This Chargers Receiver Could Be the Biggest Breakout Candidate of 2026

The Los Angeles Chargers had one of the more interesting offseasons.

Keenan Allen walked in free agency (for the second time), but they didn’t sign anyone to replace him. And in the NFL draft, they used most of their picks to load up on the trenches, with four of their eight selections being offensive linemen, drafting just a single receiver in the fourth round.

In free agency, the Chargers added 29-year-old tight end David Njoku, along with veteran center Tyler Biadasz and guards Kayode Awosika and Cole Strange. They also brought in former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as the team’s new offensive coordinator after firing Greg Roman. McDaniel is one of the most creative offensive minds in the NFL, and now, he’s Justin Herbert’s OC.

The ceiling for the entire offense just went way up, even if the organization didn’t add any splashy new weapons this offseason. And they may not have needed to. The Chargers adding just a single new receiver to the room signals strong confidence not just in Ladd McConkey, who should be the team’s leading target getter in 2026, but in last year’s second-round pick, Tre Harris.

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Harris is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound receiver who posted 2,015 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns across his final two seasons at Ole Miss. The Chargers selected him No. 55 overall in 2025, and he came into his rookie year with real hype, despite being in a somewhat crowded receiver room.

His rookie year was modest as a result. Buried in the depth chart, he finished with just 324 yards and one touchdown on 30 catches, averaging 10.8 yards per catch. His best game came against Dallas in Week 16, where he finished with just four catches on five targets and 54 yards.

Don’t expect things to be the same in 2026.

Harris reportedly showed up to minicamp looking visibly bigger, and Jim Harbaugh called him one of the team’s “three elite receivers,” alongside McConkey and Quentin Johnston. Keenan Allen is leaving behind 122 targets from last year, and while McConkey and Johnston will benefit from that, so will Harris.

One of the biggest reasons why is the addition of McDaniel as OC. He led the Dolphins’ offense to rank in the top eight in both passing offense and total offense during his four years in Miami. And his 2023 team led the league in total yards and passing yards, while becoming just the 18th team in history to have a 4,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher, and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season.

Few play-callers in the league are better at spreading the wealth than McDaniel.

Harris should see a dramatic increase in his targets, catches, yards, and touchdowns in 2026. And he doesn’t need to be a WR1 to break out. If McConkey handles most of the slot and possession work, Harris becomes the field-stretcher opposite of Johnson. That alone should result in over 50 catches, 700+ yards, and at least five or six touchdowns.

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 7:43 PM.