INDIANAPOLIS — Auburn safety Jaylin Simpson has seen enough of Ladd McConkey, going up against the Georgia football wide receiver the last three seasons in the SEC rivalry, to come away impressed.

McConkey had his breakout game against the Tigers in 2021, with five catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Simpson saw more of McConkey at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, where they were on the same team, and he told McConkey about a nickname he gave him.

“I call him Cookie because he can cook it,” Simpson said. “Ladd McCookie.”

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McConkey laughed Friday morning when asked about it after his time on the podium for media interviews at the NFL combine.

“It’s hilarious,” he said. “He told me that at the Senior Bowl. I was like, 'Where the heck did y’all get that from?' … He can call me that, it’s cool, but as a full nickname, no.”

The 5-foot-11, 187-pound McConkey raised his draft stock in the Senior Bowl, giving him momentum heading into this week’s gathering of more than 300 top draft prospects and talent evaluators for NFL teams.

The Chatsworth native is considered a likely Day 2 pick who could go as early as late first round.

“Ladd is a technician, man,” Simpson said. “You can tell he takes a lot of pride in his work. It shows. He’s a great guy, too. I love talking with Ladd.”

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller has called McConkey “the best route runner in the draft with excellent stop-start quickness and acceleration out of his cuts.”

McConkey put up 1,687 receiving yards on 119 catches with 14 touchdowns in three Georgia seasons and added four rushing touchdowns. He pointed out he played about double the amount of snaps as an outside receiver than as a slot receiver.

“I feel comfortable at both positions,” he said. “I think I can win outside and inside.”

A back injury kept McConkey out for the first four games of last season, and then he dealt with an ankle injury that kept him out of another game and limited him in others.

Now, he said, “I feel really good. This past couple of months training it allowed me to rehab and get my body right and focused on what I needed to focus on.”

McConkey was ranked a three-star prospect and the No. 1,131 prospect coming out North Murray High.

“I just put my head down and grinded,” McConkey said. “That first year I was on scout team and didn’t play. I think that made me a better player for sure.”

McConkey is auditioning for a job this week, but he’s also taking it all in that he’s a part of the NFL combine.

An NFL reporter asked him what it would be like to catch passes from superstar Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty cool when you say that,” McConkey said. “Those are guys you grew up watching seeing do it at the highest level and now it’s like right here in front of me.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football WR Ladd McConkey's stock up as he hits NFL combine