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With Ladd McConkey out with a head injury, Lambert-Smith led the Chargers in pass routes and targets. He didn’t do much with the opportunity. The flurry of Chargers wideout injuries could leave the team with no choice but to give Lambert-Smith significant snaps when they return from their Week 7 bye.

With Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston suiting up this week, any chance of Lambert-Smith returning to real fantasy value looks quashed. For this week, anyway. He did get in a full session today. If activated off injured reserve ahead of the contest, he can be ignored until after the Week 7 bye.

The lanky downfield wide receiver could return to find himself seriously competing for a starting role. Lambert-Smith caught 5-of-12 targets for 51 yards and one touchdown as a rookie last year, yet drew praise from film analysts around the industry. The Chargers are desperate for offensive contributions. Lambert-Smith can be stashed in 14-team leagues, though his low odds of producing make him a tougher pickup in 12-team leagues.

He’ll miss at least the next four games. Lambert-Smith played in two special teams snaps in the opener and the days of him and Trey Lance hooking up for deep passes at the Hall of Fame game feel like they happened five years ago instead of in 2025. The Chargers added Gary Jennings off the practice squad to fill the void.

A hamstring injury suffered in Week 18 kept the situational deep threat sidelined against the Patriots. He caught 5-of-12 targets for 51 yards and one touchdown in his rookie season. Lambert-Smith will get the chance to earn a spot on the game-day roster this offseason.

He didn’t practice all week. The rookie would enter next week with a questionable tag if the Chargers survive in New England.

Lambert-Smith is now on the wrong side of questionable, having missed the last two practices. The speedy rookie has not yet established himself as a reliable pass catcher, but he would be nice to have available on game day. The Chargers’ offense has been hit hard with injuries this season.

Lambert-Smith left the Chargers’ Week 18 game against the Broncos with an apparent hamstring injury and now starts out the week not practicing. The rookie 23-year-old is low on the pass-catching depth chart and finished the 2025 regular season with five receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown. Lambert-Smith’s absence on kick returns will have more of an impact if he cannot go in the Wild Card against the Patriots.

Shortly before halftime, Lambert-Smith picked up a first down after snagging a pass from QB Trey Lance via a slant route. He was tackled at the Broncos’ 12-yard line. After the play, Lambert-Smith could be seen grabbing at his left hamstring. He quickly met with trainers for an evaluation, and the team initially labeled him as questionable to return. He finishes his day having caught 2-of-5 targets for 24 yards and returned two kicks for 45 yards.

The lanky rookie speedster must continue biding his time. He likely would have been active if fellow rookie WR Tre’ Harris (jaw) had been sidelined today. The Chargers could get their star rookie running back, Omarion Hampton (ankle), back from injured reserve next week. He practiced in a limited capacity in Week 13. The Chargers face the Eagles in Week 14.

Lambert-Smith led the Chargers’ wide receiver corps with 30 snaps, and played 5-of-6 snaps on the first drive. A bounce-back showing next week would likely help him secure a spot on the 53-man roster.

The blazing-fast fifth-round rookie was facing second- and third-team defenders, but he was blowing by them. That’s what he’s reportedly been doing in the early days of Bolts camp, as well. There are snaps and routes for the taking in this receiver corps, and the Day 3 pick is at least putting himself in the mix. All that being said, there’s a long way to go between now and Week 1.

As far as Day 3 wide receiver prospects go, Lambert-Smith intrigues. The former Auburn and Penn State receiver brings field-stretching 4.37-second Forty speed and averaged 2.70 yards per route run in his final college season. The Chargers retooled their wide receiver personnel this offseason, giving newcomers a chance to prove themselves in a shifting landscape. Lambert-Smith has a long way to go before he becomes relevant in re-draft formats, but he makes for a smart late-round dynasty add.

Lambert-Smith (6’1/190) spent four seasons at Penn State (2020-2023) before transferring to Auburn for his final season. At Auburn, Lambert-Smith led the Tigers with a line of 50-981-8 (all career-highs) while averaging an impressive 19.8 YPR, which ranked eighth amongst all FBS receivers (min. 50 targets), per PFF. Lambert-Smith put four 100-yard games on his resumé last season, which included three-straight 100-plus-yard performances to close out the year, and his ability to create yards after the catch may prove to be an underrated part of his game. In three of his five seasons, Lambert-Smith averaged over seven yards of YAC/RAC, and leaves the college game with a career YAC/REC of 7.0. For comparison, Tet McMillian and Travis Hunter averaged 5.5 YAC/REC and 4.4 YAC/REC for their careers, respectively. Despite these plus elements to his game, Lambert-Smith struggled with drops (8.8 percent drop rate) and route running, and has an underwhelming 36.6 contested catch rate for a player who spent 80.6 percent of his time playing on the outside.