Grading the Washington Commanders’ 2022 NFL Draft

R1, P16 Jahan Dotson

As the days and hours have passed, this pick has continued to get a more favorable opinion from myself. Jahan Dotson has some of the best hands in the draft, near-elite long speed to win over the top, an advanced understanding of the route tree and he uses his agility and nimbleness to create yards after the catch. He also produced at Penn State, where he had poor QB play, while Chris Olave and Jameson Williams have the consensus top two QBs in the 2023 class.

His flaw is simply his size. Standing at 5’10”, 178 pounds he does not meet certain height and weight thresholds. This causes concerns for the ability to get off of press coverage in the NFL, despite being surprisingly good at it at Penn State. This lack of size may also lead to being stymied by larger corners in the NFL and Dotson only being able to produce solely the slot.

https://twitter.com/CommandersStats/status/1520069038172524551

His level of impact will largely come down to if he can win on the outside at the next level. And even if he is confined to the slot, that role will still be valuable. And he had only 225 snaps from the slot in his career at State College, while having over 1,000 on the outside.

Dotson projects to be at the very least a solid complementary piece in the NFL. His comparisons have ranged from Diontae Johnson to Tyler Lockett. Dotson should slot right in next to McLaurin and alleviate the pressure from the star wideout, as the only consistent separator on the roster.

With the hopeful health of Curtis Samuel, a step-up from Dyami Brown in year two and now the addition of Jahan Dotson, the Commanders all of a sudden has a solid stable in the WR room. Even Cam Sims has been productive for the Commanders.

One thing is for certain, Washington’s offense should be much more explosive in 2022.

Grade: B+