Josh Allen vs Ladd McConkey

“While there are five quarterbacks in this tier, Allen stands clearly ahead of the rest. The superstar has finished as a top-five quarterback in six consecutive seasons despite not having a go-to No. 1 wide receiver since the Bills traded away Stefon Diggs.”

“Bills QB Josh Allen is an amazing football player and a time-tested fantasy asset.”

“Josh Allen is microwave popcorn because when he gets hot, he absolutely pops off. One explosive play turns into another, the TDs start piling up, and suddenly you are staring at a fantasy score that felt impossible just a few quarters ago.”

“There’s no doubt that quarterbacks like Allen, Jackson, Drake Maye, and more should score more, but drafting any in the first few rounds is a bad idea.”

“Most notably, he oversaw the development of Josh Allen as Offensive Coordinator in Buffalo from 2018 through 2021.”

“The Sharp Football Analysis projections are aggressive in factoring in increased passing from Allen and are well above the Vegas passing yards total. ESPN’s publicly available projections have a moderate increase in passing attempts and yardage from last year and are still more than 300 yards over the passing total.”

“Since the start of 2022, Allen is second in EPA per play and has finished among the top four quarterbacks in EPA per play in every single year.”

“Josh Allen , Patrick Mahomes , Brock Purdy , Dak Prescott , and Jared Goff were the only quarterbacks selected as top-12 players who were also top 12 in points per game.”

“Josh Allen 2026 Over/Under Predictions The Buffalo offense played at the league's slowest pace and ran the ball at the second-highest rate last season, which seems very counterintuitive for a team with Josh Allen at quarterback.”

“Josh Allen is once again the consensus QB1 in fantasy. He finished QB1 in fantasy scoring last season for the fourth time in the last six years. After down years from Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts , the gap between Allen and other fantasy QBs seems to have widened.”

“There is hope that a healthy Kincaid can live up to the hype that he has carried since entering the league as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft and be an elite TE option in an offense with Josh Allen .”

“With the first pick in the draft, Mike takes what feels like an obvious choice of Josh Allen, who has finished as the QB1 overall in four of the last six seasons.”

“A top‑12 finish is well within reach, giving him legitimate league‑winning upside in year two.” – Lawrence Iacona ( The Architect’s War Room ) “We could take the more obvious route and say Emeka Egbuka or Ladd McConkey .”

“Full disclosure: I like Ladd McConkey . I also think Justin Herbert is prime for an MVP-caliber season.”

“The second-year WR is being grouped into the “elite” Chargers WR conversation alongside Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston by HC John Harbaugh.”

“20 come from two buckets: Hyper-specified role players (Stefon Diggs, Rashee Rice) Guys with other top 24 or strong ancillary target competition (Both Rams WRs, Jameson Williams, CeeDee Lamb, Tee Higgins, Quentin Johnston with Ladd McConkey/Keenan Allen) You may notice there’s one guy on this list who fits in neither, and it’s Thundering Herd legend Christian Watson (shout out to NDSU).”

“That leaves a sizable hole in the offense, and McConkey should be the biggest beneficiary of those vacated targets.”

“Ladd McConkey is my bet for Herbert’s pass-catcher who will benefit the most from better health along the offensive line.”

“After working through it, the analyst landed on preferring McConkey over Tate, citing more confidence in McConkey’s current quarterback situation and offensive environment, along with an already-strong rookie season once his playoff performance is factored in.”

“With Allen no longer on the team, this opens up the opportunity for McConkey to emerge as Justin Herbert's clear top receiver and demand an elite target share. There's a clear path to him earning 150+ targets and hauling in 100+ receptions.”

“There's no denying Ladd McConkey was a massive fantasy disappointment last season. He saw a drop from 15.1 PPR points per game as a rookie down to 11.3.”

“Ladd at ADP 34 is a steep price for a role that could be more complicated than the market is admitting. The Chargers added David Njoku, Charlie Kolar, and Alec Ingold, which points to more 12 & 21 personnel, and that matters for a player who ran 64.0% of his routes from the slot.”

“McConkey's CTCH% dropped from 73% to 62% year-over-year, and that drop, combined with a lower YPC, made a substantial difference in his performance. Much of this can be attributed to the offensive line injuries and subsequent pocket pressure that QB Justin Herbert faced much of the season. Herbert was pressured on 45% of McConkey's targets, and his catchable targets dropped by 10 percentage points. Bringing back a fully healthy offensive line and drafting four additional linemen (including the #1 ranked Center in the class) should make a big difference for this offensive unit.”

“Despite a gaffe-riddled rookie year, QJ showed marginal development in his second season, and Ladd McConkey looked like one of the steals of the draft in 2024. Then Allen, who departed for a one-year sabbatical in Chicago in 2024, returned to Los Angeles for his swan song and mucked the whole thing up! Or did he? The narrative in the fantasy football community has been that Keenan Allen NERFed Ladd McConkey's 2025 numbers, but further analysis shows there were several other factors at play.”