Film Study: How well did Ladd McConkey play for the Los Angeles Chargers in the preseason

all right let's talk lad makoni why don't we lad makoni who was uh you know uh so obviously we talked about the Chargers not having a ton of receiver Talent they got rid of both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen uh which is a you know uh they had to clear up money it is what it is but they didn't just get rid of those guys and then go from there they did make an effort to replace uh at least some of that with drafting lad makoni early in the second round he was the second pick in the second round so just barely not a first rounder we got to see him in limited uh preseason time he only got he only played in one game but I still figured it could make for an interesting video so let's break down how he played there definitely were a lot of plays like this where you see his route going to go towards the flat on a third down and six situation hopefully he can get open there if not just run deep down the field and maybe you can get open running deep down the field the quarterback here for the Chargers first looks in mak's Direction and this is covered nicely by the Rams this is more good defense than bad offense by makoni uh just cuz a lot of times these routes are does the defense pick it up or not only so much a receiver can do other than get to your spot quickly he got to his spot quickly but the Rams just picked it up so uh no this isn't uh a negative I would I wouldn't think although when he then turns down the field I got to be honest I think this is I think this is well covered I I think that the Rams player is doing a good job here and again this is where things always get difficult with making film studies in a small sample size is like it's possible just a Defender is playing this well and like that makes makoni look worse in comparison that being said like you know uh this is Russ yeast that is the corner who's covering him I think he's doing a pretty good job this plays another I think I think this is interesting uh this play with makoni where first you see where he is on the field you see him go in motion towards the top of the screen and I think that motion is really interesting you see the play concept now on the screen but I do wonder if is there a bit of a comparison to like a Detroit Lions or Los Angeles Rams in terms of the fact that their best receiver is a slot guy that that's interesting to me now I think the Rams and lions their best receivers are slot guys because amadas St Brown and Cooper cup and pukaa really are just like amazing guys like I'm not sure if makoni can live up to that height but it just it is interesting having a number one option be a guy who you might put in motion a lot you see the uh Vikings do that with Justin Jefferson a guy who isn't a slot guy but they do that a lot with him but anyway the concept itself just going to be a route uh trying to get open underneath it's not really like a a key route on this play necessarily like when it begins the quarterback doesn't even look in that direction but I really like the route to be honest like I think he cuts smoothly it's also well covered so like it's weird to give too much credit for the route that doesn't get open maybe he could have tried to fake something a little more but at the same time I mean you have a Defender who's kind of where he was at he was probably going to be all over that so because of that the throw goes elsewhere it actually goes right to a Rams player uh but is not caught but still still uh you know I think an interesting play I'm not sure what the main takeaways are there but a lot of minor takeaways I would say and now I want to go over to some good plays cuz I kind of started off with two uh plays where he was covered let's show him not being covered something like this where it's a pretty traditional slot receiver play right just try and get into a gap and coverage over the middle this is very much when you think slot receiver this is what you think of so again charger quarterback takes a snap and you see I think first that's a good job not really giving away a exactly what he's doing right uh kind of goes straight towards the Rams player the Rams player is moving in a little bit but when makoni Cuts over to Middle he does get wide open throw didn't go in that direction it is what it is quarterback can't see the whole field uh so what are you going to do but definitely if the quarterback was looking at in mak's way that's a completion and they're gaining a decent chunk of yards making it a convertible third down situation instead of a third and 19 it's it's good stuff I would say like this one's another similar situation in my opinion it's going to be a uh you know route where he's going going to be cutting in towards the middle of the field but watch how he runs this you wouldn't know that by the way he's running it right I mean even right now he could be cutting towards a sideline he could be going deep he could be moving back in towards the quarterback you just don't know this this is you the third and 19 I was talking about earlier this is just the next play uh but he's doing a really good job at that beginning portion of the route you can't be a successful slot receiver in this league if you don't run your the stem portion of your route very well but then also also watch him cut I mean it's a little bit off screen but he cuts pretty well on top of it he was open over the middle of the field now I get why I think this is one of those situations where I actually think it was the right call by the quarterback to not put it in mak's uh Direction because you know he's not past the first down marker it would only go for about 10 yards they need 19 but I'm just bringing it up as a good example of a good route also the reason why you don't throw it is because as you see uh they had a receiver who was wide open it was Quinton Johnston who unfortunately make the grab due to it being not a very good throw uh but hey hey maybe if he gets out going that would be good too maybe I can make a film study on him uh but yeah as a whole for makoni you know I think this is good stuff and also this one is one we got to talk about third and four which again I mean this entire play is what they got makoni for really they're going to run this play to makoni he's running a route where he's going to cut just past the first down marker you have uh Quinton Johnston running a deep shot right next to him hopefully he's going to get more attention and then you can just pick up the first down so when this play begins again I I really love how makoni starts this route he is not making it clear where he's going cuz he could cut over the middle right A lot of times you like to do that cuz especially when the quarterback is on the hash marks towards the top of the screen it's a bit of a tough angle going all the way to the bottom of the screen you have to get pretty sizeably open but then makoni Cuts really well he gets a window it's a nicely thrown football and they're able to pick up a first down this is just the stuff that gets get you excited if you're a Chargers fan I mean I know these aren't always the flashiest plays but like if you think about it this is almost like a turnover sometimes being able to convert on a third and four versus not converting on a third and four that's almost as big of a deal as a turnover because it keeps possession in your hands now this Situation's a little different because they were already in field goal range but still I mean the best teams in the league are usually up there with the best teams on third downs and definitely having a guy who can help you on third Downs it just matter matters a lot so yeah that's kind of how I viewed lad mak's game is that I thought he he showed some nice things I think that there if there was hop that maybe he's going to be like more than just a slot receiver I don't know if we saw that week one or not week one uh in the preseason but like I think to me what I've seen is that he probably should be a pretty good slot receiver which again that's what he was built as that's what he was drafted as why he didn't get drafted in the first round was because people felt like well are you going to give me more than just a slot receiver it seems unlikely kind of the logic behind drafting a guy like makoni is like he should be pretty good at this thing and maybe he's not going to be a superstar level receiver although again like I said Cooper cup pukaa Aman St Brown it happens that these guys become Superstars but maybe he won't be the Superstar level guy but he should at the very least be a decent player who can help us out right away um and we'll see how it goes it should be an interesting uh I think run with him and with uh in the Jim Harbaugh scheme and all that but yeah those are my thoughts on his preseason performance what do you think let me know in the comments below always love hearing from yall and of course as always thanks for watching [Music] [Music] a [Music]