Fantasy Football Video: With Mike Mcdaniel In Town, Can Ladd Mcconkey Be Next Season's Jaxon Smith-njigba?

The Los Angeles Chargers made one of the splash hires at offensive coordinator this offseason, bringing in former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel to run the offense led by QB Justin Herbert.

Matt Harmon was joined by Kendall Valenzuela of Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Life to discuss if a certain third-year WR on the Chargers can be the 2026 version of Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the latest episode of the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast.

The receiver being discussed is Ladd McConkey, whom Valenzuela believes is a “chalky” pick to be the breakout wideout of next season, similar to what JSN did in 2025 for the Super Bowl-bound Seahawks. But there are definitely some differences between the two wide receivers' paths so far in the NFL.

After improving in both of his first two seasons, JSN broke out big time this season, leading the NFL in receiving with 1,793 yards, a Seattle record. He had 119 catches and 10 TDs, finishing just behind Puka Nacua as the WR2 in fantasy football. Smith-Njigba also benefited from the addition of QB Sam Darnold this season and OC Klint Kubiak.

For McConkey, things are a bit different. Valenzuela points out how good McDaniel was at scheming guys to get open with QB Tua Tagovailoa in Miami. And the jump from Tua to Herbert for McDaniel, to Valenzuela, is “night and day.”

Harmon thinks there’s no reason McConkey can’t do something similar to what JSN did in 2025. Both of them are similar in size. Harmon thinks McConkey needs to play more in the slot and points out McDaniel did a great job moving WR Tyreek Hill around the field to free him up.

As a rookie, McConkey burst onto the NFL scene with 82 catches on 112 targets for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns. As a result, he was drafted as a top-12 WR overall going into the 2025 season. But he let fantasy managers down by posting just 66 catches on 106 targets for 789 yards and six TDs in 16 games in his sophomore campaign. That was good for a WR37 finish in fantasy points per game.

Yahoo analyst Justin Boone has McConkey ranked as the WR24 in his early fantasy football WR rankings for 2026.