Last season, Chargers breakout star Ladd McConkey set franchise rookie records for receptions (82) and receiving yards (1,149), adding 7 touchdowns for good measure. Despite an offseason featuring mostly low-risk moves, LA invested meaningful draft capital into offense, selecting 4 offensive skill players in their first 6 picks. However, they didn’t make much of a splash in free agency, only re-signing Mike Williams and Jalen Reagor. While their depth chart hasn’t changed much, offensive coordinator Greg Roman says their receiving corps looks “night and day” different “compared to this time last year,” according to NFL.com‘s Senior News Writer Kevin Patra.
McConkey Was a ‘Revelation’ in 2024, but OC Hoping for ‘Night and Day’ Difference in Rest of Receiving Corps
Ladd McConkey, who was the only Chargers receiver to reach the 750-yard mark in 2024, “was a revelation as a rookie,” writes Patra. While he mainly worked out of the slot, Patra writes that Roman has suggested that LA “would like to move him around to create more mismatches.”
“Ladd was such a — not a surprise – but he was such a weapon,” Roman said on a recent episode of the
Chargers Weekly Podcast, according to Patra. “I mean, just so dependable. We were able to do things with Ladd in Year 1 that you generally don’t do with a guy until Year 3 or 4. His football IQ, a lot of different things that give him options to get open and stuff like that, graduate-level stuff, as I like to call it. We’re really looking forward to growing in that department, too, because our receiving corps right now, compared to this time last year, it’s night and day.”
While defenses will focus on McConkey, Roman has said they will “play the percentages,” which should “open up opportunities for everybody else.”
Chargers 2025 Receiving Corps Ranked 27th by PFF
PFF‘s Trevor Sikkema ranked the Chargers’ receiving corps as No. 27 in the league, emphasizing their reliance on McConkey. He notes that there are no other receivers on the team who earned a PFF receiving grade above 70.0 last season. “But outside of [McConkey], there isn’t a lot to get excited about in the Chargers’ receiver room,” writes Sikkema.
Sikkema points out that veteran Mike Williams, who returned to the Chargers this offseason, “earned PFF receiving grades above 70.0 for six straight seasons” with the team. They released Williams last March and he struggled mightily with the
Jets and
Steelers. Williams earned a career-low 59.7 PFF grade in 2024.
They also lost veteran Josh Palmer in free agency, who finished third on the team with 584 receiving yards in 2024. But, the additions of rookies
Tre Harris and
KeAndre Lambert-Smith should “give the Chargers more options alongside the slot maven,” writes Sikkema.
“They’re a completely different unit now from a discipline standpoint, being on point play in and down in, down out,” said Roman. “And I think we’ve added a lot of talent. Really excited about our two draft picks. I think those guys are affording themselves well.”
With an improved receiving corps and the additions of
Omarion Hampton and
Najee Harris in the backfield, the Chargers offense has the potential to improve in 2025.
“If
Justin Herbert can get more weapons than just McConkey, it would make the Chargers’ passing attack exponentially more dangerous,” writes Sikkema.
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