Position Group Breakdown 2022: Wide Receivers
July 8, 2022
by Steve Thomas
Welcome to The Hog Sty’s Position Group Breakdown series! This week, we’re going to tackle the Redskins’ Commanders’ Washington’s wide receiver group. Washington has spent significant resources on this group over the past two seasons, handing a big contract to Curtis Samuel and spending the year’s first round pick on Penn St. WR Jahan Dotson. However, the biggest story of the offseason – at least in regards to the team itself – is whether the team can re-sign their most talented offensive player, Terry McLaurin, whose contract expires at the end of the upcoming season. Regardless, though, he’s in for this season, so let’s take a look at what Washington’s receiver group has to offer for 2022.
The regulars
Terry McLaurin (6’0” / 208): McLaurin spent four years at Ohio St., and started alongside new Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins in 2018. During that time, McLaurin played a total of 44 games, making 75 receptions for 1,251 yards, 167 yards per catch, and 19 touchdowns. In 2018, McLaurin had 35 receptions, 701 yards, 20.0 yards per catch, and had 11 touchdowns. McLaurin is a burner, running the 40 yard dash in 4.354 seconds at the NFL Combine (3rd-best among receivers and 5th-best overall). He also jumped 37.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’5” inches in the standing broad jump, ran the 3 cone drill in 7.01 seconds, and the 20 yard short shuttle in 4.15 seconds.
In his NFL career, he’s played and started in 46 games, with a total of 222 receptions in 357 targets, 3090 yards, 13.9 yards per reception, 16 touchdowns, and a 62.4% catch percentage. He’s averaged 74 receptions and 5 touchdowns per season. Last year, McLaurin played 17 games, and had 77 receptions in 130 targets, 1053 yards, 5 touchdowns, 13.7 yards per catch, and a 59.2% catch percentage. He has not been elected to a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro team.
McLaurin just signed a 3 year contract extension with the team reportedly worth approximately $70M, which will keep him in Washington through his age 29 season. He’s the first elite-level, #1 wide receiver drafted by Washington since Art Monk in 1980. McLaurin has a bright future ahead of him if the team can provide him with some stability and decent quarterback play.
Curtis Samuel (5’11” / 195): Samuel was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in round 2 in 2017, and played Washington head coach Ron Rivera for three years. Samuel has elite speed, having been timed at 4.31 seconds in the 40 yard dash at the 2017 NFL Combine. In his four seasons, he has played 58 games, starting 33, and made 191 receptions in 302 attempts for a 63.2% catch percentage, 2,114 yards, 11.1 yards per reception, and 14 touchdowns, plus 76 carries for 489 yards, 6.4 yards per attempt, and 5 touchdowns. 2020 was his most productive season, with 77 receptions in 97 attempts, 11.1 yards per reception, 851 yards, and 3 touchdowns. His 2021 season was highlighted by injuries; he only played in 5 games, with 1 start, and made 7 receptions in 9 targets for 27 yards and 4.5 yards per catch, plus 4 carries for 11 yards, which is 2.8 yards per carry.
If Samuel can’t manage to stay healthy and become productive in the upcoming 2022 season, then odds are good that he won’t be on the team in 2023. Samuel has talent, but he needs specific plays designed for him in order to succeed. Things didn’t start out well, with Samuel being sat during minicamp for precautionary reasons, without much explanation. Perfectly healthy starters who missed the bulk of the prior season don’t just sit out minicamp. Samuel needs to make progress in order to avoid the “bust” label.
Dyami Brown (6’1” / 189): Brown spent three years at North Carolina, playing in a total of 32 games, and made 123 receptions for 2,306 yards, 18.7 yards per reception, and 21 touchdowns. In 2020, Brown played 11 games, with 55 receptions for 1,099 yards, 10.0 yards per reception, and 8 touchdowns, and was selected as a Third Team All-American.
Brown ran the 40 yard dash in 4.44 seconds at North Carolina’s pro day. He’s viewed by scouts as being primarily a vertical threat who can track the ball well in the air but who has trouble separating from physical, press-man coverage and lacks sure hands. Brown can be the deep ball threat that the Redskins Washington has lacked since the departure of DeSean Jackson, as he was the Tar Heels’ principal vertical threat. Some scouts see Brown as initially being limited to a certain number of routes while he continues to develop. His body type is probably best suited for the slot, but he has potential to also play on the outside.
Last season, played in 15 games, including 6 starts, and made 12 receptions in 25 targets, for 165 yards and 13.8 yards per catch. Those aren’t the stats for which anybody hoped a third round would achieve, but Brown’s college film revealed a played with talent but who would need time to develop. I expect an uptick in performance in 2022, from simply having one year of experience and from better quarterbacking.
The contributors:
Jahan Dotson (5’11” / 178): Dotson spent 4 years at Penn St., playing in a total of 42 games, with 183 receptions for 2757 yards, 15.1 yards per catch, and 25 touchdowns. In 2021, Dotson played in 12 games, and made 91 receptions for 1182 yards, 13.0 yards per catch, and 12 touchdowns. At the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.43 seconds, jumped 36 inches in the vertical leap and 10’1” inches in the standing broad jump, and ran the 3 cone drill in 7.28 seconds.
Dotson is known to have outstanding hands and good speed and burst. He’s also a high-quality route runner. Dotson is viewed as an outside receiver who is more comfortable outside the hashes than he is in the middle of the field. His 5’11” height is a bit small, even for receivers, but scouts view him as being versatile enough to be able to play a variety of roles in the receiver group. Most scouts had Dotson rated as a later first round or, at worst, a high second round pick.
Dotson has received rave reviews in OTAs and minicamp, which isn’t worth the paper its printed on in terms of being a predictor for the regular season, but at least gives fans and the team some hope. Dotson appears to have a solid, humble attitude and has talent, so may have a bright future ahead. If he works out, Washington could have its best set of home-grown starting receivers in more than a generation.
