Terry McLaurin

[Ozhog65]

This guy surely deserves his own thread. What an absolute champion !

His “it’s not about me” attitude regarding his lack of involvement through the first two games just shows what a class individual he is. That made his TD catch all the more inspiring and I’m sure I’m not the only one who was up and out of their chair punching the air when he hauled it in.

Just watching him on the sidelines afterwards and how excited he was, you could tell how much it means to him for this team to be successful. That also came through in his interview with SVP on Sports Center after the game.

As fans we are extremely lucky to have this guy on our team. A true Son of Washington.

 

[Chris]

There is not a man or woman alive that wouldn’t be extremely proud if Terry were their son.

 

[tshile]

He’s such an easy guy to root for because of his attitude. He’s not elite - but he is consistently good.

Not that I’d want him to be our #1, but I’d love for him to be here a long time.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

He’s such an easy guy to root for because of his attitude. He’s not elite - but he is consistently good.

Not that I’d want him to be our #1, but I’d love for him to be here a long time.

"Good" is not an accurate description, and I'm not sure what the boundary for you is on "elite" - one of those highly subjective kinds of things. Top-5 WR in the league? Then no.

Now, as for him not being a #1, you mean he's not one of the 32-best WRs in the league? Now we are talking about something more concrete. Here, I believe you are simply wrong.
Also- calling for the ball, calling a Go route for yourself, and delivering- that is not #2 WR stuff. That is pure #1. Good to see him doing that. I always like the quiet, hard workers, but there are times to assert and lead. Hope we will see more of that along with delivering the goods.

 

[Bulldog]

I really hate these rating arguments.

I remember in the early 1980's guys like Jimmy the Greek always picked Dallas because he felt Danny White was 'better' than Joe Theismann, Tony Hill was 'better' than Art Monk and Randy White was 'better' than Dave Butz, etc.

What he missed out on and a lot of people miss out on to this day is how players fit on a particular team and whether they add value equal to or greater to their level of talent.

Just this past week, CeeDee Lamb admitted he didn't respond to adversity in the Ravens game and hurt the morale of his own team early by getting down on himself and the offense.

So, despite his uber talent he had a role in his team coming out flat and finding itself behind 28-6 before they woke up, too late as it turned out.

Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes is 3-0 throwing Rashee Rice into a role as a primary receiver on a defending Super Bowl champion. Rice continues to make the key plays each week to help his team win what have been very close games.

Is Rice talented? Yes. Is he perhaps underrated because he was a middle round pick that just came on the scene in 2023? Probably. Is he a top 5 receiver? Who knows and most importantly WHO CARES.

There are a lot of players in the NFL that catch a lot of balls and win nothing. In key moments of big games, they act selfishly or drop balls that should have been caught due to the pressure of the moment.

All I see here is that Terry McLaurin, a receiver with 4.35 speed and 4 straight 1,000 yard seasons, is finally playing with a quarterback who can get him the ball down the field. And in Game 3 the anticipated hookup with Jayden Daniels finally blossomed.

Perhaps playing with Daniels, Terry McLaurin will go from 1,000 yards to 1,400 yards. Who knows?

But he is a leader on the team and he made the play last week to help win the game against a favored Bengals club on the road in the fourth quarter.

Bottom line you can win games with him playing a leading role. That's really the only thing that counts.

 

[tomwvr]

He’s such an easy guy to root for because of his attitude. He’s not elite - but he is consistently good.

Not that I’d want him to be our #1, but I’d love for him to be here a long time.

Hate to pile on but Terry is a number 1. He is a top 15 WR in the league and anyone who is the top 32 is a number 1

 

[Ozhog65]

I really hate these rating arguments.

I remember in the early 1980's guys like Jimmy the Greek always picked Dallas because he felt Danny White was 'better' than Joe Theismann, Tony Hill was 'better' than Art Monk and Randy White was 'better' than Dave Butz, etc.

What he missed out on and a lot of people miss out on to this day is how players fit on a particular team and whether they add value equal to or greater to their level of talent.

Just this past week, CeeDee Lamb admitted he didn't respond to adversity in the Ravens game and hurt the morale of his own team early by getting down on himself and the offense.

