Redskins special teams coach Nate Kaczor wanted McLaurin on teams

Redskins special teams coach Nate Kaczor recently spoke with the media briefly, and gave an interesting anecdote on Washington’s star receiver Terry McLaurin.

Kaczor, one of two coaches to be retained by new Washington Redskins head coach Ron Rivera. The decision made sense after Kaczor helped Washington field one of the better special teams units in the league in 2019. Tress Way made the Pro Bowl, Dustin Hopkins had another steady season, and kick returner Steven Sims had some modest success.

It might have been an even better season for the special teams unit, had Terry McLaurin, a noted special teams standout in college, been able to join the group as a gunner. But as Kaczor told reporters, it didn’t take long for him to realize that McLaurin was destined for a greater role on offense instead. He didn’t even get a chance to try McLaurin out at special teams before the third-round rookie ran away with a receiving role.

“That would be like getting a Christmas present and just when you opened it, your brother snatches it from you and you never get it back,” Kaczor said, via NBC Sports’ Peter Hailey.

Kaczor can’t argue with the ultimate outcome, however, as Christmas undoubtedly came early for the Redskins. McLaurin blossomed early into one of the most dynamic receivers in the league, amassing 58 receptions for 919 yards and seven scores in fourteen games. He brought an exciting combination of physical speed and craftiness, using versatile releases and route breaks to gain separation routinely.

The Redskins’ receiving unit as a whole is still one of the lowest-ranked in the league heading into 2020, but McLaurin’s presence gives the group some respectability. He was the team’s highest-rated player on PFF, and in Year 2, the arrow is only pointing up, as the offense slowly meshes together. Kaczor didn’t get his guy, but he knows why.

Kaczor also touched on a few other topics in his conference with the media, expressing his confidence in Rivera, calling the new head coach “authentic, real, and sincere”. He also talked about the process of using Zoom for offseason meetings, and while he admitted that there was a challenge in changing things up from previous years, he ultimately said that “it’s pretty amazing once you get used to it”.

Kaczor has plenty of offseason left to improve in his usage of Zoom, as well as daydream about having McLaurin on special teams.