Things have finally slowed down for Jahan Dotson.
“My rookie year, everything was just happening back to back to back to back,” said Dotson, who is entering his third season as a wide receiver with the Washington Commanders. “I really didn’t get to have an appreciation for everything. It was just going fast. Now, going into Year 3, I have an appreciation for things and slowing life down a little bit, slowing my mind down. I feel like I’m getting the hang of the NFL. I’m ready to have a big Year 3 and showcase my talent.”
The Nazareth Area High School graduate might be acclimated to the league but there’s still plenty of change around him. The Commanders fired head coach Ron Rivera in January and overhauled the front office that selected Dotson with the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Washington hired Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who previously spent five-plus seasons as the Atlanta Falcons head coach, to lead the franchise, which is entering its second season under new ownership.
“It’s been awesome getting to learn from different minds,” Dotson said. “Coach Quinn, he’s been nothing but spectacular – being able to learn from him and being able to build a relationship with him.”
Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is the team’s new offensive coordinator and brings a marked change in scheme from that of Eric Bieniemy.
“We’re going to do a lot of different things. One big thing is the hurry-up offense. It kind of takes me back to college a little bit,” said Dotson, who starred at Penn State. “I feel like that’s going to be an exciting thing for us and something that we can use to our advantage. I’m really excited for that.”
Dotson will also have a new person throwing him the ball. Washington selected LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, with the second overall pick in April’s draft.
The third-year wideout has tried to be a resource for the rookie signal-caller.
“Skill set-wise, he has pretty much all the tools that you want in a quarterback,” Dotson said. “... Anything that I see, I just communicate it back to him. We just talk through things.”
The former lehighvalleylive.com Boys Athlete of the Year has caught 84 passes for 1,041 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first two NFL seasons. He’s preparing for training camp after recharging his batteries away from the game.
“We get a good break where you can reset your mind and really focus on your entire life other than football,” Dotson said. “Once it’s time to lock in, you’ve really got to go at it and make sure that you’re prepared for the moment when it comes.”
Dotson did, of course, make note of the offseason fellow Penn State and Lehigh Valley great Saquon Barkley experienced. The Whitehall graduate signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, remaining a division rival of Dotson’s after six seasons with the New York Giants.
“He got the deal that he deserved,” Dotson said. “I’m really happy for him. I hate that I still have to play him twice a year. I know he’s going to do great things – that’s just the guy he is.”
Giving back
Dotson spoke Sunday prior to the start of the third annual Jahan Dotson Impact Athlete Football Camp, which was hosted by Lehigh Valley Health Network at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township.
The initial edition of Dotson’s camp in 2022 was the first event of its kind that LVHN presented as part of its “Impact Athlete” initiative. The program has expanded to include free clinics in several sports. The network will host a field hockey camp, featuring Emmaus’ Abby Burnett (Michigan), Liberty’s Rayne Wright (Maryland) and Parkland’s Aubrey Semler (Penn State), 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at Emmaus.
“It’s always good to have role models like [Dotson] come back to the area and give back to the community that raised him,” said Joe Luther, LVHN’s orthopedic and sports medicine outreach liaison. “Hopefully, that continues to cycle ... For us, we’re looking for people that are ideal role models for youth athletes – someone they look up to and someone they can see themselves in. This way, when it’s their turn to go into college, maybe they can do the same thing for their community.”
Dotson, who remains unassuming despite his level of on-field success, is happy to see dozens of young players running around with his name on their T-shirts.
“It’s really cool because this area has done a lot for me as I came up through little league, middle school, high school,” he said. “I feel like the support has been awesome from this area. Any chance I get to give back to kids in the area, I’m trying to do that.”
Dotson, who has also visited patients at LVHN’s Reilly Children’s Hospital as part of his partnership with the network, would’ve jumped at a chance to learn from a pro.
“As I grew up, I didn’t really have opportunities like this to have camps with NFL players. Being that I have the platform, it’s really big for me,” Dotson said. “I feel like it’s kind of my duty, my calling, in a sense, to be able to give back to the little kids and show them a good time for a day. You never know how far it can go.”
