Kevin Concepcion | WR | NC State | 2026 NFL Draft Eligible
High School
Kevin “KC” Concepcion, freshman WR from NC State, played his high school football at Julius L. Chambers High School in Charlotte, NC. KC was ranked a 3-star recruit on ESPN as the WR130 in his class. He was rated more highly on Rivals, earning a 4-star designation, and ranked as the WR53 overall.
In his final two high school seasons, KC caught 65 passes for 977 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was also used as a rusher and special teams guy, finishing with 1,032 all-purpose yards as a senior. As a junior, KC returned three punts for touchdowns.
Concepcion received offers from several excellent Power 5 programs, including Penn State, Louisville, and North Carolina. He decided to stay near home and signed with the Wolfpack of NC State last December.
College
Concepcion has been integral to the Wolfpack’s air attack in 2023, leading the team in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He’s more than doubled his team’s next-highest pass catcher in all three of these categories. NC State had quite a successful year with KC as their WR1, finishing 6-2 in conference and 9-3 overall.
Through twelve contests, KC has totaled 64 receptions, 767 yards, and ten touchdowns. According to Fantrax, he has 96 targets on the season, which is good for a 27.4% target share. Concepcion is tied for 14th in the nation in touchdown receptions this year and is currently the only freshman with double-digit TD receptions. He also leads all freshmen in the Power 5 in receptions and receiving yards and is second amongst all FBS freshmen in these categories, behind only Pofele Ashlock (Hawaii).
Concepcion’s incredible freshman season earned him the honors of ACC Rookie of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2023. He was also named a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award. KC was the first true freshman in NC State history to post multiple 100+ yard receiving games, as well as eight or more receiving touchdowns in a season. He earned ACC Freshman of the Week honors four times and was named a freshman All-American on several college football sites. The list goes on and on.
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2024 Projections
Putting up these numbers in the Power 5 as a freshman is certainly impressive, but the defense in the ACC is not up to par with the SEC or the Big Ten. Considering the competition KC faced, we need to temper our expectations from a fantasy perspective.
Concepcion will have a new quarterback throwing him the ball next season, as the Wolfpack just signed former Coastal Carolina QB Grayson McCall. I’m excited to see these two in an offense together, and I think there’s real potential for a monster sophomore campaign from KC.
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McCall was a 4-year starter for the Chanticleers and had one more year of eligibility, which he elected to take. McCall is a seasoned veteran, accumulating over 11k total yards and 106 touchdowns in his college career thus far. He leads all active FBS quarterbacks in pass efficiency and is a three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year. NC State was looking to replace their 6th-year senior QB Brennan Armstrong, and I think they’ve found themselves an even better QB in McCall for 2024.
One thing worth noting: Grayson is more of a dual-threat quarterback, sitting with 1,113 rush yards and 18 rushing TDs in his career. He’s never attempted 300 passes in a single season, so this CCU offense was never overly pass-heavy. Still, McCall has proven his ability as an upper-tier college quarterback over the years, and I have a feeling the McCall-Concepcion connection could turn some heads in 2024.
Dynasty/Devy Value
You’d be hard-pressed to find Concepcion’s name on any Devy rankings site online, even after all the accolades he earned as a freshman. Because of this, I think you could get away with waiting until the later rounds to grab KC in your Devy/Rookie drafts, depending on how depleted the player pool is. If you’re joining a Devy startup this offseason, Concepcion is a name you could grab near the end of the draft that could accrue significant value over the next two seasons as he becomes more of a household name.
According to On3 Director of Scouting Charles Power, Concepcion is an excellent route runner with natural hands and YAC ability. At 5’11” and 187 lbs, KC is mainly a slot receiver and should remain in that role at the next level. I won’t pretend Concepcion has the fantasy upside that someone like Zachariah Branch or Carnell Tate has. Still, his production on the field this season deserves our attention, and I think he can be a top-5 WR in this 2026 draft class. Get this guy on your Devy rosters before his stock really starts to rise!
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
