Peter Schrager lists McLaurin as a top 5 most underrated WR originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
For those that follow the Washington Football Team closely, Terry McLaurin's impact on the franchise over the past two years has been obvious. He's easily been the team's best skill player on offense since arriving in 2019 and has established himself as one of the better younger wideouts in all of football.
But, what McLaurin has done in Washington the past two seasons is not nearly talked about as much on a national level as some of his peers.
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That's why during a recent edition of Good Morning Football, NFL Network analyst Peter Schrager listed McLaurin as one of the top five most underrated wide receivers in the sport.
"I think the numbers and the impact that Terry McLaurin, who was not a first- or second-round pick, has put up in his first two years deserve to be recognized," Schrager said.
McLaurin came in at No. 4 on Schrager's list, with a pair of Rams receivers, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, coming in at No. 3 and No. 2, respectively. Seahawks star Tyler Lockett was No. 1 on Schrager's list, with Bears star Allen Robinson at No. 5 to round out the list.
Schrager pointed to the love that two of McLaurin's fellow 2019 draftees -- Titans' A.J. Brown and Seahawks' DK Metcalf -- have received nationally compared to the Washington star, when in fact McLaurin has been responsible for a higher percentage of his team's production than the other two.
"This is a guy that deserves to be discussed in the same breath as A.J. [Brown], DK [Metcalf] and the rest of them," Schrager said.
Schrager also pointed out that McLaurin has been arguably just as productive as both Brown and Metcalf over his two seasons, despite playing with a lot worse quarterback play.
Washington's standout has caught a pass from six different quarterbacks already in his career, while Metcalf has had the benefit of having Russell Wilson under center. Ryan Tannehill has also been superb for the Titans the past two seasons with Brown being the beneficiary of that.
"Nothing against Dwayne Haskins. Nothing against Taylor Heinicke. But the guys that he's been catching balls from have not been Ryan Tannehill and have certainly not been Russell Wilson," Schrager said.
Washington signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and added a bunch of other talented players to surround McLaurin this offseason, which should mean a big Year 3 for the 2019 third-round pick. McLaurin and Fitzpatrick are already starting to establish a good connection, too.
"We've definitely been able to iron out some things early and made some connection over the past few days," McLaurin said last week via Zoom. "It's starting to feel a lot more natural and being able to get that head start before camp is [really] good."
