Big Names To Buy Back In On: Ladd McConkey Is A Glaring Buy Low

Ladd McConkey lit the world on fire as a rookie, and became a sought-after early round pick heading into 2025 as we all expected him to build on that campaign with superstar QB Justin Herbert. Instead, we saw McConkey have a maddening campaign that ended with subpar numbers, inconsistent blowup games, and major questions about whether his rookie year was a fluke.

So how bad was McConkey’s sophomore season? He only saw six fewer targets in 2025, but recorded 16 fewer receptions, 360 fewer yards and was down two yards per catch. That yardage drop left him at 789 yards, down from 1,149 in Year 1. That’s nasty, nasty stuff for a player who was the WR11 in drafts and going inside the Top 30 overall. But was it Ladd’s fault? When you dive into the Chargers’ season…the answer is pretty clearly no. McConkey remained elite against man (76.5%, 88th percentile) and press (75.9%, 90th percentile), and continued to be a demon vs. zone (84% success, 89th percentile). His route success tree was bright green on every route besides corners (33.3%) and comebacks (50%) and those routes made up 3.7% of his routes run. Very little was different about McConkey as a player on the field, but a lot changed for the Chargers.

The Chargers’ offensive line figured to be a major strength in 2025, but it was racked by injuries early and often. They ended the 2025 season with PFF’s worst run-blocking grade (37.7), and second-worst pass blocking grade (50.7). Their overall offensive grade was 65.2, the fifth-worst mark per PFF and ahead of only the Browns, Jets, Raiders and Titans. This unit allowed the second-most sacks in the NFL (60), tied with the Vikings, and only the Raiders allowed more. This was clearly an offense that was completely compromised by the attrition of this offensive line, and was propped up almost solely by the work of their underrated QB. Well, in 2026, they’ll have critical players back on the line, Herbert is still the underrated superstar under center, and they’ll have a brand new mind – former Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel – dreaming up creative ways to supercharge the pace and scoring, pun intended.

McConkey is as versatile as it gets, and that’s great news for McDaniel whom we can expect to pepper McConkey with targets, but also design more layups for him to get the ball in space and take off. Reception Perception noted that McConkey went down on first contact fewer than half the times he was in space last season. Despite that, he was rarely used in the flats (7.5%) and almost never in the screen game. With a crumbling offensive line, we did see his slant routes spike, but why not feed your best playmaker closer to the line when he can make people miss like crazy?

In my recent post in which I urged us smart fantasy managers to not take Brian Thomas Jr.’s bad season personally, I noted that Thomas Jr. was part of a mostly illustrious list of rookie WRs that put up 1,200 yards. That list was: Randy Moss, Ja’Marr Chase, Bill Groman, Odell Beckham Jr., Billy Howton, Thomas, Puka Nacua, Justin Jefferson, Anquan Boldin and Malik Nabers. McConkey didn’t quite get there, but at 1,149 yards as a rookie he wasn’t far off either, and his play in 2025 didn’t drop off anywhere near as much as Thomas’ did. In fact, McConkey didn’t drop off at all. What McConkey did as a rookie was incredibly special, and his down season statistically did not match what he was putting on film.

The Chargers have a stud QB, a WR whose play remained elite, a potentially elite offensive line that will be healthy again and a new offensive coordinator known for putting up monster points. All the signs point to McConkey being a glaring positive regression candidate and possible league-winner. Don’t hesitate on Draft Day.