Jahan Dotson is only in year four of his professional career following a stellar career at Penn State. Drafted sixteenth overall by the Commanders in 2022, Dotson was viewed as a high upside player who had yet to reach his full potential. Leaving college on a strong note, having expanded his role year after year, his senior season accounted for nearly half of his college production.
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Betting on Jahan Dotson’s Potential
Washington bet on potential and selected Jahan Dotson, knowing he would still need to develop areas of his game to be a complete receiver. He would flash big play ability early in his time with the Commanders. Catching 35 passes, he managed 14.9 yards per reception. He produced 26 1st downs and 7 touchdowns, meaning 94% of his receptions resulted in one or the other.
Of his 14.9 yards per reception, he averaged a 15.4-yard adjusted depth of target according to PFF.com. He was Washington’s downfield threat early in his career, and it often paid off; however, Washington shifted their usage of him in year two. He was targeted 22 more times and caught 14 more passes; his average air yards fell almost 3 yards per reception. One would assume that, given the usually higher probability of a catch, the closer you get to the quarterback, the more it would be reflected in his catch rate.
However, it did not, as his catch rate in 2023 was 59%, just a 1.6% increase. To put this into perspective, his air yards fell over 33% from 15.4 to just 10.0. Over a two-season stretch on 144 targets, he caught 84 passes, for a catch rate of 58.3%. It gets uglier when you look at drops and passes his direction that were intercepted.
Jahan Dotson accounted for 7 dropped passes and 11 interceptions, which accounted for 15% of his targets. Not a good look for a player trying to warrant a larger role. It begins to become clearer why the Commanders were ready to move on from a player they selected in the first round so quickly when you look more closely at the situation. He was also used heavily in contested catch situations, which is not really one of his strong suits.
Jahan Dotson was targeted 30 times on what were considered contested targets, catching 15 of them. While 50% is not a terrible rate for contested catches (many big-name receivers are in the 40-45% rate), it is not exactly the type of success you would expect if a team is utilizing a player like this often.
Reading all that, you might wonder why the Eagles saw value in trading for the young wideout. During this two-season stretch, Jahan Dotson played against Philadelphia four times. As a rookie, he accounted for just 3 receptions for 24 yards in two games. In 2023, he caught 12 passes for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns. Including an 8 reception, 108-yard, 1 touchdown game in week 8 of 2023. He had proven at least to the brass in Philly that he could be a quality piece of their offense if given the correct role.
Jahan Dotson, Traded Early in his Career
That game was on 10/29/23, by 8/22/24, Jahan Dotson was traded to a division rival, packaged with a fifth-round pick in exchange for a third-round pick, and two seventh-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. At the time, this came as somewhat of a surprise. In-Division trades are rare enough, but trades that include a former first-round pick just two seasons into his career make this situation a unicorn trade to say the least.
Since joining the Eagles, Dotson has had to adjust to a new role in an offense that features players like AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, oh yeah, and this guy:
This left Dotson at best the fifth option in an incredibly talented offense. Something he had yet to experience in the NFL. This had to have been a shock of sorts. Looking around an offensive meeting room and seeing potential Hall of Fame players like Lane Johnson, or perennial Pro-Bowl players like A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, and Jalen Hurts.
Less than 6 months later, Dotson was a Super Bowl Champion, coming off a playoff stretch that displayed why the Eagles traded for him in the first place. Beginning in week 18 against the Giants, Dotson had a 7-reception 94 94-yard game. In the playoffs, he went on to catch 3 of 5 targets for 53 yards. All three receptions were 1st downs, and he was again being used as a deep threat, producing big plays when it mattered.
Year Two In Philadelphia
A New Jersey native, spending a full offseason with the Eagles in 2025 must have felt refreshing for Jahan Dotson. Through the first game of the season, it shows already. He caught a 51-yard pass early in the game, following it up with two more receptions for 8 yards. He finished with 59 yards and led the team in receiving yards. Through the first two games, he has caught 100% of his targets, a great start to the year.
Jahan Dotson has already produced 19 yards after contact, or 4.8 yards per reception, which is by far the highest average of his career. During his time in Washington, he never topped 2.4 yards per reception, even as a rookie. He also has produced a 118.8 quarterback rating when targeted, an impressive number for a guy who bottomed out in 2023, producing a 61 QBR when targeted. This is by far the highest QBR of his career, and while I expect it will come down to Earth as the season progresses, all of this has to be encouraging for Eagles fans trying to justify the trade.