So, despite his uber talent he had a role in his team coming out flat and finding itself behind 28-6 before they woke up, too late as it turned out.

Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes is 3-0 throwing Rashee Rice into a role as a primary receiver on a defending Super Bowl champion. Rice continues to make the key plays each week to help his team win what have been very close games.

Is Rice talented? Yes. Is he perhaps underrated because he was a middle round pick that just came on the scene in 2023? Probably. Is he a top 5 receiver? Who knows and most importantly WHO CARES.

There are a lot of players in the NFL that catch a lot of balls and win nothing. In key moments of big games, they act selfishly or drop balls that should have been caught due to the pressure of the moment.

All I see here is that Terry McLaurin, a receiver with 4.35 speed and 4 straight 1,000 yard seasons, is finally playing with a quarterback who can get him the ball down the field. And in Game 3 the anticipated hookup with Jayden Daniels finally blossomed.

Perhaps playing with Daniels, Terry McLaurin will go from 1,000 yards to 1,400 yards. Who knows?

But he is a leader on the team and he made the play last week to help win the game against a favored Bengals club on the road in the fourth quarter.

Bottom line you can win games with him playing a leading role. That's really the only thing that counts.

Great post!

Leadership, loyalty, putting the team first - these are the intangibles that put him in the "elite" class for me. Especially when you put them alongside his production over the last few seasons saddled to below average QB play in an underperforming offence. Did anyone see the graphic during the game the other night showing how many QBs he has received a pass from during his NFL career ??? Mind blowing.

 

[Boone]

And unlike Eric Bienemy who seemed to feel threatened by McLaurin's on the field leadership, Kingsbury knows damn well how much it means to this team.

 

[Bulldog]

Bieniemy was a legend in his own mind

 

[burgold]

The truly confident aren't afraid to let others shine.

 

[tshile]

"Good" is not an accurate description, and I'm not sure what the boundary for you is on "elite" - one of those highly subjective kinds of things. Top-5 WR in the league? Then no.

Now, as for him not being a #1, you mean he's not one of the 32-best WRs in the league?

Hate to pile on but Terry is a number 1. He is a top 15 WR in the league and anyone who is the top 32 is a number 1

So I guess it depends on how you define #1. This is just how I see it, in an effort to explain my opinion, not to argue with either of you and say you’re wrong. I suppose it’s a subjective thing.

To me a #1 is the prototypical tall, strong, quality route running WR that just gives you something no other wr gives you. Can catch anything, can go up and get anything. Antonio Brown, Calvin Johnson, Chase, Randy moss, those types of guys. McLaurin is not that.

I don’t think he’s top 15 and I’m not sure he’s top 20. Meaning if you’re one of 32 GMs drafting from scratch there are 20 guys out there you pick first, right now.

I think he’s really good. I think he’s a perfect #2 - could be the best #2 in the game right now, if not then close to it.

But he is not that stereotypical #1 wide out. He doesn’t have the size to be it. Im not sure where he ranks on route running. But he certainly has everything else.

All that said - nothing about my post was intended to be a backhanded compliment. I think elite means incredibly special, and I think people throw it around way too casually, and I think the error of recency plays a big role in that. I think #1 has a pretry specific definition; and stats aren’t what people traditionally use to define that role. It’s more of an eye test about how they play and how they can be used.

So no I don’t think he’s elite, I don’t think he’s a traditional #1. I do think he’s really good, and I am glad he’s in our team.

 

[tshile]

Just as an example, and keep in mind I’m working with what we have at the moment, not a future that may or may not exist

Terry McLaurin Fantasy Football Average Draft Position (ADP) | Washington Commanders | FantasyPros

Find out where Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders) is being drafted for the 2024 season.

www.fantasypros.com

Average fantasy draft position at WR for him this year was 31

I’m no fan of public concensus, I generally think most people are not real smart and my gambling methodology is to literally bet against the public (does real well - this year the biggest dogs are winning outright )

But “elite” wide receivers don’t fall to an average draft position of 31 (at the specific position) in fantasy football. They just don’t.

(Looking it up makes me feel better about saying I’m not sure he’s top 20. Clearly he’s borderline top 25/30)

 

[tomwvr]

Fantasy doesn't mean anything. And what ever you think he lacks in measurable numbers his unmeasurable items such as work ethic, leadership and lack of prima donna make up for far more than those numbers. I would rather have 3 Terrys on my team than 1 Diggs...

