John Kegley
Aug 26, 20222 min
In his career with both the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers, Keenan ‘Slayer’ Allen has proven to be a game-changing player in the offense. Allen was drafted by the then San Diego Chargers in 2013 and immediately produced.
He has shown, at a minimum, that he belongs in the category of all-time Chargers great wide receivers. In team history, Keenan ranks 4th in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns with 8535 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 2nd in receptions with 730.
For his career thus far, Allen ranks 48th in receptions, 87th in receiving yards, and is tied for 156th in receiving touchdowns.
In his past five seasons, Allen averaged 101.8 receptions, 1,183.6 yards and 6 touchdowns. In four of those years, Allen has caught a minimum of 100 receptions and had over 1,000 yards receiving. In addition to these top-tier stats, Allen has maintained the admiration of his peers, making five straight Pro Bowls and is ranked the 35th best active player overall on the latest NFL 100, as chosen by current NFL players.
If he produces at his 5-year average rate, Allen would move in to the top 30 in receptions, with only DeAndre Hopkins in competition for 29th and 30th among active players.
Amongst other active players, Keenan is competing for 60th all-time in receiving yards with TY Hilton, Mike Evans, Travis Kelce, and Emmanuel Sanders being the active players above him.
Allen is near 120th all-time in touchdowns with only five active players above him: TY Hilton, Randall Cobb, Emmanuel Sanders, Kyle Rudolph, and Adam Thielen.
If Keenan produces an average season in 2022, he can move up the Chargers franchise hierarchy to 2nd in yards and 3rd in receiving touchdowns. Allen has a ways to go--225 catches, to be precise--to match the great Antonio Gates in team receiving records. Gates holds all franchise receiving records with 955 receptions, 11841 yards and 116 touchdowns.
Going into Year Ten, Keenan ‘Slayer’ Allen is creeping up on the All-Time great wide receivers while showing no signs of slowing down.
If Allen can maintain his average production from the past 5 season, we should expect him to be in NFL Hall of Fame conversations when he retires.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Kegley is a Contributing Writer at Riverslake.org and a Private First Class in the US Army.
He is a longtime sports commentator known for his sharp analysis and take no prisoners style. His credits include co-hosting Locked on Chargers, San Diego Sports Domination, Chargers Domination Live and Aztec Domination Live. He has been a Chargers Fan since 2004. Connect with him on Twitter at @bigestCHARGERfn or on Facebook.