A rookie year can rarely be any better than Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey's first season.
McConkey broke the rookie receptions and yards records for the Chargers, both previously held by Keenan Allen (2013). He had nearly 200 yards in a playoff game with a touchdown vs. Houston. For the regular season, McConkey finished with 82 receptions for 1149 yards and seven touchdowns.
But McConkey is still focusing on what he can get better at as he heads into his sophomore campaign.
What McConkey is doing to improve his game in 2025
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the Georgia product mentioned staying healthy and avoiding hits as a primary focus.
"There's an art to falling down," McConkey explained. "Don't let them land on top of you every single time when they're tackling you. Work to, you know, different angles, don't take any direct hits. And obviously there's times like 3rd down, it's like I gotta do what I gotta do to get the first down. I'm always going to do that. But just being smart within the game."
McConkey missed his only game last year in the Chargers' Week 14 loss against the Chiefs. Before that point, he had dealt with knee and shoulder injuries. Chargers wide receiver coach Sanjay Lal mentioned the Week 6 game at Denver and the Week 13 game at Atlanta as indicators of McConkey's toughness in taking repeated hits while injured.
McConkey says that the coaching staff showed him one famous receiver's tape as he learns to avoid hits.
"Julian Edelman does a great job of like falling forward and getting some extra yards," McConkey said. "He would run through people too, but he had an art. I've watched a cut-up of him catching, puncturing in zone and just getting a couple extra yards. Maybe diving forward and falling forward, but not taking a direct hit; but still gaining those yards."
Lal confirmed that he showed McConkey the Edelman tape, in addition to demonstrating another wide receiver's technique. Former Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett was the other name Lal pointed to in avoiding contact, even if he admitted that Lockett would sometimes go down too early.
If McConkey is able to avoid injuries and maintain heavy pass target volume from QB Justin Herbert, there's another level he can still hit in his second year.