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Washington Commanders Positional Review: Wide Receiver

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2024

Washington Commanders Positional Review: Wide Receiver

The Washington Commanders enter the offseason with a league-average wide receiver room. Terry McLaurin just completed his fourth straight 1,000-yard season and remains the team’s leader in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, Jahan Dotson regressed in his second year, and Curtis Samuel is headed for unrestricted free agency. As mentioned in the Running Back Review, Washington is well-positioned with both cap space and draft capital to upgrade across the roster. The Commanders will acquire another starting wide receiver this offseason.

Commanders Wide Receiver Review

Current Depth Chart

Terry McLaurin

Washington’s top two receivers are locked in for 2024, at minimum. The 28-year-old McLaurin signed a 3-year, $68.3 million deal through 2025 and has been well worth his money. He’s a pillar of consistency for a franchise mired in inconsistency. 2023 marks McLaurin’s third consecutive season in which he’s played all 17 games and recorded at least 77 catches, 1,000 yards, and four touchdowns. He’s a no-brainer WR1 and will likely be playing with his tenth different starting NFL quarterback next season.

Jahan Dotson

2022 first-round pick Jahan Dotson didn’t live up to the hype after a promising rookie season. Despite playing in five more games as a sophomore, he decreased both his yardage total and touchdown total from his rookie year. Additionally, the team passed for almost 400 more yards in 2023 than in 2022, demonstrating that Dotson commanded a smaller piece of a larger pie in his second year. But it gets worse. Reception Perception founder Matt Harmon expressed legitimate concerns regarding Dotson’s route-running regression and long-term upside. He enters a make-or-break season in 2024.

The Others

In addition to McLaurin and Dotson, Washington currently has five other receivers on the roster: Dyami Brown, Dax Milne, Mitchell Tinsley, Bryce Tremayne, and Davion Davis. Of these, only Tinsley is signed beyond 2024, and only Brown holds a dead cap hit of more than $20,000. To summarize, none are guarantees to make the active roster next season. Brown could resume his role as a serviceable fourth receiver but shouldn’t be trusted as a full-time player. The most interesting prospect of the group could be Tinsley, who made a splash in the preseason and could be ready for a bigger role. Milne, Tremayne, and Davis belong on the practice squad.

Free Agent Options

Tee Higgins, CIN

Given his age (25) and perceived upside, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins could land one of the biggest contracts in free agency this offseason. It would only make sense for the team with the most cap space in the NFL to sign him. Joe Burrow has been outspoken about his desire to re-sign his talented 6’4″ 219 lbs receiver, but Higgins isn’t the only Bengals receiver who expects to be paid. Superstar Ja’Marr Chase will be a free agent next offseason and will likely jump to the top of Cincy’s list of priorities. Washington could swoop in and outbid the Bengals.

Gabriel Davis, BUF

Gabe Davis fits the big-bodied field-stretcher archetype that would theoretically complement McLaurin and Dotson well. Davis has been unpredictable on a game-by-game basis but consistent on a season-long basis. Through four seasons, he’s played in at least 15 games, averaged at least 15.7 yards per catch, and scored at least six touchdowns every year. For perspective, McLaurin hasn’t exceeded 15.7 yards per catch since his rookie season, and Dotson averaged 10.6 YPC this year. At an expected $13.6 million annual price tag, Davis could be worth the investment.

Draft Options

Devontez Walker, UNC

The 2024 rookie wide receiver class looks incredible. According to a compilation of 107 big boards, there are 13 wide receivers listed in the top 56 NFL prospects. The Commanders could turn to the receiver position with picks 67, 101, or 103. If so, Tez Walker is one of the most interesting options. He’s listed at 6’3″ 200 lbs and can take the top off the defense with his long speed. After transferring from Kent State, Walker teamed with potential #2 pick Drake Maye to average 17.0 yards per catch and score 7 touchdowns in 2023. Maye and Walker could form the UNC-to-D.C. connection that Sam Howell and Dyami Brown never could.

Brenden Rice, USC

You might have heard of his father. And, like Tez Walker, Brenden Rice had the luxury of catching passes from a pretty good college quarterback too. But Rice is a solid prospect in his own right. He scored 12 touchdowns on 17.6 yards per catch at 6’2″ and 210 lbs, fitting the mold that the Commanders should be looking for. While Walker wins with speed, however, Rice wins with superior route-running and physicality. With McLaurin and Rice on the boundaries, Dotson in the slot, and an upgraded tight end, Washington’s skill group would be ready-made for a rookie quarterback.

Main Photo: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

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Washington

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.

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Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.

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Washington

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Published

2 days ago

February 25, 2026

Press Room

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.

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