Chargers WR Ladd McConkey Talks Mike McDaniel, Herbert, Harbaugh, More w/Rich

Ladd McConkey came on the show with news that had nothing to do with football. He and his wife Sydney are expecting, with a due date he described as offseason 2027.

"We timed it right," McConkey said, which is roughly the level of planning you would expect from a receiver whose whole game is timing.

The football version of his good news is that he is healthy heading into a third season in Los Angeles, and so is the group in front of him. That second part is the one that changes the Chargers.

Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt are back on the offensive line, and McConkey said you can feel it before a snap is ever taken.

"Just having the presence of Rashawn and Joe back out there, you can just feel the energy when you get in the huddle," he said. Both are team captains, and their return means Justin Herbert has people he trusts up front. McConkey admitted he sometimes catches himself watching them work.

The backfield gives him something else to watch. He called Omarion Hampton a beast, jacked up and running in the 4.4 range, and rattled off a room that also includes Kamara and Keaton Mitchell, a back Ravens fans already know can score from anywhere on the field.

The largest change is the man calling it all. Mike McDaniel arrives with a system built on one idea, and McConkey did not need long to identify it.

"Speed, speed, speed," he said. "Whether that's up front with the o-linemen, running backs, quarterbacks getting the ball out, receivers through the defense."

It shows up everywhere, starting with tempo. Shifts, motions, making the defense react rather than the other way around. Rich brought up footage of McDaniel miked up barking at players for not getting to the line fast enough, and McConkey confirmed it.

"Break the huddle, sprint out there, get going," he said. Learning a new offense means processing a lot at once, and his answer to that is to play fast and let the rest sort itself out.

The coaching goes deeper than tempo. McDaniel has a reputation for working on where a receiver puts his feet before the snap, and McConkey said that is real. The phrase he keeps hearing is jump off the ball, and the reason is timing. If receivers are not running full speed, the quarterback cannot match his footwork to the route.

His own routes have changed in the same direction. Less waiting, more catching on the break.

"Get your head around quick, ball's on you, catch, and let's go," McConkey said.

Even blocking got folded into the speed argument. McConkey framed the receivers' job as turning five and six yard gains into 50 and 60 yard gains, whether that means digging a safety or staying on a corner.

On Herbert, McConkey would not speak for his quarterback but had no trouble praising him, calling him first one in and last one out, a guy who wants to know the offense better than anyone. He also had a heads-up on the other Herbert news, the engagement, and offered advice from experience.

"You're going to be nervous up there, but just speak from the heart," McConkey told him. His own proposal did not go quite so smoothly. "I feel like I blacked out. I don't know what I said, but all I know is she said yes."

The pairing McConkey most wants to eavesdrop on is Harbaugh and McDaniel, two coaches he described as peas in a pod separated mainly by their choice in eyewear.

"Coach Harbaugh is a winner, Coach McDaniel is a winner, and just putting them together, it's going to be really good," he said.

Which brings it to expectations, in a tough division, in a building hosting Super Bowl 61, where the co-tenants have been adding names like Myles Garrett and reportedly Aaron Donald. Asked whether the Chargers get overlooked in their own town, McConkey did not take the bait.

"I'm rocking with the guys in my room, for sure," he said. "We want to be the team that wins the last game."