Commanders wide receiver Jahan Dotson has just 17 catches for 140 yards and one touchdown through the first six games of the 2023 NFL season. What's going on with him? Craig Hoffman looks into why the No. 16 overall pick in last year's draft is not off to a great start to his sophomore season in the league after he had just one target (which he dropped) in Sunday's 24-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
In a rookie season that was limited to 12 games due to injury, Dotson had 35 receptions on 61 targets for 523 yards and seven touchdowns and was expected to have a big impact on the offense with Sam Howell under center and that just has not happened.
Head coach Ron Rivera, who also spoke about the benching of this year's first-round draft pick Emmanuel Forbes, was asked about the lack of production from last year's first-round pick.
"I think it's just a matter of time," Rivera said on Monday. "again, as we continue to work and try and distribute the ball to all the players it'll happen. It's just one of those things that. sometimes guys will be targeted more. I promise you back in the day when Gary Clark, Art Monk and Ricky Sanders were out there for Coach Gibbs you guys were probably wondering how come he only got three balls and everybody else got six or seven? It's just going to happen.
"When a guy's not getting the balls right now, it is just a matter of time. I think that's the thing we all have to be patient with. This is a good group of receivers. I'm not saying that they're that group, but they're. a good group and we're going to distribute the ball based on game plans and who our opponents are. Again, it starts with the quarterback's decision-making, too."
Hoffman calls that an "unsatisfactory answer from Rivera," but it is largely a true answer from the head coach because he is supposed to be protecting his players when speaking to the media. "That said, there also is a little bit of the only so many footballs to go around," he said.
Rivera also spoke about the performance on Sunday of the Commanders' second-year quarterback Sam Howell. Listen to those comments and Hoffman's thoughts on Howell and him taking another five-sack day on the audio player above!
