Commanders OC sends strong message on Terry McLaurin this season
Entering his eighth season in the league, most Washington Commanders fans will tell you about how underrated Terry McLaurin has been as a wide receiver in the NFL.
Despite shoddy quarterback play, franchise turmoil, and a revolving door of offensive coordinators and offensive schemes, Terry McLaurin has put up some pretty decent numbers.
2025 was an aberration because he only started 10 games and completed even fewer due to injuries, but before then, Scary Terry had played 17 games in four straight seasons. Prior to last season, he had missed three games in his entire career.
Since he was drafted in 2019 through his second-team All-Pro season in 2024, McLaurin averaged 1,063 yards on 77 receptions per season. While most teams would take that from their number 1 receiving option, fans have always felt Terry McLaurin could do more.
He is one of the fastest players in the league, with true take-the-top-off-the-defense speed. He also has some of the best hands in the league. McLaurin's 93.9 PFF receiving grade on contested catches in 2024 led all players who had seen at least 10 contested targets in a season since 2019. And he has been a leader in the locker room since he burst onto the scene as a rookie third-round pick.
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Despite his productivity, McLaurin has never played with another wide receiver who could take pressure off of him as the focal point of the offense. Last year, Deebo Samuel was supposed to be that guy, but once again, Terry was injured, and the pair never really showed what they could be together.
But the new Commanders' offensive coordinator, David Blough, says he has a plan to finally unlock Terry McLaurin's true potential. Feed him the ball. A lot.
Commanders OC plans to target Terry McLaurin 10 times a game
Despite all the yards and receptions, the Commanders have never treated Terry like a number 1 option.
Terry has averaged a little over 112 targets per season since he's been in the league. For contrast, the Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Mar Chase led the league with 185 targets last season. Terry's season average would have put him tied for 24th in the league, just ahead of Michael Pittman Jr. and Jakobi Meyers.
No offense to those players, but Terry is much better than they are.
So why haven't other coordinators emphasized targeting Terry? No one really knows. But new OC David Blough says he won't be making that same mistake.
Earlier this offseason, the 30-year-old Blough said getting Terry at least 10 targets a game was part of his new job, while calling Terry's lack of involvement a "gross misuse" of his talents.
"This thing's going to be built around how do we get Terry 10 targets a game and get him explosive receptions after explosive receptions to kind of flip the field," Blough told WUSA9 in February after he was hired.
This week, McLaurin was asked to respond to those comments.
"I love that. You know, he told me that way back in February," McLaurin told NBC Sports Washington.
He texted me that. Him and I have a really good relationship. He's been a man of his word. My job is to prove that each and every day, when we're having workouts, to be the leader, to be someone who you can count on to be on the field and make plays. That's all I've been asking for. That's all I want -- to win games and have a big part of that. So I was definitely smiling when I saw that come across (my) phone."
McLaurin is set to turn 31 at the start of the season, and fair or not, most people look at 30 as the end of an NFL player's prime.
But McLaurin has the chance to do what some of the other great wide receivers who have come before him have done, and have a career year after his age-30 season.
If he gets the targets that Blough says he will, McLaurin could easily put up numbers that he has never had before. He is playing with the best quarterback he has ever played with (by far)and is finally in a situation where the decision-makers are making him the focal point.
Terry McLaurin's career has been so odd that he could easily have a breakout year at 31, 8 years into his career.
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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 10:04 PM.