The Los Angeles Chargers have taken some nasty bites from the injury bug as of late, the most notable, of course, being the torn patellar tendon that abruptly ended superstar left tackle Rashawn Slater's 2025 campaign.
So, when second-year receiver Ladd McConkey participated in team drills for the first time in close to two weeks on Tuesday after dealing with a leg injury of his own, Bolts fans were naturally excited. And as one would imagine, McConkey himself was excited as well, as he told the media afterward.
"I feel really good," McConkey said. "Felt great to get back out there, run out a little bit, catching passes. It was good. I feel like I'm there now, just building everything back up, getting in the swing of things, getting my conditioning back to where it needs to be. I feel solid, feel good."
But what he's unhappy about—well, at least as unhappy as his incredible attitude allows him to get—is the fact that he's still labeled as solely a slot receiver. And it's this statement that should have Chargers fans fired up about what lies ahead.
"I've proven I can play outside and inside. So, I don't know where the slot stereotype comes from. Wherever they line me up and give me the best chance to get open and get the ball, I'm all for it."
Ladd McConkey is much more than just a slot receiver for the Chargers
As one would imagine, the slot conversation stemmed from questions to McConkey about sharing the field with Keenan Allen, who was brought back to Los Angeles after spending last season with the Chicago Bears.
Allen, of course, spent the first 11 seasons with the Bolts and racked up 10,530 receiving yards, the second-most in franchise history behind only Antonio Gates, doing much of that damage from the slot—but not all of it.
And that's how the 2024 campaign went for McConkey, who broke Allen's franchise rookie records for both receptions (82) and receiving yards (1,149). Did he mostly line up in the slot? Yes. About two-thirds of the time actually. But he also spent a lot of time on the outside and performed well.
The knock on receivers who spend most of their time in the slot is that they don't fare well against man coverage. But McConkey's 2.98 yards per route run against man coverage ranked second among the 57 receivers with at least 115 such routes a season ago, a figure that includes the third-highest receptions per route rate (21.1%) and the most avoided tackles per route against man (0.65).
It's numbers like that which make McConkey so dangerous. Because as he himself put it, he's proven he can line up anywhere and produce. And with Allen back in the mix, one would assume that Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman won't hesitate to experiment with putting McConkey on the outside a little more once the regular season gets underway.
McConkey discussed the different sets in his presser and made sure to mention that both he and Allen (and pretty much every other receiver on the roster) are extremely versatile and can get comfortable wherever Roman decides to line them up. And as he is with just about everything else, he's extremely excited about the prospect of not being just a "slot guy."