Fantasy football sleeper alert: Los Angeles Chargers rookie facing ‘massive volume’ in 2024

ESPN fantasy football analyst Mike Clay believes Los Angeles Chargers WR Ladd McConkey “has a path to tremendous volume right out of the gate.” In fact, Clay picked McConkey as his favorite selection in the entire 2024 NFL Draft.

The Chargers selected the 5’11”, 186-pound receiver early in the second round. A flurry of wide receivers came off the board at the end of the first round and into the second round. This made it necessary for the Chargers to move up from 37 to 34 to select McConkey. General manager Joe Horitz said the Chargers chose McConkey because McConkey was a unanimous favorite of his scouts. Harbaugh reiterated his opinion.

“I love the speed, 4.38 (40-yard dash), but he plays on it,” Harbaugh said of McConkey. “He plays at that 4.38 every single game. You can see it in the way he rolls off the ball and once he has the ball in his hand.

“Me and Joe (Hortiz) talked about him, he’s a lot like (Raiders TE) Brock Bowers with the way he creates yards after the catch,” Harbaugh added. “Competitor, really big. These things. He catches the ball. A great route runner. He has the quickness, he has the speed that will be great for our offense. I love the guys who can run in the 4.3s.”

McConkey’s fit in the new look Los Angeles Chargers offense

Clay sees McConkey as potential Keenan Allen Replacement in the short-to-intermediate area for the quarterback Justin Herbert.’ According to Clay, the Chargers lost 55% of the team’s targets in the last two seasons when they left Allen. Mike Williams, Gerald EverettAnd Austin Ekeler.

Clay isn’t the only one who likes McConkey’s fit in the Chargers’ new offense. Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire picked McConkey as one of his top draft scheme fits of 2024.

“McConkey, with his ability to open up to all areas of the field and his excellent understanding of the running routes, will quickly have to become Justin Herbert’s best friend if the passing game is to function the way Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman want it to.” .”