Chargers WR Ladd McConkey lurks as a dark horse Rookie of the Year candidate

The LA Chargers have a wideout whose name could wind up in the Rookie of the Year race in 2024. Second-round pick Ladd McConkey enters the season with +3500 odds to take home the award.

Three of the top four Rookie of the Year candidates by odds are quarterbacks. Chicago's Caleb Williams is a rather decisive favorite over the field at +135. Behind him are Jayden Daniels (+500), WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (+650) and Bo Nix (+1000). Drake Maye is another quarterback who trails the aforementioned top of the field slightly at +1300.

The table is at least set for an award-winning season for Ladd McConkey

However, McConkey's +3500 odds could have some value. He has the fourth-highest odds amongst non-quarterbacks. Should he get consistent targets in a wide-open Chargers' offense following the losses of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, there's a chance he could receive voter recognition. The path to McConkey becoming the team's WR1 isn't that much more complicated than Harrison or Malik Nabers for example.

Injuries are a factor that could hurt McConkey's chances to win the award. In 2022 at Georgia, he played through foot and knee injuries that lingered. He missed four games of the 2023 college season due to ankle and back injuries.

McConkey did receive medical red flags from some teams during his 2024 NFL Draft evaluations and also missed time in Chargers training camp due to an undisclosed injury.

The upside case for the Georgia product is significant if he can manage to stay on the field though. In his last collegiate season, McConkey had a career-high 16.1 yards per reception. He also had his best season in yards per route run at 3.26. As a pure separator and route-running technician, McConkey is arguably one of the best wideouts of the 2024 NFL Draft class.

OC Greg Roman referred to the Chargers' 2024 team as a "meritocracy", and that sentiment couldn't be more true for the wide receiver room. As mentioned earlier, there's free real estate available in offensive production for whoever is to step up.

Josh Palmer is probably the betting favorite to enter the season as WR1 by usage, but he has had injury issues in recent seasons as well. As of now, there's not really a player in the wide receiver room that could be penciled in for 90-100 receptions like Keenan Allen used to be.

McConkey will look to start his 2024 rookie campaign with a bang against the Raiders on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.