Commanders WR Jahan Dotson has a goal for 2024: ‘Be a lot better’

It was a season of stunted growth for several young Commanders players, and second-year receiver Jahan Dotson was among them.

Ahead of the season’s final game, Dotson talked about his frustration with how the season had gone for himself, as well as his commitment to going back to the drawing board this offseason to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I like to watch tape of myself,” he said. “So, going back and just being my own biggest critic and honing in on the things I didn’t do well this year, and also building on the things I did do well.

“But yeah, I’m ready. I’m ready to get this one in the past. Just look forward to getting better. I want to be a lot better for myself, and for this team. So I can’t wait to do that.”

Dotson was lauded as a precise route runner and a reliable target in his rookie year, but had some drops and other miscues in an uneven 2023 campaign.

His first season, he logged 7 touchdowns and 523 yards while playing just 12 games because of a hamstring injury.

This year he played every game, but finished with just 4 touchdowns and 518 yards, including three games where he was kept off the stat sheet. He finished with 100 yards just once, a home loss against the Eagles.

Dotson is one of several young players who seemed to regress as Washington took a major step backward as a team.

As new general manager Adam Peters surveys the team, he’ll have to sort out which players he wants to lean on going into 2024, even if they didn’t show their full potential in 2023. It’s a list that includes cornerbacks Benjamin St.-Juste and Emmanuel Forbes, as well as offensive lineman Chris Paul and tight end Cole Turner.

Dotson, normally soft-spoken, was adamant that the team needed a change in culture, something Peters was hired to provide.

Speaking before Peters was hired, Dotson spoke about the need for internal leadership among Commanders players.

“I would say, as far as players, just a sense of culture,” Dotson said. “We’ve got to have a mindset in here that we want change. We can’t just accept this type of stuff because this is really hard on a lot of people.

“I know a lot of people come from winning backgrounds, so we’ve got to bring that stuff in here. We can’t accept anything but winning. That starts with us players, no matter who the coaches are. It starts with us. We’ve got to bring our best foot forward and make sure that we go out every Sunday and bring it.”

Dotson played at Penn State, a program where winning records and bowl games are taken for granted, similar to wide receivers Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel, who went to Ohio State.

Samuel is a free agent but McLaurin and Dotson seem likely to return in 2024 and anchor a receiving corps that could be working under a third quarterback and a third offensive coordinator in just three years.

“Consistency is a big factor,” Dotson said. “Just because you just get familiar with each other. It’s just like any relationship in life — the more time you spend around each other, the better you guys are gonna be at communicating.”

He endorsed Sam Howell as a player, even though the two didn’t produce the numbers Dotson was hoping for this year.

“He’s a guy who, I’m gonna have his back no matter what, because I see the talent he has,” Dotson said. “I see the capability. I know he can do it. Whether his number is called or not, I know he’s going to come to practice every day, like a professional, and be there on Sundays when we need him.”

Dotson promised to do the same, after an introspective offseason where he aims to discover how he can best produce the way the Commanders were hoping when they selected him in the first round.