Special Teams, A New Role for Jahan Dotson
What was more surprising to me was seeing him out there on the punt returner. Although he did not end up actually recording a return, he was out there to fair catch the punts. This is something that Jahan Dotson had not yet been the first option for in the NFL. In fact, before he arrived in Philly, Jahan Dotson was credited with just 1 special teams snap on the kick return unit.
During the 2024 season, he logged 4 special teams snaps, 3 of them came as the punt returner, but all of those snaps came during week 18 when the Eagles were sitting several starters going into the playoffs. In last night’s game, he was the only player to enter the game as a punt returner.
Last season, Cooper DeJean was the primary punt returner, with Britain Covey, the only other player who logged a punt return. Covey is gone, and with the turnover in the secondary where the Eagles let players like Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and Avonte Maddox leave via free agency, DeJean is suddenly one of the most indispensable starters on defense.
I expect that Dotson will continue this role, and I would not be surprised if his time on special teams only increases as the season goes on. Through 2 games, he has already seen 5 snaps as the punt returner, a career high when it comes to special teams use. As mentioned before, he has been sprinkled in on kick return at times in the past as well.
His value as a return man is a big deal for the Eagles, who have had a lot of changes to their lineup of return men since the end of the 2024 season. Of the six players who logged a kick or punt return, only two remain on the roster, and one of those, DeJean, likely will not be used in the return game going forward.
With all this in mind, Jahan Dotson is a natural choice for the punt return role. This is a 185-pound receiver who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, but what makes him so dangerous is not his top-end speed, but his first step. Logging a 1.55 10-yard split, you can see Dotson has great first-step quickness. Give him the ball in space, and allow him to hit the afterburners, and not many players in the league will run him down from behind.
More importantly, Jahan Dotson is no stranger to returning punts. He returned 25 punts in college for 338 yards. An average of 13.5 yards per return. This includes an 81-yard return for a touchdown. This is what Jahan Dotson can do in the return game that could make him a dangerous player in this role:
https://www.facebook.com/PSUFball/videos/3509750795805859/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
Another thing to keep in mind, Jahan Dotson has experience returning kicks in High School as well. It would not shock me to see him returning kicks as well with the new kickoff. The larger impact Dotson has now, the better. Let’s not forget this is year four of his rookie deal, and the Eagles chose to decline his fifth-year option after last season.
Jahan Dotson is faced with an uphill battle to prove he is worth keeping around as a wide receiver 3 in a very expensive offense, but the Eagles appear willing to let him convince them he can be a big-time contributor. So far, he is on pace to make it a very tough decision for the Eagles. As mentioned before, he has caught all 4 of his targets, producing 63 yards on offense. He also has had 5 chances to return a punt, and showed he will not put the team in harm’s way, fair catching four punts, and returning another for 14 yards.
Jahan Dotson is providing reliable hands and good decision-making on when to play it safe, and when to try and make a play, an asset in the return game. With 77 yards from scrimmage in just two games, it is clear that Dotson will have a much larger role on the team in 2025 than he had in 2024. Only time will tell if it is enough to keep him around long-term.
Final Thoughts
Jahan Dotson carving out a substantial role in this offense is what the Eagles were hoping for upon acquiring him. On that front, it appears they are trending toward a mission accomplished. Playing a total of 30 snaps in week one, Dotson has locked down the third receiver spot behind Brown and Smith. In fact, Dotson managed to finish tied for third on the team with 3 targets. He was tied with Devonta Smith, while AJ Brown saw just one target.
In week one, the leading receivers in terms of targets were Dallas Goedert (7) and Saquon Barkley (5). On a night where Jalen Hurts totaled just 152 passing yards or 6.6 yards per pass attempt, Dotson accounted for 51 yards on a single play. If not for that play, Hurts would have had just 101 passing yards on 22 pass attempts: 4.59 yards per attempt.
In week two, his target share dropped, with Brown and Smith stealing the show in this game. Brown had 8 targets, and Smith was targeted 6 times. Barkley saw 2 targets, while Dotson saw 1. He is currently fifth in targets behind Brown, Smith, Goedert, and Barkley, exactly where I would expect to see him most of the season. However, through just two games, it’s safe to say that, even though we just completed the first two games of the season, Dotson is poised for a larger impact, whether it is as a deep threat or in the return game. Will this push the Eagles to re-sign him, or make him more valuable to his next team?
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Sources:
NFL.com
ProFootballFocus.com
ProFootballReferance.com
FootballReferance.com
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