Terry McLaurin, Fantasy Football's Bounce Back Headliner
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It’s almost as if some people have forgotten how good Terry McLaurin and Jayden Daniels were together in 2024 because of how poorly 2025 went for both of them. Each dealt with injuries and hurt fantasy gamers’ seasons. But now both are healthy again, with an exciting new offensive coordinator in town. McLaurin is set up well for another great season in 2026.
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An Unexpected Career
Terry McLaurin entered the NFL as a third-round pick after a lackluster college career at Ohio State. He was a good recruit with athletic ability, but he caught only 75 passes in college. He did score 11 touchdowns in his final season, possibly hinting at his future NFL success. To be fair to McLaurin, though, he played on run-first offenses next to other NFL talent. Some thought he could be a contributor on special teams, and potentially be a rotational player on offense, but no one was expecting what he would go on to do.
As a rookie, Terry McLaurin outperformed everyone’s expectations, catching seven touchdowns and over 900 receiving yards. He didn’t look back either, reeling off five straight seasons of at least 77 receptions and 1,000 yards after that. His one negative during that time was that he struggled to score touchdowns before Jayden Daniels arrived. From 2020 to 2023, McLaurin never topped five touchdowns.
For a while, Terry McLaurin was yet another wide receiver on a long list of talented pass catchers stuck with bad quarterback play. We knew he was capable of a big season, but he was capped by his surroundings. Then Jayden Daniels arrived in 2024, and he had a career season. McLaurin scored 13 touchdowns on his way to averaging 13.3 Half PPR PPG as Daniels' number one target. Everything was coming up McLaurin, but 2025 was a different story.
| Year | Target Share | aDOT | YPRR | Half-PPR PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 24.1% | 13.9 | 2.38 | 11.6 (WR28) |
| 2020 | 25.4% | 9.8 | 1.92 | 12.0 (WR20) |
| 2021 | 24.5% | 12.6 | 2.05 | 10.3 (WR34) |
| 2022 | 22.6% | 13.0 | 2.17 | 11.2 (WR22) |
| 2023 | 21.6% | 11.5 | 1.56 | 10.0 (WR36) |
| 2024 | 23.3% | 13.3 | 2.13 | 13.3 (WR15) |
| 2025 | 23.3% | 14.0 | 2.29 | 9.5 (WR35) |
A Lost Season
Before the 2025 season, Terry McLaurin held out for a new contract, with the holdout lingering into training camp. The team and he eventually got a deal done in time for the season, but the holdout clearly affected him. McLaurin didn’t look like himself and started the season slow. Making things worse, he dealt with a quad injury during the season, missing six games. With Jayden Daniels also missing time, it was a rough season for McLaurin.
For the year, Terry McLaurin averaged only 9.5 Half PPR PPG as he paced for career-low numbers across the board. The entire offense underwhelmed, and McLaurin was no different. His contract situation and injury clearly hampered his play. Add in that he was only able to play with Jayden Daniels for three games, and the down year is a bit understandable. Fantasy managers everywhere were rightfully frustrated, even with some of the issues being out of his control.
It can be hard to move past a down season for a player that was drafted highly like Terry McLaurin was in 2025. It’s natural for everyone to feel slighted and want to steer clear of a player in the future after being burned. It’s important at times in fantasy football to have a short memory, or at least to be able to forgive.
Poised for Resurgence
Under the hood, Terry McLaurin had some inspiring metrics during his down season in 2025. Among wide receivers in 2025, McLaurin was 11th in Air Yards Share, 12th in First Read Target Share, fifth in First Downs Per Route Run, and 13th in YPRR. He may not have had the fantasy points, but McLaurin was still a good player last season.
Another reason for hope with Terry McLaurin in 2026 is the arrival of new offensive coordinator David Blough. At the end of his playing career, Blough spent time with the Lions, learning from Ben Johnson and Dan Campbell. After retiring from playing, he was signed by the Commanders to be their assistant quarterbacks coach in 2024 and was elevated to offensive coordinator this offseason.
After being introduced as offensive coordinator, David Blough preached a few things. First was that he wants to incorporate more motion and play-action into the offense. These are offensive cheat codes and have proven to improve efficiency. Second was that he wanted to feature Terry McLaurin as much as possible. Blough recognizes that McLaurin is far and away their best skill player, and plans to treat him as such. Lastly, Blough wants to move McLaurin around more this season to give him more matchup advantages. All of these factors combine to line McLaurin up for the best season of his career.
The Commanders are ready to FEED Terry McLaurin 📈 pic.twitter.com/KUZF2Wywoy
— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) February 12, 2026
Bottom Line
- With both himself and Jayden Daniels back to being healthy, Terry McLaurin is poised for a bounce-back season as the clear number one target.
- New offensive coordinator David Blough’s presence should help the offense overall by incorporating more play-action and motion into the game plans. His insistence on featuring McLaurin as much as possible will lead to high-end fantasy success.
- Being drafted as WR21, McLaurin not only will be a fantasy value based on his cost, but he could be one of the defining players of the 2026 fantasy season.
