Terry McLaurin blew us all away in his rookie season with the Washington Redskins. His first three games in the NFL acted as a coming-out party, and the rest showed what he could do at this next level. All-in-all, McLaurin finished his rookie season with 58 receptions, 919 yards, 36 first downs, and seven touchdowns.
So, going into the 2020 season, what’s an accurate bar to set for the young speedster? Is it fair to expect him to continue to improve and become even more of an asset, or can we predict a sophomore slump for him? According to Pro Football Focus, it’s time to raise the bar, and don’t be afraid to set it higher than feels comfortable. He has the skills to improve in 2020, and it might be the level of the play around him that allows McLaurin to take that next step.
No rookie receiver saw a lower percentage of accurate passes on downfield throws than McLaurin. Only 45.2% of his targets of five-plus air yards were charted as accurate in 2019, which ranked 52nd among all qualifying pass-catchers and dead last among rookies.
It’s unlikely that McLaurin’s misfortune carries into 2020 — at least not at the rate we saw a year ago — if second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins comes closer to the accuracy numbers he put up at Ohio State.
The piece from PFF dived into many of the numbers that make McLaurin such a great player, including breakdowns of his routes run, his separation percentage, and what an incredible ability he has to play well against the league’s top defenders. While it was apparent that he could get the job done on his end of things, the QB play in Washington held him back a bit. If Haskins is able to make the leap that we all expect this next year, the college teammates could solidify their connection this season, and the duo could soar to new heights in Washington.
If you were ever worried about getting your hopes up when it came to Terry McLaurin, don’t sweat it. Chances are they aren’t high enough.
