Bolts From The Blue
Chargers rookies Ladd McConkey and Joe Alt help headline a talent-packed group of first-year players in 2024.
Without a full offseason to prepare for their first draft at the helm of the Los Angeles Chargers, head coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz still managed to draft two cornerstone players for the franchise with their first two picks.
Offensive tackle Joe Alt and wide reciever McConkey were outstanding for the Bolts this season as both played key roles in helping the team get to the playoffs after winning just five games a season ago.
Not to be completely ignored, the Chargers also got great seasons from a pair of fifth-round corners in Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart.
Of those four players I’ve touched on thus far, three of them earned All-Rookie Team honors from ESPN’s Ben Solak.
First and foremost, Alt and McConkey were both named First-Team members after standout seasons. Alt was the first team’s right tackle while McConkey joined Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. as the first team’s three wideouts.
Here’s what Solak had to say about Alt:
2024 stats: 16 starts, 94.3% pass block win rate, 77.6% run block win rate
The best compliment you can give a rookie tackle is that you forgot all about him, and that’s the case with Alt. He was so quietly dominant shutting down pass rushers that any unknowing film watcher would never guess he was a rookie who had flipped sides. Alt is exactly what the Chargers hoped when they drafted him: smooth, long, physical, technically sound, quick, smart and explosive. He checks every single box a team would expect from a franchise tackle. Also, when Rashawn Slater went down right before Week 18, he slipped right back to the left side and looked like he’d been there all season.
And here’s what he had to say about McConkey:
2024 stats: 82 receptions, 1,149 receiving yards, 7 TDs
You know how Thomas had the sixth-best rookie wide receiver season this century? Well, McConkey had the seventh best. McConkey averaged 2.57 yards per route run this season, just 0.04 yards behind Thomas. While Thomas has the more traditional big-play game, McConkey matched him in explosiveness, producing in the intermediate areas of the field. He averaged 10.4 yards per target to Thomas’ 9.7, and his 14 yards per reception compared well to Thomas’ 14.7. This is a big-play receiver with legit speed.
McConkey will still always be best on breaking routes as a consistent stick mover from the slot. A whopping 46.8% of his targets went for a first down or touchdown this season, which is easily best among rookies. I’ll be interested to see whether the Chargers continue using him heavily in the slot and add to their outside positions this offseason, or start using him in more of a hybrid role. Either way, he can handle it.
As for the third Chargers player to make Solak’s teams, Tarheeb Still was...
