Terry McLaurin - Fantasy Points Outlook

Basic Stats

WR WAS

#14 Wide Receiver

164 Projected Points

ADP: Not Available

Bye: 9

Experience: 2 Yr(s)

Age: 25

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 208

40 Time: 4.35

Weekly Outlook

High Floor

7.7

DS Projection

Consensus

38 other sites
10

High Ceiling

15.5

Rest of
Season

9.8

Week 8 Projections

Rec	Rec Yds	Rec TDs	Fantasy Pts
5.4	69.8	0.5	10

Weekly Writeup

Rest Of Way Outlook

Rec	Rec Yds	Rec TDs	Fantasy Pts
5.4	73	0.4	9.8

Week 7
McLaurin went off against a Green Bay pass D missing top CB Jaire Alexander. Posting the WR5 line for Week 7, McLaurin tallied 7-122-1 on 12 targets. He’s now hit 11+ targets in 3 of his past 4 outings. The OSU product got downfield for a 50-50 deep ball score early on. He was overthrown on an in-breaking route near the goal line later on. And in a separate sequence, McLaurin dropped an end zone pass. So Sunday should have been much better — although fantasy owners can’t complain with the result. McLaurin scored and hit 100 yards for the first time since Week 4. He’ll look to keep rolling against a tough Denver secondary (on the road) in Week 8. Then comes a Week 9 bye.

Week 6
Week 7 was a forgettable one for McLaurin. The up-and-coming WR tallied just 4 catches for 28 yards on 8 targets. Truth be told: McLaurin was close to a much bigger day. Two overthrows — including one in the end zone — showed what could have been a WR1 line. McLaurin also had a 20-yard, drive-killing drop. Another shaky performance from Taylor Heinicke is slightly worrisome, but strong volume figures to be a weekly mainstay here. Next up is a Packers secondary missing top CB Jaire Alexander.

Week 3
McLaurin continued to be the Alpha in this passing attack, seeing 7 targets. He caught 4 of those 7 for 62 yards against Buffalo. It was his second 4-catch and 62-yard performance this season.

This was a decent middle ground from a volume perspective. He has seen 25 targets through 3 games, which is great. But the sporadic volume week to week leaves much to be desired. His target distribution over the first 3 weeks has been 4, 14, and 7. Not exactly the consistency many were hoping for.

Going forward, expect the volume to normalize a bit. This offense gets rolling when they utilize their best players and McLaurin is absolutely that. QB Taylor Heinicke needs to prioritize his best WR each week.

Week 2
McLaurin put together a monster 11-107-1 game in a thrilling comeback win over the Giants last week. QB Taylor Heinicke went to T-Mac early and often (6 catches, 60 yards in 1st half) and leaned on him to make a play when needed. McLaurin’s 11 receptions were a career high with it also being his 5th career game with at least 100 yards and a score. McLaurin looked like he was on another planet early in the game, but the Giants wisely made adjustments to slow him down late. He now has at least 7 receptions in every game against the Giants, and his 14 targets ties another career high. You know he will be a priority to stop for the Bills defense this weekend, but he should still be considered a WR2.

Week 1
It was an odd game for McLaurin, who didn’t see a target in the 1st half, and then saw 3 targets very early in the 2nd half, only to end up with 4 targets in a game that Washington lost by 4 points and threw just 21 passes. He did have a big play of 34 yards, but it was on a terrible pass from Taylor Heinecke on a ball that should’ve been intercepted or at least broken up.

There’s no doubting that McLaurin is an elite talent, and he’s produced for 2 years despite substandard QB play. That could be exactly what he gets for the next few weeks (or more) as Ryan Fitzpatrick tries to recover from a dislocated hip. That said, with Curtis Samuel on the IR, it would be surprising if Washington threw as few passes as they did in Week 1, and that McLaurin won’t go back to seeing large target volume. So he should perform commensurate with the draft-day investment that was made in him.

