{"id":8377,"date":"2026-07-30T20:12:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T20:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8377"},"modified":"2026-07-30T20:12:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T20:12:32","slug":"absent-wideout-reinforcements-commanders-bet-big-on-terry-mclaurin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8377","title":{"rendered":"Absent wideout reinforcements, Commanders bet big on Terry McLaurin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington is counting on a bounce-back season from its No. 1 receiver and a breakthrough year from his younger teammates.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Vote to limit Trump\u2019s Iran war powers fails in the Senate<\/a><\/p>\n

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Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin has been healthy this offseason after an injury-plagued 2025. (John McDonnell\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

At least for now, the Washington Commanders are rolling with what they have at wide receiver. That\u2019s a massive bet on top wideout Terry McLaurin having a bounce-back campaign.<\/p>\n

Nothing went as planned for McLaurin<\/a> during an injury-plagued 2025 season. But he\u2019s healthy and has been a full participant throughout the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels like normal,\u201d McLaurin said Thursday. \u201cBusiness is business and that was last year, but I\u2019ve just been really excited to be a part of the whole process this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, McLaurin is set to have a salary cap hit of $34 million in 2027. While the Commanders could carry that full amount, it\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s healthy, however, McLaurin is a known commodity. He\u2019s a legit No. 1 wide receiver capable of playing at an all-pro level. The question looming over the Commanders is whether that\u2019ll be enough to lift a wide receiving corps that\u2019s lacking, at least on paper.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s spent extra time on the practice field and in meetings coaching the young wide receivers during organized team activities and training camp.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not new for McLaurin, who will turn 31 in September. He\u2019s confident his mentorship will help render results for the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried to always bring young guys under my wings,\u201d McLaurin said. \u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to have young guys who are curious. I\u2019m an open book. … I just know the importance of passing [on] that information. All of them have a great skill set \u2014 otherwise they wouldn\u2019t be here \u2014 but there\u2019s nuances of the position, there\u2019s getting the trust of the quarterback, which is very important, and it\u2019s creating certain habits that allow you to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCaffrey and Lane are among those competing for the starting slot job. Both players had their moments in 2025, but neither was consistent enough.<\/p>\n

If that continues into this season, the Commanders do have some insurance in the form of tight end Chig Okonkwo. He\u2019s frequently lined up as a slot receiver throughout his career and has spent time there during practice. He can\u2019t play there full time, but he could help cover up a potential weakness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an outstanding receiver,\u201d General Manager Adam Peters said. \u201cThat 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\u2019s like you almost have four receivers on the field. \u2026 When he gets the ball in his hands, then he\u2019s pretty magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Commanders hope that wide receiver Treylon Burks can be more consistent this season. (Rod Lamkey Jr.\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

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\u2019s not concerned about it being a long-term issue.<\/p>\n

Burks, 26, had flashes last season \u2014 his one-handed touchdown catch against the Denver Broncos<\/a> was unforgettable \u2014 but still finished the season with only 10 catches for 130 yards. He\u2019d need to make significant strides to handle starting duties.<\/p>\n

While Dyami Brown has been a fine rotational wide receiver as a pro, he\u2019s never been a starting-caliber player. Van Jefferson once was, but his last effective season came in 2021.<\/p>

Read more Erica Schwartz, Trump\u2019s pick for CDC director, gets okay from Senate panel<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

At 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Williams has enough size to serve as a \u201cZ\u201d wide receiver in the NFL. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a quiet guy, but I think his play speaks for a lot of who he is,\u201d McLaurin said. \u201cHe\u2019s very smooth and he\u2019s twitchy. When he\u2019s running routes, he\u2019s very sudden and you don\u2019t quite know when he\u2019s breaking until he breaks. And then he has the explosiveness to get out of his cuts, and he has really good hands as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Commanders are comfortable taking that risk. Whether that\u2019s wise will reveal itself throughout training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the way the guys have progressed, how much we\u2019ve invested in that position in terms of draft capital \u2014 I think we\u2019ve invested a lot \u2014 and then our guys have done a really good job in the free agent market, too, bringing in some real good competition there,\u201d Peters said when asked why he was confident in the unit. \u201cThe cream will rise to the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident that those guys will take a step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That highlight was one of the few for the offense as the defense outpaced it for the second practice in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not worried about where we\u2019re at right now,\u201d McLaurin said. \u201cThis is Day 2. … The juice is what I\u2019m super excited about: The competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center Nick Allegretti (calf strain) joined Burks in missing practice Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still going through the evaluation process,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something that we\u2019re overly concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julian Good-Jones started at center in Allegretti\u2019s place. With Burks out, Brown and Jefferson split most of the first-team snaps at outside wide receiver.<\/p>\n

Punter Tress Way (pectoral), linebacker Kain Medrano (hamstring), cornerback Trey Amos (fibula) and defensive ends Deatrich Wise (quad) and Dorance Armstrong (ACL) also didn\u2019t practice.<\/p>\n

Kickers Jake Moody and Drew Stevens, who are competing to make the roster, both made all of their field goals.<\/p>

Read more Trump suggests he could withdraw Blanche\u2019s AG nomination until next year<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington is counting on a bounce-back season from its No. 1 receiver and a breakthrough year from his younger teammates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAbsent wideout reinforcements, Commanders bet big on Terry McLaurin - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Absent wideout reinforcements, Commanders bet big on Terry McLaurin - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington is counting on a bounce-back season from its No. 1 receiver and a breakthrough year from his younger teammates.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T20:12:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/11cd4b0570d7a6d48f3fdb70c3d95b82-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Absent wideout reinforcements, Commanders bet big on Terry McLaurin\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T20:12:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377\"},\"wordCount\":1251,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5ec259e7f5e4c5a3853ca0496c11e2d6-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8377\",\"name\":\"Absent wideout reinforcements, Commanders bet big on Terry McLaurin - 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