Terry McLaurin praising Jahan Dotson will give Commanders fans chills

The Washington Commanders fan base got its first taste of Jahan Dotson during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, when he emerged as Carson Wentz’s clearcut favorite target and the team’s best offensive performer.

Entering his first training camp, expectations are pretty high for Dotson following his head-turning spring, which is further evidence as to why fans and analysts shouldn’t overreact to picks on draft night.

Slotted into the second tier of WRs in the 2022 class, it was widely expected Dotson wouldn’t get drafted until the late-first or early-second round. While the Penn State product technically hasn’t proven anything yet, his strong offseason suggests Washington made a great choice taking him No. 16 overall.

Sure, Dotson will have to prove himself once the regular season starts, but the buzz surrounding the rookie receiver is apparent and is likely to grow by the end of camp. Just ask Terry McLaurin, who couldn’t help but rave about his new teammate this past weekend after the two worked out together in California with Carson Wentz and the Commanders’ other offensive weapons.

Jahan Dotson has a big fan in Commanders star Terry McLaurin.

"“His (Dotson’s) demeanor is one of the first things that stuck out to me when we got to working out and I got to meat him in person, McLaurin told Peter Hailey of NBC Sports Washington. “He’s a guy who you can really tell is serious about his business, he has a professional-like approach, he’s going to ask questions.”“I could really tell right away when he was running routes or I was trying to help him with some things. I think he already has a good feel on how to run routes, how to run out of his route if it’s man (coverage), how to slow down if it’s zone. Not every rookie receiver has that background."

That has to excite Commanders fans, no? And to think McLaurin didn’t even attend Washington’s offseason program when Dotson was dicing up the team’s secondary with his savvy route-running and elusive nature.

The big takeaway here, — at least in our eyes —  though, is McLaurin’s comments on Dotson’s demeanor. It sure seems like the former Nittany Lion is a student of the game and is never satisfied with his craft. Ron Rivera has long drafted players with great character and Dotson seemingly checks all of those boxes.

That speaks volumes considering McLaurin and Dotson only worked out together for three days. Just imagine the impression the promising rookie will leave on the $73 million receiver by the end of training camp, which runs for nearly a month!

As the NFL’s best receiver in contested-catch situations, McLaurin also raved about Dotson’s hands, which were on full display this spring. The first-round pick caught everything thrown his direction regardless of accuracy and did his best McLaurin impression by making several impressive catches in traffic.

"“Obviously his hands really stuck out to me,” McLaurin added. “He was making some catches that were like, ‘That’s pretty dang good for a rookie.’"

We understand folks who want to see Dotson in game action before they buy into the hype, but if McLaurin raving about the rookie before his first official practice with him isn’t enough reason to get excited, then what is?