NFL Draft Profile: KC Concepcion

If KC Concepcion is drafted by the Buffalo Bills, it would be a return to Western New York for him. The Texas A&M wide receiver was born in Rochester but his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina when he was three years old.

Concepcion was a four star recruit coming out of high school and rated the eighth best prospect in North Carolina by Rivals. He stayed in state and began his college career at North Carolina State.

As a true freshman in 2023, he started 11 games and set a Wolfpack record for freshmen wide receivers with 71 catches for 839 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was named both Rookie of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a freshman All American.

Following the 2024 season, Concepcion transferred to Texas A&M. Last season with the Aggies, the 5'11", 190 pounder totaled 61 receptions, 919 yards and nine TD's. He also averaged 18 yards on punt returns and had a pair of touchdowns.

For all of that work, Concepcion earned First Team All SEC honors as a receiver and won the Paul Hornung award, which goes to the nation's most versatile player.

Concepcion has had a stutter since he was young which led to bullying. He said he aims to be a role model for those who are either afraid to speak up or lack confidence because of the stuttering.

Joe Marino provides draft analysis for WGR. His website is thejoemarino.com and you can subscribe to his Locked On Bills Podcast. Joe shares his thoughts on Concepcion.

Positives:

I think he's probably the perfect player for the Bills to add to their offense. I think he's got game breaking upside as a receiver and a punt returner. Just as a route runner, I'd love his ability to run away from coverage. I think he's got easy acceleration, rapid ability to stop and start. He can work the horizontal route plane. Those are the money routes. A lot of guys can be good on a vertical plane, but when you can work those horizontal routes, that's where I think you can be a big time player at the next level.

I think KC Concepcion does a really good job working those horizontal routes. He's not the biggest receiver, but I'm really impressed with his ability to beat press coverage. I think that stems from his footwork and how dynamic he is in his release package, to even get off the line with steep angles that make it difficult for corners to get their hands on him and crowd that release. He's really smooth into those routes and that allows him to really dictate the rep from there.

Inside outside threat, he's not a slot only player at all. He's definitely a player that can play on the outside and has proven that, and he's a yards after catch demon. He's really special with the ball in his hands. I just see a I see a three level threat here. A guy that can win at all levels of the field, has verticality, has yards after catch, creates his own space. He's a really, really dynamic playmaker.

Negatives:

I don't think he's much of a threat to extend his catch radius. So if you're looking for somebody that's going to go above the rim and win the football, I don't think that's his game. I think there's the drop rate to be mindful of. It's a career drop rate of 9.3%. I put a lot of that
on the quarterback. I think he's had really underwhelming quarterback play. In fact, I think 25% of his targets this past year were not catchable. I think that leads to some inconsistency, but there are some focus drops.

I think his route running is excellent but he needs to develop more route pacing. Be be more willing to slow play some of your releases, to set up your route breaks as opposed to just everything being fast and explosive. There's not a very exciting blocking profile. But obviously, I don't think you're drafting him to major in blocking.

The NFL Draft will be held April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.