Preston Poag had the evening planned. The football coach from North Murray, Georgia looked ahead to the Georgia Bulldogs’ schedule to see when Ladd McConkey had a weekend off. He convinced the then-Georgia receiver to skip a planned hunting trip. The occasion called for it: North Murray would retire McConkey’s jersey number.
But two weeks after Poag nearly moved McConkey to tears by telling him about the honor, the recipient called his former coach with a request. He advocated not having his jersey retired.
There are plenty of other great players at the school who could earn this honor, McConkey told him.
“Shut up and come here,” Poag replied.
Even as his star outgrows his small hometown in northern Georgia, McConkey has maintained his humble nature with the Chargers, whom the 22-year-old rookie leads with 30 catches for 376 yards and four touchdowns in a road game against the Cleveland Browns (2 -6) at 10am PST Sunday.
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After his 111-yard, two-touchdown effort against the New Orleans Saints — a game in which he became the first Chargers rookie since Keenan Allen in 2013 to reach 100 yards receiving in a game — McConkey smiled shyly at the slightest hint of praise directed his way . He was just happy to get in the end zone and play for his team.
His teammates were ready to sing his praises instead.
“Beast,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Dog. Y’all saw him. …Ladd that guy.”
While the Chargers (4-3) have been looking for replacements for longtime stars Allen and Mike Williams, McConkey has quietly turned himself into one of quarterback Justin Herbert’s surest targets.
McConkey, a second-round selection and the ninth receiver taken in last April’s draft, ranks third among rookie wide receivers in yards receiving per game.
If McConkey reaches the century mark on Sunday, he would join Allen as the only Chargers rookies to record back-to-back 100-yard receiving games.
When Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh rewatched the film of McConkey’s plays against the Saints, he was struck by the way the receiver seemed to look in one spot and then catch the ball in another. It reminded him of former Carolina Panthers star Steve Smith Sr.
“They have a subtle way of catching it,” said Harbaugh, who was the quarterback on the Panthers’ scout team when Smith was a rookie. “They catch it just a few feet away from what they’re looking at. It’s pretty cool.”
The receiver puts up big numbers by perfecting the smallest details. From the first days of training camp, Herbert noticed how accurately McConkey entered and exited routes, how he positioned his body to prevent defenders from undermining him and how he actively grabbed the ball when it came in his direction.
With skills that are difficult to learn, McConkey is what Herbert called “a friend of the quarterback.”
“He’s very natural at it,” Herbert said.
McConkey has always had “the it factor,” Poag said. The former North Carolina State quarterback and pitcher coached him at the age of nine when McConkey, despite his small stature, was untouchable against even older opponents.
He played receiver, running back, defensive back, punter and kick returner for North Murray, a school in northern Georgia about 15 miles south of the Tennessee border. As a senior, he led the Mountaineers to the Class 3A Georgia quarterfinals for the first time as their starting quarterback.
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Still, major colleges were slow to believe McConkey could be a legitimate prospect. Coaches loved his film and then watched in person the slight build of a 6-foot-4, 165-pound receiver. Even after he received interest from Georgia, coaches from smaller schools doubted he would ever play for the Bulldogs. They asked Poag what would happen if a big SEC defenseman came up against him.
“They won’t touch him,” Poag said confidently.
McConkey helped Georgia to two national championships, catching five passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns in the Bulldog’s 2022 win over Texas Christian at SoFi Stadium.
Now catching passes and scoring touchdowns in the same stadium, McConkey has made the transition to the NFL seem seamless. However, he modestly shrugged off the suggestion, saying there are still “bad days that y’all don’t see.”
He credited the coaches at Georgia with preparing him for the rigors of the NFL.
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“I feel like a coach [Kirby] Smart and everyone in Georgia prepared me for this,” McConkey said. “We’ve been practicing hard in Georgia, we’re taking play replays in practice, so now it’s just moving over here and continuing that, but taking it to the next level.”
Dogged by the same minor injuries that interrupted his college career, McConkey has been dealing with a hip injury over the past three weeks as the Chargers have struggled to keep their receiver room intact.
The team hopes to get Quentin Johnston (ankle) back soon after a two-game absence. Free agent DJ Chark Jr., signed as the veteran leader for the new group, went on injured reserve with a hip injury that turned into a lingering groin injury.
As he toiled in the training room to return to the field, Chark, 28, watched proudly as the Chargers’ young receivers had their first breakout moments. After McConkey’s signature moment, Chark can’t wait to join in the fun.
“I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Chark said.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
