Terry McLaurin has been one of the most consistent wide receivers in the league since he joined the Washington Commanders back in 2019, but has never been in the ‘best WR in the league’ conversation.
Well, one analyst pinpointed a stat where McLaurin set the gold standard at the WR position in 2024.
Terry McLaurin Quietly was a Contested Catch Savant in 2024
Receivers who solely make a living by winning in contested catch situations are usually utilized in a specific role. McLaurin doesn’t fall into that category.
PFF NFL Analyst Nathan Jahnke spoke to a contested catch metric that speaks to McLaurin’s ability to excel in those situations, but still brings a ton of vertical playmaking ability to the table as an X receiver.
Jahnke wrote, “McLaurin has been the X receiver for Washington throughout his career, but his role changed a little bit last season. The Commanders became more willing to throw to McLaurin, even if the pass was going to be contested, and McLaurin thrived in those situations. His 24 contested catches were the fourth-most among wide receivers in the last six seasons. McLaurin caught 70.6% of his contested targets, while those ahead had many more targets and a catch rate below 64%. McLaurin’s 70.6% contested catch rate was the best for any wide receiver with at least 20 contested targets in a season over the last six years.”
McLaurin’s dominance in those situations highlighted why he posted a career-best 13 touchdowns last season, which means he is in a strong position to lead this WR group again in 2025.
How Does the Addition of Deebo Samuel Impact McLaurin in 2025?
Yet, one potential factor that could slightly hinder McLaurin’s status as the go-to guy in this passing attack entering 2025 was the addition of Deebo Samuel via trade with the San Francisco 49ers, whose 1,405 receiving yards in 2021 bests McLaurin’s best yardage output in a season by a wide margin.
Fortunately for both of these players, they have very different games and are unlikely to eat into each others workload very much given their projected roles in this offense.
Jahnke added, “McLaurin has been very consistent, finishing with between 900-1,200 receiving yards each season. After a more limited role in his rookie season, he’s caught between 77-88 passes each year… He’s also been very reliable from a health perspective. He missed three games early in his career but has played all 17 games each of the past four seasons… He had scored four or five touchdowns each of the last four seasons, but that skyrocketed to 13 touchdowns last season. His 0.024 receiving touchdowns per route run was the second-most for wide receivers last season.”
The production profiles of both players are also very different. McLaurin has been very steady and consistent, while Deebo has been volatile.
Jahnke concluded, “This season, the team traded for Deebo Samuel, giving Washington their best WR2 in years. Samuel was drafted in the same draft class and has a similar yards per route run in recent seasons, but his role is very different than McLaurin’s. The two should be able to co-exist just fine without eating into each other’s target rate.”
Ultimately, their contrasting skill sets make for an ideal combination for this offense.
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