Preseason Player Analysis

What You Need to Know:

McLaurin followed a WR29 finish in PPR points per game as a rookie by rising to WR20 in that category as a sophomore. But that doesn’t mean the results were all positive.
He went from 7th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade in 2019 to just 32nd last season (albeit, among 222 graded wideouts).
Football Outsiders rated McLaurin 72nd in DYAR and 74th in DVOA among 87 qualifying WRs. Compare that with his rankings of 13th and 12th, respectively, in 2019.
McLaurin saw a significant dip in his deep work in Year 2.
- According to PFF, his average depth of target dipped from 14.6 to 9.9.
- After seeing 29.7% of his 2019 targets in the deep range (20+ yards downfield), McLaurin got just 14.8% of last season’s targets in that range.
- Conversely, he went from 2.2% of 2019 targets coming behind the line of scrimmage to 11.1% in 2020. And short-range targets (0-9 yards) climbed from 38.5% of his total to 50.4%.
Overall, McLaurin’s yards per route run fell from 2.05 in his rookie campaign to 1.84 last season. He ranked 14th in that category in 2019 among 112 wideouts who saw 30+ targets. McLaurin fell to 34th among 115 wideouts last year.
The new coaching staff ran him from the slot more: 31.5% of snaps vs. 23.5% in 2019.
McLaurin also increased his yards after catch per reception and slashed his drop rate, from 10.8% to 3.1%.
Washington got at least a slight upgrade -- and potentially more than that -- at QB by signing Ryan Fitzpatrick to a 1-year deal. He has consistently proved more willing than Alex Smith to throw downfield and far more proficient than Dwayne Haskins or Kyle Allen.
Washington also signed WR Curtis Samuel in free agency and drafted WR Dyami Brown in Round 3, upgrading the talent around McLaurin.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

There’s room for McLaurin to improve on his own performance vs. 2020. But the change at QB and upgraded offensive talent should rebound his downfield production to at least some degree. At his best, Ryan Fitzpatrick can be a successful downfield passer. At worst, he should be an upgrade over Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Alen and the 2020 version of Alex Smith. It certainly seems fair to expect another WR2-level season from McLaurin.

The problem: He’s going 11th among wideouts in FFPC best-ball drafting right now. You’ll have to pay up if you want him. McLaurin is basically tied in ADP with Allen Robinson, whom we have projected for 25 more PPR points.

Recent Shark Bites View All Shark Bites »

Washington WR Terry McLaurin (hamstring) isn't listed on the final injury report. He was a full-go in Friday's practice and will play his usual role against the Packers this weekend. WRs Curtis Samuel (groin) and Cam Sims (hamstring) are out again for Week 7.

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Washington WR Terry McLaurin (hamstring) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. He seemingly made it out of last week's loss to the Chiefs without a setback and should be ready for Sunday's game vs. the Packers.

View all Terry McLaurin Shark Bites »

Washington WR Terry McLaurin (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. He ended up playing 95% of the offensive snaps in last week's loss to the Chiefs. McLaurin should play vs. the Packers on Sunday, but it'd be nice to see him practice the next 2 days.

View all Terry McLaurin Shark Bites »

Washington WR Terry McLaurin (hamstring) is active for today’s game vs. the Chiefs. He was added to the injury report and listed as a non-participant in Friday’s practice. McLaurin did work off to the side on Friday, though, and HC Ron Rivera said afterward that they were operating more under "an abundance of caution.” ESPN's John Keim reported that McLaurin was “feeling good” on Saturday. He obviously comes with added risk in Week 6 fantasy lineups. But we’d have a tough time sitting McLaurin in this dream matchup vs. the Chiefs.

View all Terry McLaurin Shark Bites »

Washington WR Terry McLaurin (hamstring) is expected to play vs. the Chiefs today, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. McLaurin was added to the injury report and sidelined on Friday with a hamstring. But everything we've heard since has been positive on his status. We'll continue to look for updates on the situation throughout the morning and will get McLaurin's game status around 11:30 am ET. But, as of now, he can be penciled into fantasy lineups.

View all Terry McLaurin Shark Bites »

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