He’s gotten used to being the lone big-play threat for the Washington Commanders in the passing game, but Terry McLaurin’s life is about to get a lot easier thanks to a new “matchup nightmare” who is impressing the five-time 1,000-yard wide receiver at the team’s training camp.
Speaking after the second practice session on Thursday, July 30, McLaurin named incoming tight end Chig Okonkwo as one to watch. McLaurin called the former Tennesee Titans starter “very dynamic. He runs routes similar to like a big receiver. He has really good feet at the top of his routes. He has the ability to win after the catch and he’s a big target. I think Jayden has done a great job over the last few years of finding our tight ends over the middle, and we gotta have a guy like that who’s dynamic, who, if you put him over the middle, he could get run after catch. But even when you got a guy who has great feet like that, who can win similar to a receiver, we may put him out at number one, and that’s a mismatch. You put a linebacker on him. You put a corner on him, it’s a mismatch. So, I think that’s what he could bring to our offense where he could be a matchup nightmare, whether he’s in the slot or he’s on the outside.”
This endorsement carries significant weight for a couple of reasons, Firstly because few players on the roster are as credible as McLaurin, who has consistently produced since being selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft.
McLaurin has often posted impressive numbers in isolation, due to the lack of marquee receiving talent around him. So it’s significant he mentioned more than once how Okonkwo plays “similar to a receiver.”
That crossover trait should make Okonkwo indispensable to the plans of new offensive coordinator David Blough. Especially when the first-year play-caller is already seeing suspect wideouts struggle at camp.
Chig Okonkwo Key to New Tight End Plans
McLaurin’s observation Okonkwo is “like a big receiver” is relevant because it speaks to the more expansive way the Commanders will use tight ends on Blough’s watch.
GettyNew OC Blough has bold plans for the Commanders’ tight ends.
The new way of doing things at the position has been evident at camp. In particular, holdover Ben Sinnott is earning rave reviews in an expanded role.
Sinnott explained to ESPN’s John Keim how the Blough playbook provides “so many different variations” for tight ends. “Today we’re lining up at number one [receiver on the outside], we’re running five-step ins, we’re running corners, we’re running options, we’re running flat [routes]. We’re just doing everything. It’s so much fun. It’s a breath of fresh air for this offense and how it uses tight ends.”
Getting to flex out as a classic wide receiver more often is the ideal blueprint for the Commanders helping Okonkwo reach his obvious breakout potential. He’s a 6-foot-3, 238-pounder able to body cornerbacks outside the numbers, and fast enough to simply stride past linebackers or safeties forced to follow him to the perimeter in man coverage.
These are the exact matchup problems McLaurin envisages Okonkwo posing to defenses. More trouble will follow any time Okonkwo is in the slot, when he can use his big body to win on the inside, before translating his natural athleticism into yards after the catch.
It’s what Okonkwo did on this catch and run for a 70-yard touchdown against the Houston Texans in 2024.
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A play like this will surely appeal to newly promoted tight ends coach Wes Welker. He’s a former NFL wide receiver who became an All-Pro dominating from the slot.
Welker’s presence is further proof of the Commanders’ plans to treat Okonkwo as a de facto wideout. The question is will the strategy be enough to compensate for a receiver room that’s still heavily reliant on McLaurin?
Terry McLaurin Still Leading an Unconvincing WR Group for Commanders
A lack of elite talent among the wide receivers for the Commanders was compounded by an All-Pro rejoining an NFC rival in free agency. The depth chart already appeared shaky after one of Okonkwo’s former teammates suffered injury at camp.
It means wide receiver is still largely the McLaurin show in Washington. That’s not a necessarily a bad thing when Blough also has big changes in mind for how ‘Scary Terry’ will be used in this offense.
A new usage plan makes sense because the Commanders may need different ways to unleash the only receiver on their depth chart who can frighten defenses. The rest are unproven talents like 2026 NFL draft third-round pick Antonio Williams, retread veterans like Dyami Brown and Van Jefferson, or inconsistent youngsters like Jaylin Lane and Luke McCaffrey.
There’s plenty of room for one receiver to emerge from this crowd and give McLaurin the support he’ll need. At the moment though, that support looks more likely to come from Okonkwo or a raid into the veteran market for a more established wideout.
Terry McLaurin Names Commanders’ New ‘Matchup Nightmare’