The Athletic’s Daniel Popper believes Ladd McConkey could “have a bounce-back season in [Mike] McDaniel’s offense.”

22 March 2026

This is seemingly contingent on Keenan Allen not returning, as Popper notes that Allen and McConkey occupy similar areas of the field and says he believes the Chargers should move on from Allen. However, The Athletic’s Chargers beat reporter notes that “I can see McDaniel maximizing McConkey’s shiftiness and yards-after-the-catch ability on some of these same concepts.” It’s possible that McConkey resurfaces in the WR2 conversation this year.