Jahan Dotson won’t let CBs, trash-talking kids or wordy play calls slow him down

Dec 4, 2022; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Jahan Dotson (1) prior to the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
By Ben Standig
Jun 5, 2023

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — The Washington Commanders’ youngest wide receiver heard the disses as soon as he stepped on the field.

“They’ve been talking a little bit of trash,” Jahan Dotson said. “We’re going to have to humble them a little.”

The comment wasn’t about defensive backs chirping in practice. Rather, it was a playful jab about the running commentary from kids attending Dotson’s football camp Saturday afternoon at Riverdale Baptist School.

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The 6- to 18-year-olds gleefully participated in various football drills with Washington’s 2022 touchdown leader. They weren’t exactly reverential in his presence, even in a race against an NFL player with 4.4 speed.

“Oh, look at them,” an enthusiastic child screamed naively as other kids and Dotson were steps into a 40-yard race. “They’re smokin’ him!”

They weren’t, of course. The adorable campers ran with all their might — and with sprinting tips from the recent first-round pick. Dotson kept his jog in low gear, but the professional competitor made sure he beat them regardless. After agreeing to run backward in a second race, Dotson turned around steps before the finish line to secure the win.

Washington’s receiver trio of Dotson, Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel will aim to corkscrew opposing defensive backs on game days this season in the name of winning football games. Mastering a new language is Step 1. Turns out the only words that stress Dotson are from new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s playbook.

“I couldn’t recite it to you. That’s how wild it is,” Dotson said of the lengthy play calls. “It’s amazing that the quarterbacks can listen to it and say it to us in the huddle. It’s truly that complex.”

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NFL thinkers borrow and steal concepts from around the league. Therefore, familiarity exists within offensive schemes and individual routes run. The different terminology and, for Washington players, play-call length is where even the fastest athletes and nimble minds get tripped up. Bombs and blocking instructions top brevity under Bieniemy.

“It’s kind of a wordy system,” quarterback Sam Howell said after an OTA last week, “but it’s a really good system.”

Using words is a change in itself. The Penn State approach, like many college offenses, used signals. Rookies Howell and Dotson, 22, learned a digit-centric system under former offensive coordinator Scott Turner. With Bieniemy, “actual” words provide cues to “tell everyone what to do … and where to line up,” Dotson said.

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Asked by an adult question-asker to label Bieniemy’s offense, Dotson blurted, “Exciting. … A lot of down-the-field plays. We’re going to stretch the field, make the defense really work.”

To reach that point, extra homework is required to learn the detailed verbiage.

“It’s almost like being in school again,” Dotson said, steps away from actual school-aged children.

That X’s an O’s tome wasn’t all Bieniemy toted to town.

“He has brought a (new) culture to our team. He’s brought a sense of energy and urgency,” Dotson said.

The 16th player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft displayed plenty of both as a rookie. The 5-foot-11 target led the Commanders with a team-high seven touchdowns and a 14.9 yards-per-catch average on 35 receptions.

Though not the tallest, fastest or heaviest receiver — Dotson said he weighs 186 after adding 7 pounds to help survive grueling summer practices — years of work provided various edges over defenders. The same fortitude that helped turn him into a route-running technician allows Dotson to tackle play calls that sniff 20 words.

Using practice scripts provided in advance by the staff, Dotson draws total plays at home daily on two whiteboards. As a rookie with his “mind everywhere,” he worried about grasping his outside and slot routes rather than, for example, starting tight end Logan Thomas’ job on a given play. Recognizing those extra details help with “timing and spacing,” and Dotson intends to be versed across the board immediately.

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“Explosive plays are going to happen back to back to back,” Dotson said. “We have the playmakers. … It’s (about) getting comfortable with the offense.”

That and Bieniemy’s loud, assertive style of teaching.

“You guys hear him (during practice),” Dotson noted. “We hear him, trust me.”

Practice means facing a Commanders secondary that added talent with the first two selections in April’s draft, starting with cornerback Emmanuel Forbes.

“Honestly, I watched the tape and I was like, I think he’s good, but I don’t know,” Dotson said of his fellow 16th pick. “But after seeing him on the field, I know how good he is. Now I understand why he was drafted in the first round.”

Familiarity existed with Washington’s 2023 second-round pick, Illinois safety Quan Martin. Dotson dazzled for Penn State in 2020 and ’21 meetings against the Illinois secondary. He first wowed with a 189-yard, two-touchdown showcase in 2020, then jumped into action the next year by turning an easy interception for Martin into a long completion.

The teammates on the opposite side of the ball had yet to connect in practice until Martin, perhaps spurred on by a reporter’s question about those prior matchups with Dotson, spoke up.

“The first words (Quan) said to me: ‘Just know I got to get my get back.’ I had no idea what he was talking about,” the smiling receiver reflected.

Another cornerback, Riverdale Baptist alum Tariq Castro-Fields, joined his Penn State and Washington teammate Saturday. They will be in Ashburn this week for a three-day minicamp, likely the last on-field work with the coaching staff before training camp in late July. For the physical aspect of his job, Dotson spent the past four months primarily at the Exos training facility in Phoenix. He will undoubtedly hear Bieniemy’s voice when shifting operations to Florida after minicamp to hone his skills.

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Dotson said the former Chiefs OC “doesn’t settle for half-ass effort (or) taking plays off.” Bieniemy also “knows how to turn the switch off and on” when an indoor voice is required.

The NFL player didn’t channel Bieniemy’s force with the kids even as they challenged him to races and peppered him with questions about his favorite player growing up (Randy Moss) or the best cornerback he faced as a rookie (Philaelphia’s Darius Slay) or whether he considers himself on the level of All-Pro WR Justin Jefferson (he went with the confident “yes” before the tough crowd).

The little campers also dared Dotson to dance “The Gritty” after scoring his next touchdown and asked why he became a football player.

“This was always my dream,” Dotson said.

No words — or trash-talking kids — are stopping that plan.

(Photo: Rich Barnes / USA Today)

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Ben Standig

Ben Standig is a senior NFL writer focused on the Washington Commanders for The Athletic. The native Washingtonian also hosts the "Standig Room Only" podcast. Ben has covered D.C. area sports since 2005 and is a three-time winner of The Huddle Report's annual NFL mock draft contest. Follow Ben on Twitter @benstandig