The Los Angeles Chargers convincingly won their first preseason game against their stadium-mates, the Los Angeles Rams, 34-17. While preseason game results don’t really mean anything, preseason performances often can. That’s why some players on the Chargers roster who stepped up in this game could be in line to move up the depth chart, while other players, like wide receiver Mike Williams, could be in danger of losing their starting jobs as the Chargers training camp and preseason roll on.

LB Kenneth Murray Jr.

Linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. was a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and had an excellent rookie season, starting all 16 games and racking up 107 tackles. His second season, though, ended early due to an ankle injury, and he’s never quite gotten back to form.

This offseason, the Chargers declined Murray’s fifth-year option for 2024. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be out at the end of the season, but it does mean the organizations didn’t think he was worth the $11.7 million that option would have provided.

When the team drafted Washington State LB Daiyan Henley in the third round this year, it was another sign that the team is not sold on Murray’s long-term future with the club.

Henley, like Murray, is undersized for his position. The Chargers roster lists Murray at 6-foot-2, 241 pounds, while it has Henley at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds.

Henley is a playmaker, though, and an experienced one at that. While he is still just 23 years old, he played five years at Nevada, including two at wide receiver and one at defensive back, before moving to linebacker at Washington State for year six.

In that final college season, the jack-of-all-trades made 106 tackles, 12 for a loss, 4.0 sacks, 1.0 interceptions, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Henley is all over the field all the time, and his experience as a WR and DB makes him a ball-hawk who could excel in the pros as a coverage linebacker, which is crucial in the modern NFL.

Kenneth Murray Jr. has the starting job on the Chargers’ depth chart in the preseason. But if he slips up at all, or has some of the nagging injuries that have plagued him in his career, watch out for Daiyan Henley to take his starting spot.

WR Mike Williams

For the last six seasons — no matter who the Chargers quarterback was — that QB was throwing to Mike Williams and Keenan Allen.

These two wideouts are getting older and even more fragile than they’ve already been, though, and that’s why the Chargers picked two TCU wideouts in the 2023 NFL Draft. The team took Quentin Johnston in the first round (pick No. 21) and Derius Davis in the fourth round (pick No. 125).

Allen is a five-time Pro Bowler and one of the best possession receivers in the league when healthy. If he’s good to go this season, he will be the WR1 for this team. Williams is a bit of a different story.

The 2017 No. 7 overall pick is just 28, but he has a lot of miles on his tires entering the 2023 NFL season. He’s had an up-and-down career, with two seasons of over 1,000 yards receiving and four under 900 yards. He had 10 touchdowns in 2018 and led the league with 20. Yards per catch in 2019. But last season he had just 63 catches for 895 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games.

More worryingly, he suffered a scary back fracture in Week 18 that kept him out of the team’s playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Williams is back and healthy this season, but now he has two former Horned Frogs breathing down his neck on the Chargers’ roster. Davis is a little speedster, which is huge for a team with a staggering lack of speed at the wideout position in the last few years. He will likely be a gadget player and work in the slot, which won’t make a huge difference for Williams on the outside.

Johnston is another story, though.

Quentin Johnston is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, which is eerily similar to Mike Williams, listed at 6-foot-4, 218 pounds on the Chargers roster. Johnston is big, with an excellent catch radius, and can go up and get contested jump balls. He also has good deep speed and is a threat in the red zone with his athletic ability.

That is almost the exact same scouting report one could write about the player in front of Johnston on the Chargers' depth chart.

Rookie WRs have had some great seasons in recent years, and if Johnston can build on his touchdown catch in the first Chargers preseason game, Williams’ job could be in jeopardy.