Should Commanders be force-feeding the ball to Terry McLaurin? Kevin Sheehan talks it out
Coming into the season, Terry McLaurin was seen as the top playmaker on the Washington Commanders offense. But the sixth-year wide receiver, coming off four straight 1,000-yard seasons, has not been influential in the offense with just eight catches (on 12 targets) for 39 yards. He has accounted for just two first downs through two games.
Listener Seth writes in that Kevin Sheehan is too optimistic about Kliff Kingsbury because of the lack of production the new offensive coordinator has gotten out of McLaurin, specifically, why isn't McLaurin being force-fed the way the Giants targeted rookie Malik Nabers 18 times in Week 2?
"How many conversations have we had over the last couple of years - whether it was Scott Turner or Eric Bieniemy, whether it was Carson Wentz or Taylor Heinicke or Sam Howell or whatever quarterbacks were in there – you've got to get the ball to Terry McLaurin," Sheehan said.
Sheehan points to Tim Legler – the ESPN NBA commentator and huge Washington football fan – who every week says, "'I don't understand why they're not force-feeding Terry McLaurin?'"
Well, part of the reason, Sheehan said, and it is a good reason why he is not among the top receivers when it comes to yards and receptions – he was 28th in yards and 24th in receptions in 2023 and was 10th in yards and 25th in receptions in 2022 – "he's never been anywhere near the touchdown leader, in part because they haven't been as good offensively as we know."
So the conversation becomes, about McLaurin's status as the team's top receiver: Should he be force-fed? And if he is a true NFL No. 1 receiver? A conversation that is had many times during a season and the offseason. Sheehan said it starts here: "He is a good receiver" and "he is a really good culture guy."
Those two things are given and that means there is no consideration of McLaurin being traded or somebody who should not be featured in the offense.
"He's not the kind of receiver you force-feed," Sheehan said. "Because of several reasons: 1) he's not the 'take the top off the defense guy, 2) he's a good route runner, he's not an exceptional route runner – meaning it's not like he's always open and 3) there's no attribute about him that physically stands out – he's not big, he's not strong, he's not AJ Brown, he's not Ja'marr Chase, he's not the route runner and speed guy that Justin Jefferson is.
"He's a good receiver. There's nothing wrong with saying Terry's a good receiver and on this team, in recent years, he's been a No. 1. And the truth is for, at least a third of the teams in this league, Terry woulda been the No. 1 guy."
The extenuating circumstances of course do exist: Inconsistent coordinators recently and no steady – or halfway decent – quarterback to catch passes from.
