• Los Angeles' WR1 wasted no time acclimating to the NFL: Through Week 11, he leads the Chargers in targets (66), receptions (46), yards (638), yards after the catch (230), yards per route run (2.21) and PFF receiving grade (81.9).
• The Chargers were criticized for drafting an offensive tackle first: Despite being panned for selecting Joe Alt instead of a receiver with the fifth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Chargers seem to have known what they were doing after all.
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Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
The Los Angeles Chargers entered the 2024 offseason looking like a team headed into a tailspin. After finishing the 2023 season 5-12 and firing head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco midseason while having little money to spend in free agency, some upheaval was underway. The team replaced Staley with Jim Harbaugh and Telesco with Joe Hortiz, but roster changes were necessary, as well.
Salary cap woes split up the wide receiver room harder than any unit in the league, as the Chargers' top two receivers, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, became casualties. Los Angeles traded Allen to the Chicago Bears and outright released Williams.
A loaded 2024 NFL Draft of receiver talent soon became the target — even after the Chargers selected offensive tackle Joe Alt at No. 5. The move was questioned by fans and analysts alike; how would the team push the ball downfield without a top receiving threat?
It turns out, the Chargers had a plan.
Los Angeles traded up a few spots in the second round to draft Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey. A two-time national champion at Georgia, McConkey didn’t have the dazzling stats of the receivers taken ahead of him, but he showcased high-caliber route running ability both at the Senior Bowl and NFL Scouting Combine while possessing breakaway speed (4.39-second 40-yard dash). That skill set is now thriving in the NFL.
McConkey immediately became quarterback Justin Herbert’s favorite target. Through Week 11, he leads the Chargers in targets (66), receptions (46), yards (638), yards after the catch (230), yards per route run (2.21) and PFF receiving grade (81.9). Ahead of Week 12, McConkey’s receiving grade is tied with George Pickens for 14th in the NFL among receivers with at least 100 receiving snaps and trails only Malik Nabers by 0.1 points among rookies.
Perhaps McConkey’s most impressive performance came on Sunday Night Football in Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals. He caught six of 10 targets, all of which resulted in first downs, for 123 yards. While he didn’t score any touchdowns, he was instrumental in the Chargers’ final drive to hold off a vigorous Bengals comeback attempt, as he hauled in two clutch passes for big gains. The first came on an out and up where he leaped over Mike Hilton for a 28-yard gain that brought the Chargers out of the shadow of their own endzone. On the other, McConkey beat Geno Stone on a corner route and got out of bounds for another 27 yards, which set up the game-winning J.K. Dobbins touchdown run the next play.
In all, McConkey has earned an 80.0-plus PFF receiving grade in three games and gone under 70.0 only twice while catching multiple passes and converting multiple first downs in every game he’s played.
Despite the Chargers being panned for selecting a tackle instead of a receiver with the fifth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, it seems they knew what they were doing after all. The team is 7-3 with a rookie second-rounder as their leading target-getter, with things only looking up from here. What was once thought of as a franchise heading for dark times is suddenly set up to compete for the postseason for years to come.
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