The prospect of the Commanders acquiring wantaway wide receiver Brandin Aiyuk from the San Francisco 49ers has many wondering about the current No. 1 receiver in Washington, Terry McLaurin.
While Chris Russell has no doubt about Aiyuk's ability on the football field, he is a bit concerned about what the receiver would bring to the team from a "distraction" standpoint based on his actions this summer when he has done a lot to create a mess in the Bay Area from TikToks with Jayden Daniels to officially requesting a trade.
And the question is, given his falling production numbers in recent years and his years of service to the organization, do the Commanders owe it to McLaurin to keep him as the team's top WR?
"You know what I need? I need somebody who can strike up the band," Russell said. "Terry's averaged 4.5 touchdowns a year for the last four years. That is not all on Terry by any stretch of the imagination, we understand that. But some part of it... has to be put on Terry. Some part of it. Maybe that's not fair because it's been a mess at quarterback and OC."
Kliff Kingsbury will be the third offensive coordinator in the last four seasons and Daniels – or Marcus Mariota – will be one of the nearly dozen quarterbacks McLaurin has caught passes from during his time in Washington with none of them providing consistently above-average to average play.
"Terry was not expected to be a big-time receiver in the NFL," Russell said about the WR when he was drafted in the third round in 2019. "... There's a legitimate chance, that some of the reason why he wasn't thought to be a great receiver is, I don't want to say rearing its ugly head, but is something that might be holding him back from being great Terry vs. good Terry."
Doc Walker is giving McLaurin the benefit of the doubt as opposed to burrying him because of the poor quarterback play he has had to deal with.