Were the Commanders holding back Luke McCaffrey this summer?
On Tuesday, the Washington Commanders released their depth chart ahead of Week 1, and four rookies were in the starting lineup.
Wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, left tackle Brandon Coleman, quarterback Jayden Daniels and cornerback Mike Sainristil were all listed as starters. Daniels and Sainristil were not a surprise; neither was Coleman. However, Coleman missed all of the preseason after an excellent start in training camp.
Is Coleman atop the depth chart because he’s healthy and the team is confident in him, or is it due to Washington’s lack of depth at the position?
Next is McCaffrey. When the Commanders traded former first-round pick Jahan Dotson, almost everyone believed that would mean more work for the third-round pick and younger brother of Christian McCaffrey.
Throughout training camp, McCaffrey was quiet. Brycen Tremayne and Mitchell Tinsley were the young wideouts everyone heard about. It wasn’t that McCaffrey was bad; he wasn’t. He just wasn’t on the daily highlight reels.
Perhaps that was by design.
Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has some advantages heading into Week 1. He has a new offense, a rookie quarterback, and some overall mystery surrounding what type of offense we will see. Maybe the Commanders knew in the spring that McCaffrey was special and had always planned a significant role for him as a rookie.
In 2019, former head coach Jay Gruden limited Terry McLaurin in the preseason. Gruden said he knew from the moment he first saw McLaurin that he was special and would immediately be the team’s top receiver. Gruden was right and McLaurin had a huge game in his debut.
Could McCaffrey be on a trajectory similar to McLaurin’s in his rookie season?
While outsiders express concern about Washington’s receivers, general manager Adam Peters, head coach Dan Quinn and Kingsbury have expressed confidence in the current group. Maybe that’s because they know what they have.
Fantasy football expert Matthew Berry recently predicted big things for McCaffrey.
It sounds like you should start buying stock in McCaffrey if you’re into fantasy football. It’s important to note that while McCaffrey is atop the depth chart, Dyami Brown should also see plenty of time.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Were the Commanders holding back Luke McCaffrey this summer?
