Ladd McConkey played a big role in Geoergia’s 2022 offense. He was the team’s top wide receiver, hauling in 58 passes for 762 yards. He scored a total of nine touchdowns while also being a key special teams player for the Bulldogs. He did it all for Georgia in 2022 and the Bulldogs won their second-straight national championship.

And one analyst thinks McConkey was just getting warmed up. ESPN’s Matt Miller tabbed McConkey as one of the sleepers of next year’s NFL draft.

While that might not mean much for the 2023 Georgia team, Miller shared how McConkey’s traits should help make a big impact on the field.

“The 6-foot, 185-pound fourth-year junior produced in a run-first Bulldogs offense in 2022 and has shown elite hands and route-running ability,” Miller wrote. “With more opportunities in 2023, those numbers should explode. I have him in the Round 3 range right now, but things could change quickly if he sees more targets this year.”

Miller is far from the first NFL draft analyst to praise McConkey, as Jim Nagy of the Senior Bowl did so as well.

McConkey’s numbers likely would’ve been greater last season had he not dealt with a nagging knee injury. The wide receiver played in all 15 games but left Georgia’s game against LSU and was hobbled in the win over Ohio State.

He had a big response in Georgia’s final game against TCU, as he caught five passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

McConkey was draft-eligible after the 2022 season but elected to return to Georgia for another season. He’s come a long way from his time as a recruit, where he was often overlooked. Georgia and Vanderbilt were the only Power 5 programs to offer him scholarships as a high school prospect.

The Chatsworth, Ga., native is now a name known not just by Georgia fans but by the larger college football world and those in NFL circles.

Georgia will have a new offensive coordinator in Mike Bobo and a new quarterback in 2023. Even with those changes, it’s fair to expect McConkey to be an even bigger piece of the Georgia offense than he was in 2022. Tight end Brock Bowers returns and Georgia brought in wide receivers Dominic Lovett and Rara Thomas out of the transfer portal.

McConkey and the Bulldogs are currently conducting summer workouts. Georgia will open the 2023 season against UT-Martin on Sept. 2.

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