, not the next Jerry Rice. So how did a young Josh Palmer find himself primed to be the main target this season for one of the most prolific young quarterbacks in the NFL and hot topic amongst Canada’s top-paying casinos?
In an interview with Chris Hayre of Chargers.com, Palmer mapped out his path to the NFL at age 15 after starring in track and football for St. Roch Catholic secondary school. “[I] just wanted to pursue my dreams of being where I am today,” Palmer said. “It was a family decision. It was the best opportunity for me to go and showcase my talent to get recruited at one of the best high schools — the best high school in the country. When I went down there, I was laser-focused on the goal.”
At this point, Palmer decided to go to perennial football powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas High School. His best season was as a senior posting 506 yards and eight touchdowns. These were far from eye-popping numbers but were good enough to attract the attention of major scouts. Palmer was a three-star recruit with multiple offers from Power 5 schools. He eventually chose to go to Tennessee.
His college career with the Volunteers took off his sophomore year with a solid 484-yard receiving year. He showed explosiveness with a 21.0 yard per reception average. This was expected to be a lift-off point for the balance of his time at Rocky Top, but Palmer only eclipsed 500 yards for part of his college career. However, Palmer was selected as the 77th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Scouts were impressed by his performances vs. the top talent in the SEC such as high-profile cornerbacks from Georgia (DJ Daniel) and Alabama (Patrick Surtain).
Once he reached Los Angeles, Palmer waited patiently in the wings behind target hogs Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Up against the salary cap this past off-season, the Chargers were forced to make some difficult roster decisions. This included moving on from both star wide receivers (Allen and Williams). Palmer currently stands as the WR 70 for Dynasty on Keep Trade Cut, representing how the Dynasty community as a whole values him. This is Gabe Davis, Michael Wilson, Jalin Hyatt, and Darnell Mooney territory. I am acquiring Palmer with confidence for any of these players.
Palmer is competing for targets vs a rookie, Ladd McConkey, who posted nice efficiency numbers at Georgia including a best-season 3.24 yards per route run. However, McConkey has yet to prove he can be a volume receiver. His peak season at Georgia was 58 receptions for 762 yards in 15 games (less than four receptions per game). The other main target competition for Palmer is Quentin Johnston. Johnston came into the NFL with major questions about his ability to separate. Then he proceeded to post some historically bad reception perception success rates further proving this to be the case.
Palmer, on the other hand, has proven in his young NFL career that he has the trust of Justin Herbert.
Through 2023, in games without Mike Williams, Josh Palmer averaged 13 fantasy points per game. In 2024, the Chargers were without Williams and Allen for the final four weeks of the season. Palmer was active for three of those games and averaged 14 fantasy points per game.
The WR24 overall last year in fantasy throughout the entire season averaged 13.7 fantasy points per game. Therefore, Palmer has already proven in an offense without Williams and Allen he has high-end WR3, low-end WR2 type production. So why is he so cheap at WR70?
Listen, I get it. Palmer is boring. He is not special and his ceiling is capped. But we are talking about being able to acquire a wide receiver that can start on most Dynasty teams at WR70 prices. He is such a low-risk acquisition. At worst, you flip him for a piece you need as his price will certainly rise if he is posting top 30 WR numbers.
I hope you enjoyed reading my article. My goal is to provide actionable advice you can utilize to improve your Dynasty team. You can follow me on Twitter @force_fantasy. #DFFArmy #FantasyFootball #AlwaysBeBuilding #NFL #NFLDraft #NFLTransactions #NFLTrades #AlwaysBeScouting
Click here for a 12-month DFF Membership.