 

[tshile]

Fantasy average draft position is a microcosm of economics and understanding how a market evaluates things.

Currently, fantasy football is mostly driven by receiving stats. Having top quality receivers is very important to competing in most standardized scoring formats - I would argue the most important. And it’s been that way for a while. Running backs that are viewed more as pass catching running backs are more important that more traditional running backs. And outside of 3 or 4 QB’s, WR’s are by far the most important position.

“Elite” wide receivers don’t, and haven’t, and won’t fall out of being a top 5 (at the position) pick. Even if they’re on a bad team or have a bad quarterback. For example - people aren’t dumping or benching Tyrek Hill en masse because the dolphins offense suddenly sucks. There’s a reason for that (although if they keep scoring 3 points a game that may change soon )

McLaurin constantly falls into the late 20’s and into the 30’s ADP for receivers. The market has made it clear he’s not and elite receiver. In fact - he’s not even close.

Sorry but it’s a pretty good survey of opinions on players, and it this specific case it’s incredibly consistent.

A small group of skins fans disagree. Which is not surprising and also doesn’t really mean much when the rest of the world is basically in total disagreement.

 

[tshile]

Couldn’t edit my post to add this to the first paragraph:

If you subscribe to economic thinking, then you believe large markets that coalesce around certain valuations tend to be right far more often than wrong. And fantasy football average draft position is a very large market, fueled by tons of football fans and football media/reporters. In no way do I think economic thinking is infallible, but it clearly has serious value in the world when done right and it certainly serves as an important data point in a conversation where you can show a clearly defined market with a clearly defined valuation of something.

Edit: to be clear I’m just working with the information we have, and avoiding working with future information we make up. If things change - that would be fantastic. Although the physical limitations will always exist, but that’s more of a “me” requirement, I’m not sure how many people feel the same way about labeling someone a “#1 receiver”

 

[Neophyte]

A couple of things tshile

1. Tyrek Hill doesn't fit your physical description of a #1 and yet I think nearly everyone would say he IS a #1. In fact, I think a lot of folks would have Hill and Jefferson fighting over the position of best receiver in the NFL right now.

2. There are a lot of factors in fantasy that go beyond just the player. With WR, I draft for WR/QB combination. What I mean by that is I don't draft WR who are being thrown to by bottom-half QBs. Because of this, McLaurin has never been of huge interest to me in fantasy.

I think it's very possible that by the end of the season, we will see Terry with numbers that put him in the conversation.

 

[tshile]

Well we were talking elite and #1. I don’t think hill is a #1 either (and neither are other wrs like him - desean Jackson wasn’t a #1 either) but Hill is clearly elite. He’s a burner.

Elite wr’s make it to the HOF if they play long enough. Hill will make it to the HOF if his career continues. mcClaurin isn’t close. He might when it’s all said and done, he finally has a QB, but with the information we have now he doesn’t even make it on the initial ballot. He has 1 pro bowl since being a rookie in 2019.

And there are different draft strategies but no one (that’s successful) is taking McClaurin as a top 10 WR since 2019. By definition that means he’s just not elite. There are not 25 elite WR’s in the league, with him being #23 or whatever. If he was elite, he’d fly off the board. And if the league redrafted tomorrow, there’s 15-20 receivers selected before him by professional football people.

I think people throw the word elite around way, way too casually, and this is a great example.



Ps- it’s not a negative or insulting to say he doesn’t have the physical stature to be a prototypical #1 wr. It’s not his fault he’s only 6 foot tall. Likewise, it’s not insulting or negative to say he’s not elite. Only a handful of people are at any given time, and even less manage to be so throughout a career.

 

[Boone]

McLaurin is a very good WR. And he's an elite human.

 

[tshile]

Absolutely an elite person. Love he’s on our team. Would enjoy him staying on our team.

 

[tomwvr]

If Terry keeps getting 1000 yards a season and plays for 12-15 seasons he will get in the hof( now hall of very good)

But again you valuations do not take into account the non “stat” driven factors.
Terry is clearly a top 32 wr in the nfl therefore he is a number 1 wr.