Washington: don't drop the ball on McLaurin

When Ron Rivera took over as Head Coach of the then Washington Redskins, the emphasis was on culture change and turning the tide of defeatism in the Nation’s Capitol.

Might an example of true culture change be when your star players are willing to commit their long-term futures to the team? And in Terry McLaurin, the Commanders have a third-round pick whose play has far exceeded his number 76 selection in the 2019 draft.

Securing his long-term future as a Commander should be a priority for the third-year HC Rivera and Christian Burt (UKHTTC founder) and Tony Wheat (Full Press Commanders) give their opinion on Terry McLaurin as a true WR1 and whether the Commanders can get a deal done to secure such a prized offense asset.

First up, is Christian.

McLaurin is a WR who seems to do everything required of a receiver to a high standard.

Terry McLaurin is a quality blocker, he is pretty quick, relatively elusive and is a 100% commitment on every down guy.

Despite not being a huge receiver, Terry (6ft0) can still contest and win 50/50 balls, many of which didn’t need to be such contestable catches, but QBs have not been exactly elite in Washington since he was drafted.

So then, the fans love him, the coaches love him, and everything should hypothetically fall into place for a long-term contract, right? Not necessarily, as the terrible ownership of Dan Snyder will always cast a dark cloud over the franchise and make D.C a less than desirable preferred destination to ply an NFL career.

Washington has been bitten in recent times by the franchise tagging of Kirk Cousins and RG Brandon Scherff, both of whom decided their arguably peak years were to be away from the burgundy & gold.

They will not want to go down that same path with Scary Terry.

Money does talk, however, and I would be surprised if Washington offered a long-term deal that wasn’t acceptable from a financial point of view.

Terry was mature for a rookie (McLaurin will be 27 going into the 2022 season), and a deal will have to be north of the $61.9 million, $41 million guaranteed that DJ Moore (a decent Terry comparison in terms of style) of the Panthers signed would make sense for all parties.

His games started stats are a healthy 14, 15 and 17 from 2019-2021, but there have been niggly injuries along the way, and McLaurin should not hesitate too long on pulling the trigger on a contract in Washington to offer security for the rest of his life. Any NFL player needs to think carefully about stability when still on a rookie deal.

To the question of is Terry a true WR1? As a minimum the guy is a WR1.5 and, with leadership qualities so clearly abundant, it is absolutely worth the near elite WR1 dollars investment on a player of such high character.

Head Coach Ron Rivera is vocally all-in on the Commanders big FA acquisition QB Carson Wentz. If Terry and Wentz can mesh, then the Commanders will have a strong QB & WR duo for at least three years (and potentially longer).

Tony Wheat of Full Press Washington gives his viewpoint.

Since Terry McLaurin was drafted by Washington in 2019, he has averaged 74 receptions for 1,030 yards and a little over 5 TD’s. Those are solid stats, but not necessarily those of a genuine number 1 wide receiver.

However, looking at things in a vacuum doesn’t always tell the whole story, and that’s certainly true in McLaurin’s case.

Since his rookie season, McLaurin has produced consistently despite QB play that has ranged from below average to abysmal. Incredibly, he has caught passes from more than 10 QB’s in those 3 seasons and it is reasonable to suggest that if he had been playing with even a league average starter, his stats would be significantly enhanced.

Of course, stats don’t always tell the full story and the tape has shown that McLaurin is regularly open, despite opponents being able to double cover him due to the scarcity of other receiving threats on the Washington roster.

That McLaurin hasn’t received the ball on those occasions says more about the level of QB play than the receiver himself.

McLaurin is a smart, hardworking dog who gives everything he has on the field and is a real leader despite not being a “rah rah” guy. He has never complained about the poor QB play or lack of other options which have may helped to deflect some of the attention away from his side.

This season will be interesting for McLaurin in a number of ways. The likelihood is that he will sign a new deal this summer, that will probably come in somewhere below the top deals of the likes of Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, and somewhere around the $20 million of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, and Mike Williams, which feels about right.

In addition, whatever you think of Carson Wentz he is an upgrade at the QB position and can certainly get the ball downfield. That should suit McLaurin, particularly if Washington adds another receiver early in the draft and if Curtis Samuel is fully healthy.

To answer the question, I don’t believe that McLaurin is a high-end number 1 receiver, in the Adams, Hill, Chase category but is undoubtedly one of the top 15 players at his position in the NFL which fits him into a legitimate number 1 role.

He has achieved this despite numerous obstacles and I expect him to take the next step this season with 85+ catches and somewhere around 1,300 yards and approaching 10 TD’s, stats certainly becoming of a number 1 receiver.