Meet the Chargers rookie who reminds Jim Harbaugh of All-Pro WR

No, he’s not related to the former Giants Super Bowl receiver but Jim Harbaugh sees a lot of another Super Bowl player in Chargers rookie Ladd McConkey: All-Pro Steve Smith.

That comparison popped into Harbaugh’s head during last week’s 26-8 win over New Orleans, when McConkey leaped over Alontae Taylor to snag Justin Herbert’s pass, then cats-cradled his way through the Saints’ secondary for a 60-yard touchdown. Suddenly, Harbaugh was back in 2001, when Smith was his teammate in Carolina.

“It’s like they both had this ability and this skill to almost look one way and then catch it just a few feet the other way,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “It’s really subtle, it’s really good.”

McConkey was really good against the Saints, with six grabs for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including a 9-yard score that put the game away in the fourth quarter. If they hadn’t before Sunday, Harbaugh, general manager Joe Hortiz and certainly Herbert realized then they have a special talent.

“He’s a complete receiver,” Herbert said. “For him to be able to line up inside, outside … we’ve got a true ball player on our hands.”

McConkey’s hands will be important for the Chargers (4-3), who have an opportunity to climb higher in the AFC playoff race starting with their trip to Cleveland (2-6) this week (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS). The Browns found new life last week with AFC Offensive Player of the Week Jameis Winston in an upset over Baltimore. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Cleveland’s win over Harbaugh’s brother last week was the first time in three years, when Houston beat Tennessee on Nov. 21, 2021, that a team with a losing streak of five-or-more games beat an opponent with a winning streak of at least five.

Speaking of five, that was the number of McConkey’s college scholarship offers as a quarterback at North Murray High School in Georgia: Tennessee-Chattanooga, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Jacksonville State and, obviously, the Georgia Bulldogs. McConkey discussed his journey with Tom Pelissero and Judy Battista Wednesday night on The Insiders podcast.

“I was a smaller guy. I could run fast but I was small,” McConkey said. “I played basketball and other sports all year round so I could never put the weight on. I was probably a buck-60, a buck-65 soaking wet so people were looking at me in that aspect. But Georgia gave me a shot. I believed in myself, bet on myself and it worked out.”