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Ladd McConkey credits time at Georgia after breakout NFL performance

On3 imageby: Jake Rowe10/28/24JakeMRowe
Ladd McConkey Georgia
Oct 27, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (15) hangs on the the ball for a touchdown as he is defended by New Orleans Saints safety Ugo Amadi (0) in the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Former Georgia wideout Ladd McConkey is coming off a game that he won’t soon forget. The Los Angeles Chargers second-round pick had a breakout game, catching six passes for 111 yards and two scores as they took down New Orleans 26-8. The win moves the Chargers to 4-3 on the season where they are firmly in the playoff hunt just shy of the midpoint.

McConkey, who has appeared in all six games this season, set career highs for catches, yards, and touchdowns in the win and now has 30 grabs for 376 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie campaign. When he spoke with reporters after the game, the North Murray High School standout credited at least a portion of his performance to what he learned during his four years in Athens.

“I feel like it’s definitely been a transition,” McConkey said. “I’m not saying effortless, but I feel like coach Smart and everybody at Georgia kind of prepared me for this. We practice hard at Georgia. We take game reps in practice. Now it’s just transitioning over here and just continuing that but taking it to another notch. That’s kind of what it is. There’s good days. There’s bad days that y’all see and y’all don’t see, So yeah, it’s stacking days and then coming out and trying to put it on the table on Sundays.

McConkey served as Georgia’s No. 1 wide receiver during his last two seasons at Georgia. He was the No. 2 pass-catching option behind current Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers, but McConkey was the go-to weapon on the outside. He used those two seasons to pile up 88 catches for 1,240 yards and nine receiving touchdowns. He added three more scores as a runner and generated 24 plays of 20-plus yards during that two-year stretch.

He did all of that despite starting his career at Georgia as a walk-on. McConkey joined the team in 2020 as a low three-star prospect who only had a couple of committable offers at the end of the cycle. Despite little to no playing time in that first season, McConkey was awarded a scholarship for year two and he quickly showed why. He caught 31 passes for 447 yards and five touchdowns that season, including a five-catch 135-yard outburst at Auburn where he reached the end zone once.

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