Terry McLaurin

McLaurin and DJ Moore are competing to be the new Allen Robinson, held back by poor QB play and questionable coaching for years on end. In McLaurin's case, instant NFL success was a surprise, as he was neither an early declare nor particularly productive in college (1,251 career receiving yards at OSU). He ended up a third-round pick in 2019, boosted by a 4.35 40 at the combine and a reputation for standout play on special teams. As it turns out, McLaurin hasn't needed those special-teams skills, instead leading Washington in targets, receptions and receiving yards each of his first three seasons. If there's a knock, it's that he hasn't shown much progress since his 919-yard, seven-TD debut campaign, with an uptick in volume offset by a decrease in the frequency of big plays. Part of that is the team asking McLaurin to do more in terms of both overall volume and route-tree diversity, and part of it is the misfortune of catching passes from Case Keenum, Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke. There's a chance new Washington QB Carson Wentz will be the best McLaurin has played with, but even Wentz looks like one of the lesser Week 1 starters around the league, and there will be tougher competition for targets if Curtis Samuel stays healthy or rookie Jahan Dotson lives up to his first-round status. But perhaps another year of experience and a modest QB upgrade will give McLaurin enough fuel to shift up a gear. Read Past Outlooks