Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion Scouting Report
Immaculate Concepcion
Image 1: WR KC Concepcion (7) checking with the ref that he is on the LOS
Height: 5’11
Weight: 190
Position: WR
Year: Junior
Background
Image 2: WR KC Concepcion (1) during his final season at Julius L Chambers High School
Born September 24 2004, Kevin “KC” Concepcion was a Three-Star WR prospect in the class of 2023 coming out of Julius L Chambers High School. Ranked as the 97th WR and 23rd player from North Carolina, Concepcion was a dynamic weapon as a WR and return man for a back-to-back 4AA State Champion Cougar team. With heavy attention from the P4 due to his ability to contribute on special teams and offense, Concepcion decided to stay in-state and commit to NC State.
As a member of the Wolf Pack, Concepcion immediately made his mark with a true freshman campaign where he led NC State in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Due to his impressive season carrying the Wolf Pack offense, Concepcion was named the ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year, and an All-ACC Second Team member. While there were high hopes for his sophomore season, Concepcion had a sophomore slump where he decreased in receptions, yardage, and touchdowns from his freshman season. Wishing for a change of scenery, Concepcion entered the 2025 transfer portal as a Four-Star WR prospect and transferred to Texas A&M. As an Aggie, Concepcion had a bounce-back season, leading Texas A&M in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Due to his spectacular season, Concepcion was named an All-American, All-SEC First Team member, and the winner of the Paul Hornung award. KC Concepcion enters the 2026 NFL Draft as one of the best athletes and separators in the entire draft class.
Athletic Tools
When turning on the tape, KC Concepcion’s speed is eye-popping. With legit field-stretching ability and deep speed, Concepcion is one of the premier vertical threats in the draft class. Unlike other deep threats who cannot throttle down or take time reach their top speed, Concepcion has instant acceleration and deceleration. With most DBs needed to open their hips early to match his deep speed, Concepcion is going to get easy yardage on comebacks due to his ability to drive his hips and decelerate.
Video 1: WR KC Concepcion (7) releases inside and separates deep
Video 2: WR KC Concepcion (7) forces the DB to flip early due to his deep speed
Video 3: WR KC Concepcion (7) running a slant in motion and showcasing his speed/acceleration in the open field
Video 4: WR KC Concepcion (7) driving his hips to decelerate at the stem of his route
While not as thin or weak as other small WRs, Concepcion’s lack of size does show up on tape. Concepcion does get off the line well and does a good job of minimizing contact, but he does get bothered by physical coverage from longer, bigger corners. For a player whose primary skill set will be stretching the field vertically, Concepcion will need to adjust to winning vertically against bigger, longer NFL DBs who are more refined with their press technique. Due to his lack of frame to support more mass, Concepcion will be more consistent and active with his hand fighting to get off the LOS consistently. In addition, Concepcion’s smaller stature makes him a smaller target downfield, which decreases the amount of error allowed on throws. While this accuracy is not an issue for the majority of starting QBs, franchises with a QB developing his passing consistency could have issues with the two consistently connecting on passing concepts.
Video 5: WR KC Concepcion (7) gets contacted off the line and gets knocked off the timing of the passing concept
Video 6: WR KC Concepcion (7) gets rerouted at the stem while doing a rocker step
Video 7: WR KC Concepcion (7) running a route in the red zone and gets rerouted
Video 8: WR KC Concepcion (7) not being able to adjust to the poorly placed pass due to just being a smaller, shorter target
Commonly, the answer for most smaller WRs who struggle with physicality is generally putting them in the slot so they have more space/directions in their releases/routes. However, I am not a big fan of Concepcion being projected purely in the slot due to his lack of fluidity and twitch for a smaller WR. Though far from a stiff athlete, Concepcion is a one-speed runner who cannot change gears and directions rapidly. Concepcion is more fluid and agile than bigger, taller WRs, but he lacks the lateral ability to fully benefit from playing in the slot. Due to his lack of great lateral quickness, Concepcion is a disappointing RAC/YAC player as he does not force missed tackles and is a linear ball carrier.
