Could Ladd McConkey truly blossom by blocking Keenan Allen's path? Rethinking the Chargers' WR strategy reveals a surprising potential solution.
I wrote a few days ago that the Los Angeles Chargers need to prioritize bringing back WR Keenan Allen, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency again this offseason, because nobody else has stepped up to be a reliable target on third downs for Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense.
Last night, I heard an acquaintance argue the other side of the argument. I found the take interesting enough to write about here, and I'll admit before I get started that I might be willing to change my stance as a result of hearing it.
The argument centers around Ladd McConkey. The person who was espousing their theory said that Ladd, who many foresee as a slot WR (despite him historically putting up good numbers from both the slot and outside spots), is not able to reach his full potential with Keenan Allen in his way.
Perhaps the answer to who can replace Allen as the team's dynamite third-down option, a WR that can get open quickly with reliable hands and the toughness to make catches over the middle of the field, is actually Ladd McConkey and he didn't get those looks in 2025 because they went to Allen instead.
To be fair, there was a pretty significant drop-off in Ladd's production from his rookie season (when Keenan Allen was a member of the Chicago Bears) to his sophomore season. Was it simply a sophomore slump?
Outside of playing in the same number of games (16) in both seasons, just about every other statistic went down year-over-year for McConkey. He finished 2025 with less targets, receptions, yards, touchdowns and first downs than 2024. He also saw his success rate drop from 57% to 50% and his catch percentage drop from 73% to 62%.
Where this anti-Keenan Allen argument might fall apart is in the advanced stats. McConkey's ADOT (average depth of target) was unmoved year-over-year and his YBC/R (yards before catch per reception) dropped pretty dramatically from 9.3 to 7.3, so it's not as if he was being forced to run a deeper route-tree.
If anything, it seems that the dip in McConkey's overall numbers are mostly the result of half-as-many broken tackles as he had in 2024, as well as five times a many interceptions when Herbert threw to him. That's a sign that there were more defenders around him.
Unfortunately, I don't have stats to tell me if Ladd lined up in a different spot on the field in 2025 than he did in 2024. I'm not sure I really buy that argument anyway, but you could maybe sell me on the fact that replacing a downfield threat like Josh Palmer with someone like Keenan Allen scrunched up pass defenses and led to less open windows for McConkey to find in 2025.