Ladd McConkey vs Luther Burden: Who Should You Start?
Two wide receivers who will land on plenty of the same rosters in 2026. Ladd McConkey (Los Angeles Chargers) finished the 2025 season averaging 9.2 fantasy points per game in 16 games. Luther Burden (Chicago Bears) came in at 7.0 PPG over 15 games. The gap is real but not insurmountable with the right matchup.
Ladd McConkey carries a 2.2-point PPG advantage from the 2025 season. That baseline matters, but it is one input among several. Matchup difficulty, scoring trends, and injury reports move the needle week to week, which is why the best answer changes depending on when you are asking.
Target volume is the story here. Ladd McConkey saw 106 targets in 2025, while Luther Burden drew 60. That workload gap usually translates into a higher weekly floor for Ladd McConkey, even in weeks where Luther Burden posts the bigger ceiling game. Consistency-minded managers lean toward target share; boom-bust managers chase the upside.
Ladd McConkey has his bye in Week 5, and Luther Burden rests in Week 7. 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.
