When the legal tampering window opened up early last month, the Philadelphia Eagles saw veteran wide receiver Jahan Dotson immediately take his talents elsewhere, signing a two-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons that was reportedly worth up to $15 million.
The Eagles wouldn’t be able to compete with the Falcons’ offer, even if they wanted to, given their needs at other positions. During his two-year stint with Philadelphia, Dotson assumed the WR3 role in the Eagles’ passing game. This contract was too rich for Howie Roseman's blood, however, and for good reason.
The former first-round pick didn’t put up huge numbers with the Eagles, despite playing next to A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Saquon Barkley. In fact, he was the fifth option behind those guys, and the numbers reflected it.Â
The 25-year-old receiver recorded 37 receptions (69 targets) for 478 yards and a touchdown in 34 games (16 starts). However, he enters a new situation with the Falcons, where they need a WR2 alongside Drake London after releasing Darnell Mooney.
Jahan Dotson Should Get More Opportunities to Make Plays with Falcons
The Falcons made a ton of changes to their team this offseason, starting with the front office. That trickled down to the coaching staff, with Kevin Stefanski taking over as the next head coach. Then, the roster changes began, as Atlanta went on to sign veteran QB Tua Tagovailoa, who could compete for the starting job with Michael Penix, who is coming off a torn ACL.
Even though the QB situation is not ideal like it was in Philadelphia, Dotson has room to fill up on a lot of targets. As we mentioned, Atlanta moved on from Mooney before free agency began, clearing $7.42 million in cap space.
With Mooney off the roster, the Falcons need to fill 72 targets, which he had last year. Over his two-year run in Atlanta, Mooney served as a perfect complement to London because he could stretch the field with his speed, as evidenced by his average of 14.9 yards per reception.
Luckily for Atlanta, Dotson can easily step into that role, as being a vertical deep threat was his calling card coming out of Penn State, as well as during his first two seasons with the Washington Commanders.
During his rookie season in Washington, Dotson had 35 receptions (61 targets) for 523 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 14.9 yards per reception and had a 13.5 ADOT (average depth of target). Dotson also had a drop issue early in his career (11 drops), but seemingly overcame that with the Eagles, where he didn’t have a single drop.
If the Falcons can utilize Dotson to his strengths as a stretch the field option, but also someone who can play on the outside and in the slot, making plays in the short and intermediate parts of the field, he’ll see his numbers return to what they were in Washington.
Olamide Zaccheaus, whom the Falcons signed to a one-year deal, will likely be Atlanta’s WR3, which serves him perfectly. He won’t interfere with what Dotson is doing, and those guys are two different types of receivers, so they shouldn't be actively competing for looks in the same areas of the field.
Eagles fans likely won’t be paying close attention to what Dotson is doing in Atlanta, since Hollywood Brown is taking over his role. But we shouldn’t be surprised if Dotson looks more like the guy we saw in Washington than in his short time in Philly.