Commanders’ Jahan Dotson snubbed from two major rookie predictions

The Washington Commanders signing Terry McLaurin to a three-year extension has distracted from the fact that rookie Jahan Dotson literally stole the show during organized team activities and mandatory minicamp.

With the team currently on summer break before training camp kicks off later this month, the Dotson hype has understandable simmered. But make no mistake: fans haven’t forgotten how dominant Dotson was this offseason.

The No. 16 overall pick was far and away Carson Wentz’s favorite target. He routinely found pockets of space in the defense due to his route-running and football savvy and caught everything thrown his direction regardless of accuracy.

All signs are pointing to Dotson taking the league by storm as a rookie even with McLaurin officially returning as the team’s No. 1 target.

You could honestly argue that Dotson impressed more so than any other rookie receiver during spring practices. Unfortunately, though, that wasn’t enough for the Penn State product to get his due respect from national NFL writers.

First up, NFL Media writer Chad Reuter snubbed Dotson from his 2022 Offensive All-Rookie Team.

Commanders WR Jahan Dotson was snubbed from two significant rookie predictions for the 2022 season.

We’re not going to be delusional and proclaim Dotson should be expected to outperform every receiver from the 2022 class in Year 1. The likes of Drake London, Garrett Wilson and even Chris Olave (maybe) could post superior numbers. But Reuter had Steelers second-rounder (No. 52 overall) George Pickens over Dotson.

We would’ve loved Pickens on the Commanders, but does Reuter realize the former Georgia standout’s joining a crowded WR room?

Not to mention Cooper Kupp was the only receiver who logged more targets than Diontae Johnson last season. Pickens will also have to compete with Chase Claypool and speedy rookie Calvin Austin III for targets. Dotson, meanwhile, should enter Week 1 as Washington’s No. 2 receiver and seemingly already has his QB’s trust.

Reuter went with another second-rounder, Christian Watson, with his other selection. With Watson expected to see a huge volume of targets from Aaron Rodgers after the Davante Adams trade, it’s tough to argue for Dotson there. But Pickens? Talk about coming out of left field with that prediction.

If you can believe it, yes, Dotson was snubbed from another rookie prediction after his eye-opening offseason. This one might be more egregious.

In a recent article, CBS’ Chris Trapasso ranked his top five rookie wideouts based on expected production. Dotson didn’t make the cut.

In order, Trapasso went with Skyy Moore (Chiefs), Treylon Burks (Titans), Chris Olave (Saints), Garrett Wilson (Jets) and Drake London (Falcons). Again we like all of these players, but Moore getting the No. 1 spot is pretty shocking.

Yes, Moore will be drawing targets from Patrick Mahomes — the game’s best quarterback — but he’ll have Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and maybe Mecole Hardman all ahead of him in that regard.

Wilson, meanwhile, has Elijah Moore, Corey Davis and a revamped tight end arsenal to compete with on the Jets, and Olave has to Pro Bowlers in Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry ahead of him in the New Orleans pecking order.

We’d take Dotson over all of these players sans London and Burks, who figure to have massive target volume in Atlanta and Tennessee. Nevertheless, it’s a shame Dotson is still lacking in the notoriety department after his statement offseason.

The doubters will be proved wrong soon enough.