Why Commanders rookie WR Antonio Williams can help 2026 emphasis for Jayden Daniels

Injuries limited Jayden Daniels to seven starts last season. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

(Michael Owens via Getty Images)

Veteran receiver Terry McLaurin, whom the Commanders extended last August, will anchor the receiving corps. But Washington also selected Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft as the team aimed to get younger and faster.

Deebo Samuel led Washington last season with 727 receiving yards and five touchdowns as McLaurin was limited to 10 games due to a right quad injury. McLaurin’s 58.2 yards per game was more productive than Samuel’s 45.4 when both were available.

The Commanders didn’t draft Williams to be Samuel 2.0. But they do see ways he can complement McLaurin.

“You can see [Williams] really helping us out on third down,” general manager Adam Peters said after Washington drafted Williams. “We’ll have multiple guys across the formation that win on third down.”

In Williams, Commanders believe they found ‘NFL route runner’

When Daniels is extending plays, expect McLaurin to still be the top option whether downfield or on a crossing route.

McLaurin’s vertical strengths flashed in Daniels’ rookie year, when the two connected for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns — part of his seven-year track record averaging 14 yards per reception.

In Williams, who played four seasons for Clemson, Washington welcomes a receiver who can complement McLaurin by working the slot. The Commanders do not only view Williams as a slot receiver, Peters pointing to a 2024 game against Georgia when Williams lined up outside.

Peters touted Williams’ strength at the catch point and toughness on exposed targets and blocks as offsetting Williams’ 5-foot-11.5, 187-pound frame. The Commanders hope to see the talent Williams showed in 2024 before a hamstring injury slowed his 2025.

Clemson's Antonio Williams, a Round 3 selection, was the first offensive player the Commanders drafted last month. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“Watch his 2024 film, you really get to see what a special talent he is,” Peters said. “Great athlete. Great athlete, really fast, and he’s fast in a lot of different ways. He’s fast at the 40 time (4.41). The GPS is really, really on him in game. And then the old scout’s eye: You see him, he plays fast and he plays at a high level.”

But perhaps the top reason Williams caught the Commanders’ eye was his route-running. Washington hopes giving Daniels a player who can sync with him and sync quickly will help Daniels in and out of structure.

“Just the speed and the detail and the precision and the quickness in and out of breaks, he doesn’t look like a college guy out there,” Peters said. “The things that’ll win at our level … he’s already doing them.

“He’s an NFL route runner.”

Peters credited Williams’ ability to understand zone and man coverages as well as how to outleverage opponents.

“He’s more of the underneath guy than Terry,” Peters said, “but certainly versatile enough to do all the rest of the stuff.”

Commanders offense will feature change at coaches, personnel

After two years under offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Daniels will experience his first professional system shift.

The Commanders and Kingsbury parted ways after the 2025 season due to differences in offensive philosophies. Washington also lost its 2024 and 2025 quarterbacks coach, Tavita Pritchard, when Pritchard’s alma mater Stanford hired him as head coach.

Still, Quinn had assembled a staff he hoped would give Daniels consistency in terminology and institutional system knowledge throughout his career even with turnover. So rather than hire from outside, the Commanders promoted 2024-25 assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to offensive coordinator.

Blough, who played quarterback for Purdue before four seasons across the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals rosters, is expected to integrate more under-center principles than the Commanders had for Daniels’ career start.

Expect Daniels to consider cadences and checks at the line of scrimmage more and to adjust his footwork to under-center principles. The Commanders hope continuity with backup quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Sam Hartman, as well with Blough, will help smooth Daniels’ transition.

“Change is hard, to start, but Jayden's football acumen is also super rare,” Quinn told Yahoo Sports in March. “He just gets it in terms of mental quickness and being around, all the starts in college and also the starts here.”

Will health power a Daniels upswing?

In Daniels’ seven games last season, he completed 60.6% of passes for 1,262 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. He dipped from 209.9 yards per game and a 100.1 passer rating to 180.3 and 88.1. But Daniels’ health, as well as that of a battered receiving corps, influenced those numbers.

The Commanders ranked 22nd in total offense and scoring last season, down from seventh and fifth in 2024. And they ranked 24th in passing yards, down from 17th. Washington’s run game remained consistent even amid changing parts, ranking No. 4 in total rushing yards a year after slotting third.

Expect Washington to again lean on its run game in 2026. But don’t expect the Commanders to lean on Daniels as their carrier.

Schematic advantages will come with new passing concepts. Washington hopes better quarterback availability will, too.

“It’s not just on Jayden, it’s on all of us,” Peters said at the NFL scouting combine. “It’s on our scouting staff to find the receivers and linemen and the running backs to support him so he doesn’t have to do it all himself. It’s on the coaches with the way they coach him and what they call the plays we call and the scheme and everything like that.

“So it’s a team effort. But certainly it is a premium to keep him healthy.”