The top five plays (so far) from McLaurin's career in Washington originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Thanks to the three-year contract extension that he signed on Tuesday, Terry McLaurin is due to generate many more highlights in the future for the Commanders.
Such an agreement was only presented to McLaurin, though, because he's already produced a prolific number of memorable moments in Washington since joining the franchise in 2019.
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But which sequences of his career up to this point have been the most scintillating? These five — a small group that means a few of his other notable plays were left out, so please, no yelling — make up what feels like an appropriate list...
5) The first end zone trip
McLaurin was originally selected by the franchise to chip in as a deep threat while continuing the special-teams duties he handled so ably at Ohio State.
Then, in Week 1 of his rookie campaign, this occurred:
If McLaurin's work that offseason in training camp hinted that he could do more than merely spell other players at receiver, this sudden and enchanting touchdown in Philadelphia announced it at an obnoxious volume. Talk about making an instant impact.
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4) The high-flying grab against New York
Carson Wentz will hopefully make this less of an issue going forward, but a common theme of McLaurin's tenure with the Commanders is that he's had to make up for lackluster tosses from his quarterbacks by simply outworking opposing defenders.
And this ferocious reception at FedEx Field while facing the Jets embodies that perfectly:
To this day, some in the scientific community are still examining what unseen forces allowed McLaurin to come down with that ball.
3) The contorted catch vs. Los Angeles
McLaurin is a star every week, yet the man does appear to have a certain affinity for season openers.
Two years after torching the Eagles for his first pro score to begin 2019, No. 17 somehow twisted his body while tracking a Taylor Heinicke lob and ultimately was able to snare it while staying in bounds in a tilt with the Chargers. All that happened after he was held earlier on in his route by a corner, by the way:
Seriously.
No, seriously.
Guys, seriously.
How. Did. He. Do. That. Question. Mark.
2) The one-hander at Lambeau
The fact that this McLaurin touchdown came in garbage time isn't important. What is important is that he pulled it off, cameras captured him pulling it off and now Commanders fans can relive it whenever their lives are in need of a boost:
Most people can't even dream of doing something like that, because even their brains wouldn't entertain something so absurd. McLaurin, of course, doesn't fit into the "most people" category.
1) The chase-down tackle in Dallas
As evidenced by the first four highlights in this story, McLaurin does excellent work on offense. Having said that, it's a tackle that miraculously tops this list.
On Thanksgiving in 2020, Jaylon Smith intercepted Alex Smith and started hustling the other way for what should've been a relatively straightforward pick-six.
Unfortunately for the linebacking Smith, McLaurin was determined to prove he is just as adept at preventing touchdowns as he is at compiling them:
Many offensive players wouldn't display the effort that McLaurin displayed in his pursuit and the few that would have might've still failed to trip up Smith due to a lack of physical ability.
McLaurin, to his credit, isn't short on commitment or speed and both of those traits were key in what turned out to be the epitome of unselfishness. There's no better testament to what McLaurin does for Washington than this all-out sprint versus the Cowboys.