Cam Sims (6’5” / 214): Sims was signed by Washington as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama in 2018. He was chronically underused by the Crimson Tide, but produced and shows flashes of big potential at times. At least one insightful and intelligent analyst saw Sims’ potential as early as 2018 training camp (click here to read). The Hog Sty also published an interview with Sims in 2019 by a young Washington fan, twelve year old Derrick Lee (click here to read). Sims bounced around between the practice squad and the active roster for his first two seasons before finally earning consistent playing time last year. In total, he has played in 38 games, including 14 starts, and earned a total of 49 receptions in 74 targets for a 66.2% catch percentage, 715 yards, 14.6 yards per reception, and 3 touchdowns. In 2021, Sims played 14 games, starting 3, and had 15 receptions in 23 targets, 211 yards, 14.1 yards per reception, and 2 touchdowns.
Sims has talent, and is the largest pure wide receiver on the team, by far. Washington’s coaching needs to start giving him more consistent playing time and targets.
Dax Milne (6’0” / 190): Washington drafted Milne with its final pick, number 31 in round 7, which was the second-to-last pick in the draft. He hails from South Jordan, Utah, stands 6’1”, and weighs 193 pounds. Milne is a junior who was one of #2 overall pick Zach Wilson’s favorite targets in 2020. He played in a total of 35 games between 2018 and 2020, and was a full-time starter in 2020. In his collegiate career, he caught 101 passes for 1,542 yards, 15.3 yards per reception, and 11 touchdowns. In 2020, Milne played 12 games and had 70 receptions for 1,188 yards, 17.0 yards per reception, and 8 touchdowns.
At his pro day, Milne ran the 40 yard dash in unofficial times of 4.54 and 4.57 seconds. He’s known as a precise route runner who lacks elite speed and burst, and is a competitive player who gained first downs on 73% of his receptions. Scouts see him as having good footwork and ability to track the ball in the air. Milne’s downside, beyond his lack of speed, is that his smallish frame and lack of play strength may inhibit his ability to separate.
Last season, Milne played in 13 games, with 1 start, and made 9 receptions in 14 targets for 83 yards and 9.2 yards per reception. As a seventh round pick, odds were always long that he’ll make it as a career contributor, but he’ll get his chance to provide himself in 2022.
The rest of them:
Alex Erickson (6’0” / 195): Erickson was a 2016 undrafted free agent from the University of Wisconsin who was originally signed by the Cincinnati Bengals. He ran the 40 yard dash in 4.44 seconds at his Pro Day in 2016. In his NFL career, Erickson has played a total of 97 games, including 14 starts. This includes 80 games for the Bengals, plus all 14 starts, and 17 games for the Carolina Panthers last season. In total, he’s made 96 receptions in 152 targets for 1141 yards, 11.9 yards per catch, and 1 touchdown. Erickson has been a regular punt and kick returner – he’s had 158 career punt returns for 1,278 yards, 8.1 yards per return, and a long of 38 yards, plus 110 kick returns for 2729 yards, 24.8 yards per return, and a long of 84 yards. Given his experience in the return game, it seems likely that he was brought here for the opportunity to fill DeAndre Carter’s shoes on special teams.
Jequez Ezzard (5’9” / 190): Ezzard is a 2022 undrafted free agent from Sam Houston St. University. He also spent his 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons with Howard University. He missed the 2019 to injury, then transferred to Sam Houston St. for 2020 and 2021. In total, he had 154 receptions for 3451 yards, 22.4 yards per reception, and 33 touchdowns. He also has both kick and punt return experience. His 28 kick returns were all at Howard, where he averaged 20.8 yards per return. He also had a combined 52 punt returns, for an average of 12.4 yards per return, and 2 touchdowns, at both Howard and Sam Houston. Ezzard’s 40 time is supposedly in the 4.5 second range, which isn’t great, but he’s known as a player with a tremendous amount of burst and acceleration who just lacks top-end speed. He was a class big-player receiver in college, but faced lower-level competition. Ezzard will get his shot to earn a role in the return game, with his competition most likely being Erickson.
Kelvin Harmon (6’2” / 221): Harmon was drafted by the Redskins in the sixth round in 2019 out of North Carolina St. In total, he’s in 16 games, all in 2019, including 8 starts, with 30 receptions in 44 targets for 365 yards and 12.2 yards per catch. He missed his 2020 season due to an ACL tear, and then spent the 2021 season on Washington’s practice squad. Harmon showed some talent in his rookie year, so if he can make progress as a receiver, he probably has more of a chance at an active roster spot than do some of the rookies.
Kyric McGowan (5’11” / 198): McGowan is a 2022 undrafted free agent from the University of Georgia Tech. He played for Northwestern University from 2017 – 2020, then transferred to Georgia Tech for his 2020 and 2021 seasons. In total, he played in 44 games and had 102 receptions for 1230 yards, 12.1 yards per catch, and 9 touchdowns. At his Georgia Tech pro day, McGowan ran the 40 yard dash in 4.59 seconds and jumped 35.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’2” in the standing broad jump. Unless McGowan shows something unexpected in training camp, which is always possible, his 2022 future may be on the practice squad.
Marken Michel (5’11” / 191): Michel is a 2016 undrafted free agent out of the University of Massachusetts. He was originally signed by the Minnesota Vikings, but then bounced around between the Carolina and the Philadelphia Eagles before landing in Washington on a futures contract this past January. He has no regular season statistics but was active for 2 games for the Panthers in 2020. Michel ran the 40 yard dash in 4.57 seconds at his 2016 pro day. He’s a long shot for the active roster but will have a chance to prove himself in training camp.