Henry McKenna
NFL Reporter
Early in the offseason, Deebo Samuel asked Kliff Kingsbury — politely — for more deep targets. Samuel, normally a slot guy, wanted to line up outside and run go-balls. Kingsbury figured: Why not?
And so, lined up outside, Samuel hauled in his first target on a go-ball for a big play.
The obvious takeaway?
“Alright, we’ll get you out there more,” Washington’s offensive coordinator told Samuel.
It’s a big part of what drew the Commanders to Samuel. It’s his ability to do just about anything. To do more – including the deep game that is expanding the team’s plans for Samuel. That’s why Washington acquired him in a trade with the 49ers this offseason before guaranteeing his $17-million salary and adding $3 million in incentives. As the former Arizona Cardinals head coach, Kingsbury watched from the opposite sideline while Samuel and Christian McCaffrey caused fits for his defenses.
And now, Kingsbury said he’s “honored” to have the opportunity to make the most of Samuel’s talents.
Deebo Samuel is all smiles in Commanders camp working with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and QB Jayden Daniels. (Photo by John McDonnell/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
It should be a treat to watch one of the NFL’s truly unique weapons and one of the NFL’s brightest offensive minds in the same offense.
“There’ll be some things that people haven’t seen with how we feature him,” Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said Wednesday.
That’s what I was hoping he’d say.
It’s a big win for Kingsbury. And it could be an even bigger win for Jayden Daniels.
“I think it’ll be huge [for Daniels’ development],” Kingsbury told me. “Those hidden yards that you can get with a player like Deebo, whether it’s a screen or a quick pass when he makes the first guy miss, is so valuable for a quarterback. The pressure is not always on you to hold on to it and throw it down the field, and so that’s kind of an outlet that can be a real peace of mind. When things are getting harder, OK, how do we get Deebo the ball? Let’s get him involved. He can get it going. It doesn’t have to be all on the QB.”
Terry McLaurin has long been a deep threat for the Commanders. Often connecting with McLaurin, Daniels led the NFL in go-route success last season, per Next Gen Stats, with nine touchdowns and no interceptions. Daniels still sees room for improvement, and he said the repetitions will be the key to opening up that element of the passing game. There should come a point where McLaurin stretches vertically and Samuel challenges the width of the defense in the intermediate and checkdown areas — with tight end Zach Ertz eating up yards in the middle of the field.
Terry McLaurin (left) had a career-high 13 receiving touchdowns last season while rookie Jayden Daniels led the NFL in go-route success. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
But because McLaurin is holding in amid a contract dispute, Samuel is getting more of those go balls that he asked for upon arriving in Washington.
“I think the route-running ability is way better than I anticipated,” Kingsbury said of Samuel. “Yeah, he really has some natural feel, whether it’s inside, outside, downfield, making plays.”
That much was clear in joint practices between the New England Patriots and the Commanders on Wednesday. Daniels looked early and often for Ertz over the middle. But it was Samuel who helped Daniels use more of the field. A swing pass here. A deep post there. And a deep crosser here. And no doubt, that unpredictability helped open up the middle of the field where — you guessed it — Ertz predictably attacked.
Late in practice during a seven-on-seven red zone period, Daniels found Samuel in the back left corner of the end zone. The receiver ripped the ball out of the air over cornerback Marcus Jones’ helmet. Samuel kept both feet in-bounds while backpedaling, and he secured the ball through Jones’ swatting and the impact with the ground.
It was a touchdown — and probably the most impressive catch by any player on the day.
For Daniels to avoid a sophomore slump like we saw from Texans QB C.J. Stroud last year, Samuel might just be the key. Now, it’ll take hard work. The 29-year-old receiver is coming off one of his worst statistical years in 2024, when he dealt with a calf strain, rib and oblique injuries, a wrist issue and pneumonia. But Samuel is grinding hard to make sure he understands Daniels’ preferences in terms of routes, timing and coverages. And Kingsbury is working hard to conceptualize the best ways to get Samuel the football.
Jacks of all trades are often masters of none. It’s one thing to bring in someone as versatile as Samuel. It’s another thing to properly utilize his talents. You can’t always plug and play. Often, a unique player like Samuel requires a unique game plan.
But that hard work is also a great opportunity for Kingsbury to flex his creative muscles.
“You nailed it,” he told me. “It’s more of an honor for me to have a player like that, where you see all these different possibilities and plays. It really expands your playbook. It expands the personnel groups — trying to get mismatches with the defense. As an offensive mind, that’s something that you can’t put a price on getting that opportunity.”
So far, the Commanders haven’t truly shown all their cards on how they’ll use Samuel.
Think of it like blackjack: one card up and the other down.
Ertz admitted they’re still fairly “vanilla” in terms of scheme. Kingsbury told me he “can’t wait to game plan” around Samuel’s unique skills. But Samuel did not line up at running back during the joint practice and hasn’t spent much time there during training camp. Kingsbury said he wanted to establish Samuel’s comfort in the slot spot and “build from there.” And likely, when these practices close from the public eye in a few weeks, the Commanders will experiment with Samuel under the cover of privacy.
McLaurin’s recent trade request could emphasize Samuel’s importance even more. Even if McLaurin returns to the Commanders on a new deal, we’ve seen receivers need a few weeks to recalibrate after a holdout or hold-in. For example, Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase had just 97 total yards in his first two games last year — both losses for Cincinnati.
Early in practice on Wednesday, Samuel sidled up beside Daniels to chat and watch backup quarterback Josh Johnson run the second team offense for 11-on-11s. They could have been talking about the weather, about politics, about why the sky is blue. But I’d like to think they were talking about how that practice was a sign of things to come — an indicator that Washington’s offense is about to get a whole lot more dangerous.
Because with Samuel, the Commanders should get a whole lot more dangerous.
Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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