Terry McLaurin played in quarterback hell for the first five seasons of his career, but the football gods finally rewarded him with a franchise signal-caller last year. The arrival of Jayden Daniels helped Scary Terry turn out his best season yet with 15.8 FPPG and emerge as one of fantasy football’s best starting options on a weekly basis. After a contract-related holdout this summer, McLaurin hasn’t started the 2025 campaign in strong fashion, but will he bounce back after a couple of quiet weeks?
Can Terry McLaurin bounce back?
The Washington Commanders started the season 1-1 with a win over the New York Giants and a loss to the Green Bay Packers. While players like Zach Ertz and offseason acquisition Deebo Samuel posted quality fantasy football performances in each of those contests, Terry McLaurin disappointed compared to expectations with just 4.7 and 9.8 PPR points to open the year. After he finished just four games below double digits last season with at least 13.4 points in 13 other contests, the start has caused concern for fantasy managers who drafted him in the higher rounds over the offseason expecting a stable presence at receiver.
However, there’s not necessarily reason to worry too much, at least not yet. These performances are pretty explained by the holdout (or hold-in) which the star utilized over the offseason as leverage to secure a new contract. McLaurin missed minicamp as well as the first few days of training camp before hitting the PUP list with an ankle injury. The holdout soon turned into a hold-in, with McLaurin at camp but not participating in full practice activities until he signed a three-year extension worth up to $96 million in late August. That time off meant he missed out on weeks of drills and valuable reps to work back into form following the offseason and subsequent layoff.
Now, McLaurin’s a true professional and one of the best wideouts in the NFL. However, even the league’s top talents aren’t immune to slow starts following a holdout. Look no further than Brandon Aiyuk, who didn’t practice last year while seeking a contract from the San Francisco 49ers. Despite grading out as one of the NFL’s best coverage-beaters against both man and zone in 2023, he didn’t tally more than five catches or 48 yards throughout the first four games of 2024 after returning from his holdout with an extension. Even Dallas Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb, a better talent than McLaurin, averaged only 13.76 FPPG over his first three contests following a holdout last season. His production came back to normal levels with 17.6 FPPG over the remainder of the campaign.
The verdict
With those examples in mind, the slow start from McLaurin shouldn’t concern fantasy managers too much. We’ve seen recent cases of players who needed more time to round into form after a holdout and the veteran doesn’t seem like an exception to that trend. He started 2024 slow as well, tallying just 3.7 and 8.2 fantasy points with no more than 22 receiving yards in either of his first two games, and look at how the rest of his season played out.
Two weeks can feel like forever in fantasy football, but this doesn’t mark the end of McLaurin’s success by any means. He’s still every bit of the talent he displayed last season as the top target for Daniels. While the arrival of Samuel does bring a better zone-beater to soak up the screen passes offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury loves, there’s room for both he and McLaurin to thrive in this offense. The latter just needs a little more time to work back into game shape.
Granted, the knee sprain Daniels suffered in Week 2 does raise questions about what happens to this offense if the franchise quarterback misses time. His status will be one to monitor over the coming days, but barring catastrophe it seems he won’t miss too much time, if any. As long as he’s on the field, Scary Terry should rebound back to starting status very soon in fantasy football.
