Washington is counting on a bounce-back season from its No. 1 receiver and a breakthrough year from his younger teammates.
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At least for now, the Washington Commanders are rolling with what they have at wide receiver. That’s a massive bet on top wideout Terry McLaurin having a bounce-back campaign.
Nothing went as planned for McLaurin during an injury-plagued 2025 season. But he’s healthy and has been a full participant throughout the offseason.
“It just feels like normal,” McLaurin said Thursday. “Business is business and that was last year, but I’ve just been really excited to be a part of the whole process this year.”
This season could dictate whether McLaurin and the Commanders have a future together. This is the last year with guaranteed money on his contract. According to the database Over the Cap, McLaurin is set to have a salary cap hit of $34 million in 2027. While the Commanders could carry that full amount, it’d be more prudent to extend McLaurin or restructure his contract. If his durability remains an issue, it may be difficult for Washington to make that commitment.
When he’s healthy, however, McLaurin is a known commodity. He’s a legit No. 1 wide receiver capable of playing at an all-pro level. The question looming over the Commanders is whether that’ll be enough to lift a wide receiving corps that’s lacking, at least on paper.
Between Luke McCaffrey, Jaylin Lane and Antonio Williams, the Commanders will need some of their recent draft picks to pay dividends. The burden ultimately falls on the coaching staff to get the wide receiver room ready, of course, but McLaurin has been giving them an assist. He’s spent extra time on the practice field and in meetings coaching the young wide receivers during organized team activities and training camp.
That’s not new for McLaurin, who will turn 31 in September. He’s confident his mentorship will help render results for the group.
“I’ve tried to always bring young guys under my wings,” McLaurin said. “I’ve been fortunate to have young guys who are curious. I’m an open book. … I just know the importance of passing [on] that information. All of them have a great skill set — otherwise they wouldn’t be here — but there’s nuances of the position, there’s getting the trust of the quarterback, which is very important, and it’s creating certain habits that allow you to be successful.”
McCaffrey and Lane are among those competing for the starting slot job. Both players had their moments in 2025, but neither was consistent enough.
If that continues into this season, the Commanders do have some insurance in the form of tight end Chig Okonkwo. He’s frequently lined up as a slot receiver throughout his career and has spent time there during practice. He can’t play there full time, but he could help cover up a potential weakness.
“He’s an outstanding receiver,” General Manager Adam Peters said. “That allows you to be a little bit more multiple. You can go [with] more two-tight-end sets. [When you go to a] one-tight-end set, it’s like you almost have four receivers on the field. … When he gets the ball in his hands, then he’s pretty magical.”
Washington has less of a cushion at the outside wide receiver spot opposite McLaurin. Treylon Burks logged most of those reps at practice Wednesday but missed Thursday because of a sore foot. Coach Dan Quinn said he’s not concerned about it being a long-term issue.
Burks, 26, had flashes last season — his one-handed touchdown catch against the Denver Broncos was unforgettable — but still finished the season with only 10 catches for 130 yards. He’d need to make significant strides to handle starting duties.
While Dyami Brown has been a fine rotational wide receiver as a pro, he’s never been a starting-caliber player. Van Jefferson once was, but his last effective season came in 2021.
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The X-factor among the group is Williams. Although the rookie spent most of his last college season lined up in the slot, he spent more time on the outside the previous year.
At 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Williams has enough size to serve as a “Z” wide receiver in the NFL. He’s sure-handed with impressive speed and athleticism. Working from the slot Thursday, Williams impressed McLaurin with a choice route where he beat the linebacker and displayed his savviness, patience and timing. The veteran believes Williams has the ability to win on the outside, as well, but the next step is shedding physical defensive backs and making contested catches.
“He’s a quiet guy, but I think his play speaks for a lot of who he is,” McLaurin said. “He’s very smooth and he’s twitchy. When he’s running routes, he’s very sudden and you don’t quite know when he’s breaking until he breaks. And then he has the explosiveness to get out of his cuts, and he has really good hands as well.”
Peters was confident enough in what he saw from the wide receivers in OTAs to stand pat. There are intriguing veterans in free agency such as Stefon Diggs and Keenan Allen, but they could get swooped up by another team at any moment.
The Commanders are comfortable taking that risk. Whether that’s wise will reveal itself throughout training camp.
“Just the way the guys have progressed, how much we’ve invested in that position in terms of draft capital — I think we’ve invested a lot — and then our guys have done a really good job in the free agent market, too, bringing in some real good competition there,” Peters said when asked why he was confident in the unit. “The cream will rise to the top.
“I’m confident that those guys will take a step up.”
McCaffrey had a bad drop during red-zone team drills but bounced back when he hauled in a high pass from quarterback Jayden Daniels and tapped his toes in the back of the end zone for the score.
That highlight was one of the few for the offense as the defense outpaced it for the second practice in a row.
“I’m not worried about where we’re at right now,” McLaurin said. “This is Day 2. … The juice is what I’m super excited about: The competitiveness.”
Center Nick Allegretti (calf strain) joined Burks in missing practice Thursday.
“He’s still going through the evaluation process,” Quinn said. “It’s not something that we’re overly concerned about.”
Julian Good-Jones started at center in Allegretti’s place. With Burks out, Brown and Jefferson split most of the first-team snaps at outside wide receiver.
Punter Tress Way (pectoral), linebacker Kain Medrano (hamstring), cornerback Trey Amos (fibula) and defensive ends Deatrich Wise (quad) and Dorance Armstrong (ACL) also didn’t practice.
Kickers Jake Moody and Drew Stevens, who are competing to make the roster, both made all of their field goals.
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