The Washington Commanders have had very little at wide receiver outside of Terry McLaurin the past three seasons. The Commanders set out to change that this offseason by spending a first-round pick on Jahan Dotson.
In addition to McLaurin and Dotson, Washington expects a healthy Curtis Samuel back for 2022. Samuel was expected to have a significant impact last season, but injuries limited him to five games.
Pro Football Focus recently ranked every NFL team’s wide receivers from 1-32. Washington is excited about its pass-catchers in 2022, but how did PFF view the Commanders?
PFF listed its rankings in the following tiers: Elite, strong overall with a weak point or two, could be strength or weakness and likely a weakness.
The Commanders were listed as the first team in the “could be strength or weakness” tier. Overall, PFF ranked Washington No. 17 and offered the following explanation.
Washington’s receiving corps has been Terry McLaurin and not much else over the past several seasons. That has a chance to change in 2022 with a healthy Curtis Samuel and the first-rounder Jahan Dotson in the fold. Dotson is a sudden route-runner who plays bigger than his size with the way he attacks the football in the air. A 5.1% career drop rate doesn’t hurt, either.
The hope for Washington will be that Dotson and Samuel free things up even more for McLaurin, who has already averaged 1.9 receiving yards per route run for his career despite bottom-of-the-league quarterback play.
You can’t dispute Washington being in this tier. You could argue that the Commanders should be higher, but so much is based on potential. Will Samuel be healthy? Is Dotson going to be a big-time player? Can second-year wideout Dyami Brown deliver on his promise?
If each of those things happen — and they certainly can — there is optimism that this is a top-10 unit with McLaurin on the roster.
PFF also included tight ends in the rankings. Logan Thomas is a good starting tight end for the Commanders, but he is recovering from a torn ACL in December. John Bates proved he can play last season and Washington also adds promising rookie Cole Turner to the mix.
So much also depends on quarterback Carson Wentz. Entering his seventh NFL season, Wentz has never played with such a deep and talented group of wide receivers. If Wentz is the player Washington believes he is, the Commanders could be one of the NFL’s more exciting teams on offense.
But, again, right now, so much is based on potential. We shall see.