After Ladd McConkey finished as the No. 12 scoring WR in his rookie campaign last season, there were very high hopes for the second-year wideout in 2025. McConkey was a consensus top-30 pick in fantasy football drafts this summer, but he has unfortunately been one of the biggest disappointments thus far.
Through the first four weeks of the season, McConkey is only averaging 8.4 FPTS per game and he has only scored double-digit FPTS once. Among receivers, McConkey ranks 51st in FPTS per game (8.4) and 76th in FPTS per snap (0.14). The problem for McConkey has been his decreased usage, which has been a product of Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston both ascending in this offense.
McConkey is only handling an 18.9% target share, which ranks third for the Chargers behind Johnston and Allen, at 25.2% and 24.5%, respectively. McConkey’s 18.9% target share is a huge drop from the team-high 24.5% target share he saw last season and McConkey has barely seen any valuable targets this season, with only one red-zone target and one target over 20 yards.
On top of the very concerning dips in usage, McConkey hasn’t been overly efficient, catching just 59.3% of his targets and averaging just 1.37 YPPR. Last season, McConkey hauled in 73.2% of his targets and he averaged 1.85 YPPR.
Los Angeles does lead the NFL in PROE, which is a plus, but at this point, it truly feels like McConkey needs one of his fellow Chargers receivers to suffer an injury for McConkey to regain his terrific form from his rookie season. McConkey is facing a soft Commanders defense in Week 5 that is allowing the third-most yards per pass this season (8.1) and if he manages to have a productive day in this strong spot, selling high on the receiver will be a wise move for fantasy mangers, as his usage for this crowded Chargers receiver room suggests that McConkey’s lackluster numbers are likely to continue.
