Richard Sherman thinks McLaurin has the chance to be 'special' originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Over the past two seasons, Terry McLaurin has been one of the few bright spots in what's been an otherwise average offense in Washington.
Yet, despite playing with six different quarterbacks over his first two seasons in Washington, all McLaurin has done is produce.
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McLaurin's early NFL success has put his name on the map throughout the league, so much that future Hall of Fame cornerback Richard Sherman believes the former third-round pick has the chance to be "special."
"He's really good. He's really good and he plays hard all the time," Sherman said on the Cris Collinsworth podcast, speaking with new Chargers head coach Brandon Staley.
"If he had anybody else beside him, and they couldn't just double him and cloud him all the time, he'd be special," Sherman continued.
Sherman is right, too. In McLaurin's two seasons with Washington, he hasn’t gotten much help production-wise from his fellow wideouts. Teams have been able to double- and triple-team McLaurin at times without fearing they'll get beat on the other side of the field.
"When we played him, they had Alex [Smith], and Alex wasn't really taking any shots with him," Sherman said. "So, he just kept running like banana cuts and digs and we were all over that."
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Washington knows they need to add another wide receiver this offseason. Head coach Ron Rivera knew that last spring, too, when he offered Amari Cooper a nine-figure check to leave Dallas.
Staley, the other guest on the podcast, served as the Rams defensive coordinator this past year. Ahead of Los Angeles' Week 5 matchup against Washington this season, Staley told Sherman he put together a tape of McLaurin beating some of the league's best cornerbacks in order to show Rams star Jalen Ramsey what he'd be in for come that game.
"I made this tape when we played them, because he was like their guy, they didn't have a lot around him," Staley said. "So I kind of showed him gassing [Patriots CB Stephon] Gilmore, [Eagles CB Darius] Slay and some of these other guys.
"I was like, 'Hey now, Ramsey, I'm just telling you, this guy can freaking roll,'" Staley continued. "He's way faster than you think and really good after the catch. I was like, ‘Guys, he runs hard.’ He's not like some of these other guys that kind of float and drift. He's running. I think that guy is really good."
It's clear that both Staley and Sherman have plenty of respect for Washington's young star. At just 25 years old, McLaurin still has plenty of room to improve, too.
"He's one of the better up-and-coming wideouts in the league, for sure," Sherman said.
