{"id":594,"date":"2026-06-22T10:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=594"},"modified":"2026-06-22T10:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:40:20","slug":"who-will-be-the-commanders-no-2-pass-catcher-great-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=594","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Be the Commanders\u2019 No. 2 Pass Catcher? Great Question."},"content":{"rendered":"
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There are many questions surrounding the Washington Commanders ahead of the 2026 season: Can a revamped, younger defense come together? Who is the starting running back? Who will win the kicking competition?<\/p>\n

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But based on media coverage and fan speculation, most interest this offseason seems to be centered not on a No. 1 option, but a No. 2.<\/p>\n

Veteran Terry McLaurin is and has been the clear No.1 receiving option for Washington, as evidenced by two Pro Bowl appearances and five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2020-24. But after spending their first-round draft pick on linebacker Sonny Styles, letting No. 2 receiver Deebo Samuel walk and not having a single receiver, outside of McLaurin, who had more than 350 yards last season, Washington faces questions about the No. 2 pass-catching weapon for Jayden Daniels this season.<\/p>\n

At this point in the offseason, coaches won\u2019t divulge which way they\u2019re leaning on any individual player. But they have said over the last few weeks that they\u2019re content with the receivers they have on the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been really pleased with the entire receiver room,\u201d offensive coordinator David Blough said during the second week of OTAs. \u201cWe talk about it like you\u2019re trying to build a basketball roster: You don\u2019t want all guys who can do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What that room looks like right now: McLaurin is the clear starter, followed by 10 receivers looking to join him. Nick Nash, Chris Hilton, Jacoby Jones and Jaden Bradley (who shined during the first day of minicamp in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s) are likely long shots to make the team, let alone become starters. Seven-year veteran Van Jefferson\u2019s best days may be behind him, but his 350 yards last fall with the Tennessee Titans makes him the most productive of the 10. Dyami Brown, a third-round pick from 2021, returns after a one-year sabbatical in Jacksonville. Antonio Williams, a versatile slot receiver out of Clemson, was taken in the third round of April\u2019s draft, so he will at least get an opportunity to carve out a role. And then there\u2019s Jaylin Lane, Treylon Burks and Luke McCaffrey, all of whom were on the roster last season but didn\u2019t have the production one would expect for a starting receiver: The trio combined for 37 receptions and 558 yards in 2025.<\/p>\n

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But what the receiver room lacks in production, it makes up for in competitiveness, according to both coaches and players. When asked who, aside from McLaurin, has stood out among the receivers so far this offseason, head coach Dan Quinn made sure to mention those assumed to be lower on the depth chart, including Lane and Jefferson. The latter had a toe-tapping, back-of-the-endzone catch<\/span> during a two-minute drill on Day 2 of minicamp.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell we\u2019re all out here making plays, and \u2026. we know its no hard feelings about any of it,\u201d said Burks, a 2022 first-round draft pick by the Titans who signed with Washington last year. \u201cIt\u2019s just go out there and play the game, and so we attack it each day and just have fun with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of the team facility, there have been near-constant rumors about Washington\u2019s potential interest in San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk or free agent Stefon Diggs. But the Commanders have not engaged with the speculation: Quinn no-commented when asked about Aiyuk at OTAs earlier this month while running back Rachaad White, a former college teammate of Aiyuk\u2019s, added, \u201cI can\u2019t really get too much into it because you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know, but we\u2019ll just see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Aiyuk and Diggs could bring the explosive playmaking skills that Blough will surely covet this season. The pair have nearly 16,000 combined yards and 99 receiving touchdowns across their careers. But Aiyuk has not received his long-anticipated release from the 49ers yet, and Diggs, a Maryland native, has been sitting on the open market since March, so the rumors surrounding Washington may be just that \u2014 rumors.<\/p>\n

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The pass catchers on the roster have heard all of that noise, but they don\u2019t seem fazed by it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing anybody else does is going to change my mindset,\u201d said Lane, the team\u2019s fourth-round pick in 2025. \u201cI\u2019m out here to get better each and every day, earn my way to whatever I get. \u2026 Whatever I get is in God\u2019s hands. All that noise and stuff \u2014 whatever happens is going to happen. But my mindset\u2019s not going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Despite all the speculation, Washington\u2019s No. 2 pass catching open may not come from the receiver room. Tight end Chig Okonkwo<\/span>, signed from Tennessee in March, showed good chemistry with Daniels at OTAs. Daniels likes his tight ends \u2014 starter Zach Ertz was second on the team in targets (91) and red-zone touchdowns (7) in 2024 \u2014 and Okonkwo is one of the league\u2019s most explosive athletes at the position. The fifth-year veteran led the Titans in receiving yards (560) last year and was tied for 14th among all pass-catchers in yards after catch per reception (6.4).<\/p>\n

Okonkwo believes the team has a talented and explosive group of receivers, but he also understands that transactions \u2014 and the rumors they fuel \u2014 are just a part of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts the NFL, [you\u2019re] trying to get as many good players as you can on one team so you can be great,\u201d he said. \u201cSo if we add more pass catchers, then that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels, who is looking to rebound from an injury-filled sophomore season, said he likes what he sees from the current roster, especially Okonkwo.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive him the ball in space and he can make a lot happen,\u201d the quarterback said.<\/p>\n

Daniels added that it\u2019s early in the offseason and everyone is still learning Blough\u2019s new playbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all grown over this offseason, so it\u2019ll be fun [for] everybody to come back,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cNow we\u2019re more comfortable and we\u2019ll know the installs, how we want to attack each play, but it\u2019ll be fun to see what we can do at training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Players and coaches have expressed confidence in the roster, but speculation about Brandon Aiyuk and others has persisted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nWho Will Be the Commanders\u2019 No. 2 Pass Catcher? Great Question. - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Will Be the Commanders\u2019 No. 2 Pass Catcher? 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