Re-visiting Terry McLaurin’s ridiculous catch in Redskins vs. Jets

Terry McLaurin made an unbelievable catch late in the Redskins vs. Jets game last season. Here’s another look at the grab.

The Washington Redskins were trailing the New York Jets by a score of 34-11 in their first game after their Week 10 bye with just over three minutes to play in the fourth quarter. No matter what the Redskins did on the drive, they would still certainly suffer their ninth loss of the season.

But that didn’t stop Terry McLaurin from making one of the catches of the Redskins season.

With the Redskins trailing, Dwayne Haskins tossed up a deep pass down the sideline to McLaurin.

McLaurin didn’t have to try as hard as he did to make the circus catch. But it’s simply not in his DNA to quit on a play. So, the rookie did everything he could to go up and snatch a true jump ball out of the air and rip it away from Jets safety Marcus Maye. And the receiver was able to succeed, pull the ball into his arms, and help the Redskins mount one final scoring drive to make the score a bit more respectable.

McLaurin’s catch was certainly eye-popping and qualifies as one of the biggest highlights of an otherwise disappointing 2019 Redskins season. But just how great was the catch? As The Checkdown detailed in a recent tweet, McLaurin traveled over 20 feet in the air to make the catch.

https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status/1266512302510989312

Even though the catch was incredible in real-time, it’s even more amazing when taking into account just how far McLaurin was able to jump. He was airborne for almost two seconds, too, yet he still managed to make the catch and survive contact with the ground easily.

Not many receivers can pull off that play. But Terry McLaurin can. And that’s one of the reasons that Redskins fans should be excited about the 2020 season; they’re going to get a chance to see how McLaurin continues to grow after a stellar rookie season.

In 2019, McLaurin totaled 58 catches for 919 yards and seven touchdowns while playing 14 games for the ‘Skins. That was despite seeing three different players start at quarterback and missing two games due to injury. If he can stay healthy all year and build up even more chemistry with his former college teammate Haskins, then he should surpass 1,000 receiving yards and continue to establish himself as one of the better young receivers in the league.

We’ll soon see how McLaurin can build on his solid rookie season. But his overall upside is sky-high and his athleticism, as demonstrated on this catch, should give him a shot at making some more spectacular catches as he gets more reps at the NFL level.