After years of mediocrity at the quarterback position, Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin may finally have a franchise QB to throw him passes in No. 2 overall draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
But just how much will a rookie quarterback elevate McLaurin in the eyes of fantasy football managers?
Here’s the fantasy outlook for McLaurin entering the 2024 season.
Terry McLaurin’s Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
If there has been one consistent performer in the Commanders’ years of struggles, it has been McLaurin’s play. Last season, he became just the fourth player in NFL history to have at least 50 receptions and 900 receiving yards in each of his first five seasons, joining Mike Evans (2014-21), A.J. Green (2011-17), and Randy Moss (1998-03).
He’s had four straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, and while it is true that 1,000 yards receiving isn’t what it used to be in this league, especially with a 17-game schedule, when you consider that this season will be the eighth straight year Washington will have a different starting quarterback for the season opener, it’s a little more impressive.
From a fantasy standpoint, however, it wasn’t a particularly good season for McLaurin. He ranked 35th among wide receivers in fantasy points per game (PPG) at 12.3. That was also the lowest fantasy PPG average of his career, and he is still not a major scoring threat, with only four touchdown receptions last season (he did have one rushing TD).
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Since producing seven touchdown receptions in his rookie season of 2019, McLaurin has not had more than five touchdown receptions in any season.
He finished with one 100-yard receiving game last season — career-high 141 yards versus the Los Angeles Rams — and had another good game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 (86 receiving yards), a team he always seems to play well against. Other than that, McLaurin did not have any other 20+ fantasy point performances last season.
Is McLaurin a Good Fantasy Pick?
McLaurin is the WR31 in Pro Football Network’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings as of Aug. 19.
The biggest question about McLaurin, who will turn 29 in September, isn’t whether he can still produce but rather whether he can connect with a rookie quarterback like Daniels as the passer learns on the job.
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If Daniels can produce success in the same neighborhood as C.J. Stroud last season for the Houston Texans, then McLaurin figures to be the biggest beneficiary of Daniels’ success. Washington does not possess much in the way of quality wide receivers outside of McLaurin.
Given his numbers, it’s hard to justify selecting McLaurin as early as even the middle rounds of fantasy drafts. But if fantasy managers believe that Daniels has a chance to be a successful quarterback in his rookie season, then McLaurin might be worth a pickup in the middle rounds.