Breaking down Jahan Dotson’s excellent performance against the 49ers
Taking a closer look at how Commanders rookie WR Jahan Dotson performed against the 49ers.
Rookie wide receiver Jahan Dotson continues to impress just about every week. He followed up a 100-yard performance against the Giants with a strong outing against the 49ers that consisted of six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. While the numbers suggest a good performance, they don’t tell the entire story because Dotson ran open frequently and wasn’t always found by the quarterback.
Let’s start with the plays he did make. He had a number of nice routes and impressive catches. One of his best plays, in my opinion, came on a choice route just outside the red zone.
On this play, the Commanders work out of an empty formation. The intent here is to spread out the defense and generate a favorable matchup for the receivers. The concept is a combination of a stick route and slot fade to the left, with a choice route from Dotson in the slot to the right. The quarterback can opt to work to the slot fade in an optimal man coverage look, but otherwise can make a simpler read underneath and work to either the stick route or the choice route depending on where the middle linebacker goes. As quarterback Taylor Heinicke snaps the ball, he checks the linebacker as he attaches to the stick route and quickly works to Dotson on his choice route.
Dotson gets matched up against a linebacker and while the 49ers have some excellent linebackers, the Commanders will back Dotson to win that matchup every time. Dotson sells a nice fake at the top of his route and gets the linebacker to commit, opening a path inside. Dotson then cuts sharply inside and is open in the middle of the field. However, Heinicke’s throw is poorly placed behind Dotson. A good throw out in front and Dotson could well be off to the races here, but because the ball is behind him, Dotson has to stop and try to adjust. He can’t quite pull the catch in at first attempt, but he somehow remains focused on the ball and after it bounces off the defender, he makes the grab and picks up a first down.
That weak side choice route scheme is perfect for a receiver with Dotson’s quickness. It was a nice scheme and it worked perfectly, but unfortunately the throw limited the potential of the play. But full credit goes to Dotson for somehow managing to stay with the ball and make the play after it bounced off the defender.
Dotson had a few other nice catches in this game too.
This time, the Commanders call for a play-action bootleg with Heinicke rolling out to his right while Dotson works down the field. Dotson aligns tight to the formation and actually releases inside the tight end to try and help sell the run fake. From there he gets vertical before breaking out towards the sideline, running away from the deep safety. To his credit, Heinicke does a fantastic job on this play. To avoid the early pressure and get out on the bootleg alone was very impressive, but to then spot Dotson down the field and make this throw was incredible. For his part, Dotson tracks the ball well and makes the grab despite the late flash of a defender sinking back underneath him.
That was Dotson’s biggest play in terms of yards, but his most impactful play was his touchdown catch.
This is a play that the Commanders have been trying to connect on in the red zone for a while now. It’s a variation of a snag or spot concept, which essentially is a corner-flat concept but with an added receiver spotting up in between those two routes. In this case, tight end Logan Thomas runs the spot route with running back Jonathan Williams working the flat route. Dotson aligns tight to the right of the formation and runs the corner route. As he releases into his route, Dotson identifies its zone coverage. He gets vertical to attack the safety, who shifts outside. Dotson’s ultimate goal is to wrap around the back of the safety and run along the back of the goal line, but if the safety senses him, he can simply sink back underneath the route and take it away. So as Dotson approaches the safety, he sells a fake inside.
The safety believes Dotson working inside and he knows he has help there, so he leaves Dotson and instead works underneath to Thomas on the spot route. However, Dotson then breaks outside behind the safety and along the back of the end zone. Heinicke finds him with a good throw and Dotson does well to ensure he secures the pass while keeping both of his feet in bounds to complete the touchdown.
Those subtle details in his routes are such a huge part of Dotson’s success. He understands that those fine details can be the difference in plays, especially down in the red zone where things are so compact.
While those last two plays were Dotson’s most explosive and impactful plays in terms of actual statistics, he had a number of plays where the Commanders missed opportunities for more explosive plays. He had one big play on a double move that got wiped out due to a penalty.
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