The Los Angeles Chargers offense didn't leave the field yesterday with much to be inspired about. In fact, there's probably more reason for negativity after this loss than almost any defeat saw last season—at least relative to expectations.
They slogged through the game after a well-scripted first drive, and they failed to truly get any momentum going as penalties and miscues from Justin Herbert and his receivers killed their chance to come from behind against the Arizona Cardinals. Mike McDaniel has some serious self-reflection to do between now and the Week 2 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
But one of the major storylines heading into this game was how McDaniel would utilize the offensive weapons he has at his disposal. Would the vast bulk of the ground game fall upon Omarion Hampton, and how would he distribute targets among the team's receiving corps?
Los Angeles lost the time of possession battle by a significant margin, and that likely limited the answers we got to these questions. But we did get one central hint at how McDaniel plans to leverage this offense.
Ladd McConkey caught five receptions for 82 yards before he went down in the second half with a chest injury, and like many expected, he was the primary weapon out of the slot for Herbert. We don't yet have an update on his injury, but if he's good to go for Week 2, it's reasonable to expect this trend to continue.
Ladd McConkey is the new primary target for Justin Herbert in this Chargers offense
This development comes as no surprise in McDaniel's YAC-focused air attack. Out of the receivers Los Angeles currently has at its disposal, McConkey has the right mix of catch-point ability and open field elusiveness to provide major production. But it's notable that these offseason prognostications came true in Week 1.
McConkey caught three passes for 60 yards on the Chargers' first drive (which was their most productive drive of the game), and he played 70% of his snaps out of the slot. While Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris also got their fair share of receptions, it was McConkey who Herbert was seeking out for intermediate passes and the bulk of the team's explosive plays.
It's going to take more than just a successful McConkey season for this offense to come together in the way McDaniel has envisioned. Neither Johnston nor Harris looked particularly inspiring in their contested-catch opportunities, and neither Brenen Thomspon nor KeAndre Lambert-Smith saw a target over the course of the game.
But with Keenan Allen now out of the picture after his departure to the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles needed a new focal point of their air attack.
McConkey, at the very least, proved he's up to the task on Sunday. If he isn't set to miss time with the chest injury he suffered on Sunday, we should only see this momentum continue to grow as Los Angeles heads into their tougher matchups— starting in Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills.
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