Washington Commanders must figure out the Terry McLaurin situation, now

In what is likely one of the most “duh” statements you’ll hear all week, the Washington Commanders need to get superstar wide receiver Terry McLaurin more involved in the offense. We’ve seen the same story for two weeks now. Halfway through the game, and everyone’s wondering “why hasn’t McLaurin seen the ball yet?”

It seemed obvious that the wide receiver would get a boost in production this season. Carson Wentz is an upgrade at quarterback from Taylor Heinicke, and his arm strength could let McLaurin finally work those deep routes.

Commanders need to get Terry McLaurin more involved, ASAP

After two weeks the numbers aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either. McLaurin has six receptions for 133 yards and one touchdown. So what’s going on?

Again, I feel bad because it seems like most articles are bashing Wentz at some point. But it comes down to his issues. It’s like the quarterback isn’t even looking in the direction of his star receiver on a lot of plays. Instead, he’s going straight for the three-yard reception to his tight end or running back, or else throwing his fifth screen pass of the day.

Wentz was brought in to be an upgrade with his arm though, right? So why aren’t there more shots being taken? But that’s just the thing. Terry McLaurin is an incredibly gifted wide receiver. He doesn’t need to just run straight, and he’s not. McLaurin can run all types of routes, take screen passes, go across the middle, everything.

What we’re getting though, is McLaurin running routes that Wentz doesn’t seem to want to throw. And he’ll finally decide to get his star weapon involved late in the game. In Week 1, it came on a great route and throw for a long touchdown. This saved McLaurin from being almost invisible all game. He ended with just two receptions for 58 yards, and 49 came on that play. McLaurin was targeted just four times.

In Week 2, Wentz connected a few more times with McLaurin. The receiver finished with four receptions for 75 yards. He was targeted eight times this week, which is much better. Only three came in the first half. That was less than J.D. McKissic and barely more than Cam Sims.

Whatever is going on needs to be figured out. Washington has some great weapons this year. Curtis Samuel has been incredible and Jahan Dotson looks like the best rookie wide receiver. But everyone knows Washington needs to get the ball in Terry McLaurin’s hands if they want to make things happen consistently on offense. And they shouldn’t have to resort to end-around runs to do so.

Carson Wentz is a new quarterback, still getting used to his team. At some point that growth period for a veteran QB needs to end though. And he should be getting his best player involved more. If not, the Washington Commanders are going to have miserable stretches (like the one they had in the first half against the Detroit Lions) more often. And no one wants that.