Ladd McConkey: 2024 NFL Draft Profile, Projection, Prediction

Few programs have been better at putting players into the NFL during the Kirby Smart era than Georgia, and this year’s draft is no different. Brock Bowers, Amarius Mims and Ladd McConkey are likely to go early. There’s the mid-round guys like Kamari Lassiter, Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith and the late-round steals like Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Sedrick Van Pran and a pair of running backs – Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards.

Looking to hit double-digits for a third consecutive year, the Bulldogs sent 11 to the NFL Combine earlier in the process. A couple more worked out at UGA’s Pro Day. To preview it all for you, DawgsHQ takes an individual look at Georgia’s players in the draft pool, recapping their career in red and black and providing the latest projections (and a prediction of our own) for where they’ll fall on draft night.

Ladd McConkey

Absolutely nobody would’ve expected the kind of career McConkey had for himself when he was coming out of high school as a lowly recruited kid out of Chatsworth, Ga. A redshirt that spent the entirety of his first year on scout team, fans were surprised when No. 84 was making an impact early in the 2021 season. By the time things were done, it wasn’t a surprise at all. In fact, it was expected that he’d be a difference maker for the Dawgs.

McConkey finished the 2021 season third on the team in receiving with 447 yards and five touchdowns on 31 games. He had a particularly impressive outing against Auburn that season, earning SEC Freshman of the Week as he went for a career-high 135 yards in the road win over the Tigers. Come 2022, he was upping those numbers as a starter of 14 of 15 games and a Second-Team All-SEC selection by the league’s coaches. McConkey would finish second behind just Brock Bowers with 58 receptions and 762 yards, tying Bowers for the team-high receiving touchdown total with seven. He also added two on the ground that season, finding the end zone multiple times in the season-opener against Oregon, an SEC East clinching win at Mississippi State and the National Championship Game victory over TCU.

McConkey opted to return to Georgia for another season in 2023, and while he was still productive, it’s probably safe to say things didn’t go the way he planned. An early-season battle with a back injury sidelined McConkey for the first four games. Then, later, it was an ankle issue that limited him. In total, McConkey played in just nine games, still managing to finish top 5 on the team in receiving with 30 grabs, 478 yards and two touchdowns. When he was on the field, he was impactful. Look no further than the career-high tying 135 yards against Florida or the back-to-back games he had after that with 90+ total yards. Back close to full strength, he capped off his career with a highlight reel rushing touchdown versus Florida State as McConkey ran from one side of the field to the other, making the entirety of the Seminole defense miss on his way into the end zone for a 27-yard score.

Palmer’s Prediction: Projections for McConkey fall in the late first/early second round range. It’s a deep receiver class with several first-round talent type players likely to go after pick No. 32. I think McConkey falls into that category. Some folks will see that as a surprise. He wasn’t the highest rated coming out of high school nor is he the biggest or fastest coming out of college. However, turn on the tape and it’s easy to understand why McConkey is ending up where he is. There’s a lot to love about the way McConkey plays the game, and NFL teams have had their opportunity to do just that during this draft process. I’ll predict McConkey off the board in the first 10 picks of the second round on Friday night.