Video 9: WR KC Concepcion (7) catching a screen and lacking the twitch to cut upfield
Video 10: WR KC Concepcion (7) lacking the fluidity to run the whip route without a hitch
Technicals
From a technical standpoint, Concepcion has everything needed to be a good separator. With clean and varied releases, Concepcion consistently wins leverage on DBs and uses his acceleration to generate separation. While he needs to be more consistent when DBs recover or land their hands on him, Concepcion has flashes of good ability to hand-fight off the line to handle contact. Beyond relying on his release and first step, Concepcion has a good bag of fakes and false steps to sell routes at the stem. Combined with enough fluidity to speed cut at an NFL level, Concepcion is great at running staple NFL routes like digs. With all of these skill sets and techniques, Concepcion can separate at all three levels in the NFL.
Video 11: WR KC Concepcion (7) taking a quick inside release and winning quickly
Video 12: WR KC Concepcion (7) taking an outside release and winning quickly
Video 13: WR KC Concepcion (7) handing fighting off the LOS and winning deep
Video 14: WR KC Concepcion (7) has a double move that makes the DB bite
Video 15: WR KC Concepcion (7) speed cuts and gets open on a dig
According to many analysts and scouts, Concepcion has called an inconsistent hands player, which I disagree with. Down to down, Concepcion does a good job of securing passes outside his frame and comes down with a shocking amount of difficult catches in traffic. There are a high number of registered drops, but they generally came from him being contacted heavily or poorly paced passes. I personally do not believe his drop issue is going to be a major problem in the NFL.
Video 16: WR KC Concepcion (7) secures the pass outside his frame
Video 17: WR KC Concepcion (7) adjusts to an overthrows pass and secure it outside his frame
Video 18: WR KC Concepcion (7) tracks down the deep ball and secure it outside his frame
Video 19: WR KC Concepcion (7) comes down with a contested catch between two defenders
Video 20: WR KC Concepcion (7) comes down with the hospital ball
Video 21: WR KC Concepcion (7) drops the ball due to the contact of the DB
For teams that emphasize a “no block no rock” mentality, Concepcion is a good fit in spite of size. Though he lacks the size to be a difference maker as a blocker, Concepcion has good effort in the run game. Concepcion would not do great in condensed formations or against bigger assignments, but he is effective enough to make blocks downfield in the second level and seal off CBs on outside runs.
Video 22: WR KC Concepcion (7) runs off the DB and seals him off for the outside run
Video 23: WR KC Concepcion (7) showing a mean streak as a blocker
Draft Projection
KC Concepcion currently has an early day two grade. While he lacks the size and physicality to be a true WR1, Concepcion brings immediate three-level separation ability due to his athleticism and advanced route running. Due to this, Concepcion could step in day one as the primary target for an NFL offense, even if he struggles against long corners who match his deep speed. An easy way around this would be to have Concepcion play as the Z to give him free releases in motion and to give him more space by not being on the LOS. Though I do not have a first-round grade on him, Concepcion could go in the first round due to the WR class lacking players with great NFL athleticism and immediate route-running ability.
Athletic Testing
Will be updated after the NFL Combine/Clemson Pro Day
Pro Comparison
Image 3: WR Brandin Cooks (10) during his initial stint with the New Orleans Saints
While best known for constantly being shipped during the offseason, Brandin Cooks reminds me a lot of KC Concepcion. An undersized productive WR with speed, Cooks made a career for himself as a field-stretching Z/X despite analysts projecting him into the slot. Despite being undersized, Cooks had a habit of making big catches in traffic. If he can prove his drop issues in college are the product of mainly poor QB play, Concepcion can have a similar career to Cooks (hopefully with fewer trades).
Date Published: 1/2/2025
Date Last Updated: 1/2/2025
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