Most XFL fans will remember the name Donald Parham, a 6-foot-8 tight end who played for the Dallas Renegades last year. In five games with the team, he caught 24 passes for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns. His size and physicality certainly turned the heads of fans, and NFL executives also had an eye on him.
After the XFL season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parham signed with the Los Angeles Chargers. He had previously been with the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins (now the Football Team) in 2019, but neither stint lasted for very long. Now that more people were aware of his potential, though, it was a completely different game.
In 2020, the Chargers figured out where and how to use Parham in their offense. Unsurprisingly, he was a blocker on most plays, but saw a healthy number of targets as a receiver near the endzone. Parham ultimately played in 13 games (5 starts), catching 10 passes for 159 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Parham’s 2020 campaign was successful, but it was nothing to write home about. However, going into week 6 of the 2021 season, he’s only shown more improvement. Parham had his first touchdown of the year during a primetime matchup against the Raiders in week 4, then had another touchdown against the Browns in week 5. He was able to grab a two-point conversion in that game as well.
So far, Parham has 5 catches for 65 yards, and 3 of those catches were on scoring plays (60%). The Chargers’ other notable tight end, Jared Cook, is still likely to get more targets moving forward, but Parham has clearly solidified himself as another weapon for quarterback Justin Herbert.
