Ja'Marr Chase vs Ladd McConkey: Who Should You Start?
Ja'Marr Chase and Ladd McConkey are at different tiers heading into 2026. The Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver averaged 15.7 PPG in 2025, a full 6.5 points per game ahead of Ladd McConkey's 9.2 with the Los Angeles Chargers. That kind of gap doesn't close on matchup alone.
A 6.5-PPG gap gives Ja'Marr Chase the edge on paper, but paper does not account for Thursday night matchups, weather games, or a star defender returning from injury. The real question is not who was better in 2025, but who is the better start this specific week.
Target volume is the story here. Ja'Marr Chase saw 185 targets in 2025, while Ladd McConkey drew 106. That workload gap usually translates into a higher weekly floor for Ja'Marr Chase, even in weeks where Ladd McConkey posts the bigger ceiling game. Consistency-minded managers lean toward target share; boom-bust managers chase the upside.
Ja'Marr Chase has his bye in Week 12, and Ladd McConkey rests in Week 5. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at wide receiver for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
