Terry McLaurin needed help. Anyone who watched a Washington Football Team game last season could see the talent blossoming from the second-year standout.
McLaurin led the charge for a 7-9 WFT roster, finishing with 87 receptions for 1,118 yards and four touchdowns. The next closest receiver in yards? Cam Sims with 477. He also recorded 50 less catches.
Washington made it a priority to enhance McLaurin’s skills by taking the pressure off double coverage from his side. Carolina’s Curtis Samuel will rejoin forces with head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner, giving WFT that speed element that felt lost in 2020.
The team also added slot receiver Adam Humphries to compete for reps as the de facto No.3 target.
For months, many NFL mock drafts and scouts insisted Washington would be drafting a wide receiver early. That still is a possibility despite a new duo joining the DMV area team. … but the one word one NFL source used with us to describe the change is “dramatic.”
Samuel will be coming off his best season with the Panthers entering his second stint with Rivera. He saw 60.4 percent of plays coming from the slot, recording 77 catches for 851 receiving yards and three scores. Under Carolina coordinator Joe Brady, Samuel was also utilized in the run, recording 41 rushes for 200 yards and two scores.
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Humphries also is a primary slot target since entering the league in 2015. A rising star with the Buccaneers back then, the 27-year-old cashed in with the Tennessee Titans back in 2019. He struggled to remain a consistent target for Tennessee, recording just 60 catches for 602 yards and four touchdowns in two years before his release.
He’ll now have a chance to prove his upside with a new team.
One of the reasons Rivera and GM Martin Mayhew added Humphries is due to his relationship with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. For two seasons, Fitzpatrick and Humphries were teammates in Tampa Bay, leading to a bond both on and off the field.
When forced to start in 2018, Fitzpatrick and Humphries connected on 23 passes for 236 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Consistently, Humphries was the check down option for quick hits on third down.
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Turner’s offense will need speed both in the short game and vertically. This should allow Samuel to still work in the slot, but not be limited to the position on offense. After seeing his role expanded even more in the run game last season, Washington can now be flexible in where they line him up depending of the coverage.
Looking at the current plan, wide receiver can still be among the picks. But … It’s no longer among the biggest ones for Washington at pick No. 19.
Samuel adds the speed while Humphries should at least buy time inside for a season. Washington also tendered Sims this offseason and is hopeful former rookie Antonio Gandy-Golden can remain healthy as their big target.
In a deep receiver class, Washington has the luxury of adding a player to the pack in the mid-rounds. They won’t have that same option with a cover linebacker, quarterback or even potentially offensive tackle.
Washington could add a receiver next month. They also don’t have too after addressing the main problem in free agency. Why? For a reason that is … “dramatic.”
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