Speaker 1: Welcome to the Commanders Today Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the Commanders Today Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The first
Speaker 1: three rounds of the NFL Draft have officially wrapped, and
Speaker 1: the Commanders welcome new additions to both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1: Washington traded their first round pick to the New Orleans
Speaker 1: Saints in exchange for the sixteenth overall pick and both
Speaker 1: a third and fourth round selection. With the sixteenth overall pick,
Speaker 1: the Commanders drafted wide receiver John Dotson out of Penn State.
Speaker 1: I had the chance to sit down with Dotson after
Speaker 1: his arrival in Ashbourne. John, Welcome to Washington. Now. We
Speaker 1: got to talk last night, but now you're here, You've
Speaker 1: been able to see the facility, meet some of the coaches.
Speaker 1: How is it settling in for you? Yeah, it's crazy,
Speaker 1: honestly a dream come true. Just taking it all in,
Speaker 1: being here, getting picked last night, flying here today, being
Speaker 1: with my family. It's honestly amazing. It's a dream come true.
Speaker 1: And you said you were kind of surprised, you weren't
Speaker 1: sure who was going to select you or where you're
Speaker 1: going to be selected. What have you learned so far
Speaker 1: from the coaching staff of what they say of why
Speaker 1: you were their guy. Yeah, they said they've been looking
Speaker 1: at me for a while now and they just kind
Speaker 1: of wanted to keep it a secret. Didn't want all
Speaker 1: the teams knowing that they were interested in me and
Speaker 1: basically telling me that I'm a versatile receiver who can
Speaker 1: do a lot of things, who can compliment guys who
Speaker 1: are in the receiver room right now, and someone who
Speaker 1: can be a vertical threat down the field, and then
Speaker 1: adding special teams value is always good. Okay, so you're
Speaker 1: just led me write into it. Let's get straight into
Speaker 1: your game. Then, Yeah, they do line you up inside outside?
Speaker 1: Where do you feel more comfortable though doesn't matter. I
Speaker 1: feel like it doesn't matter to me, to be honest
Speaker 1: with you. I feel more comfortable of being able to
Speaker 1: go inside and outside. So being able to show my
Speaker 1: versatility and show the different things that I can do
Speaker 1: on the football field is something that plays right into
Speaker 1: my game. Your coach Rivera says you have. One of
Speaker 1: the things he loves about was you have this great
Speaker 1: catch radius. You're five to eleven. Let's just state the
Speaker 1: obvious um. You know, typically to go up and be
Speaker 1: able to do that against some other taller dbs is
Speaker 1: not easy. Maybe your height, How do you play bigger
Speaker 1: than your size? Yeah, just kind of having a it's
Speaker 1: more of a mentality thing, kind of having that dog mentality.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I've been the youngest of eight cousins, so
Speaker 1: pretty much growing up getting bullied and picked on. It
Speaker 1: kind of raised me to be the man I am
Speaker 1: today and just overcome my fears and overcome challenges in
Speaker 1: my life. So being able to do those things. I
Speaker 1: look at tall tasks as just things that I want
Speaker 1: to accomplish. I know you haven't had much time, but
Speaker 1: then have you been able to go and thank all
Speaker 1: your cousins say hey, this is for you picking up
Speaker 1: me when I was three years old. Now right, Literally
Speaker 1: they were all there last night, so I feel like
Speaker 1: I kind of got the last laugh a little bit.
Speaker 1: But it's been pretty cool. Yeah. We normally always see
Speaker 1: you with a football and hands. In fact, I was
Speaker 1: anticipating here, but as he walks up, he you toss
Speaker 1: it up or to your best friend that's here with
Speaker 1: you as well. It's great to be surrounded by good people.
Speaker 1: Why is that the football? Yeah, honestly, it feels like
Speaker 1: It's like a little piece of me that like always
Speaker 1: feels like home wherever I bring it, no matter what,
Speaker 1: something that I can just resort back to, and it's
Speaker 1: kind of just a way for me to just get away.
Speaker 1: I can kind of be my be by myself, just
Speaker 1: chilling and I could be throwing the ball up in
Speaker 1: the air. Kind of feels like I'm just getting away
Speaker 1: from everything. We've seen some pretty athletic one handed grabs
Speaker 1: as well. Is there anything or psychology or science to
Speaker 1: you always having the ball in your hand that maybe
Speaker 1: helps you be able to do that in the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's definitely probably some some type of study that me
Speaker 1: always having football in my hands has helped me with
Speaker 1: being able to make those crazy acrobatic catches. But I
Speaker 1: would honestly say most of it is just guy giving ability,
Speaker 1: just thanking the man above for kind of blessing me
Speaker 1: and touching me. So just thanking him and being able
Speaker 1: to do these things is a dream come true. A
Speaker 1: lot of people do say that one of the best
Speaker 1: traits of your game is you do have good hands. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're also got some good speech to you as well.
Speaker 1: We talk a lot Santana Moss as one of our guys.
Speaker 1: He'll be around a good bit he talks about. He said, Man,
Speaker 1: he is always open, and you're good at running routes
Speaker 1: and doing that. What do you pride yourself most on
Speaker 1: in your game? Yeah, definitely my route running. Yeah, taking
Speaker 1: pride in that is big for me. Just because I'm
Speaker 1: not a bigger guy, I can't just rely on my
Speaker 1: side to get open. So Um, making sure that I'm
Speaker 1: precise in the little details of route running it's huge
Speaker 1: for me, and it's gonna be able to make me
Speaker 1: create separation against guys who are just as good as
Speaker 1: me and have just as much as athleticism as me.
Speaker 1: So taking pride in those little details of route running
Speaker 1: is really big. You know. I asked him last night
Speaker 1: because you said that you kind of enjoy like, kind
Speaker 1: of manipulating your defenders a little bit Nasum and said,
Speaker 1: what does that mean? What goes into that? And he says,
Speaker 1: it means he's a smart kid first off, right, because
Speaker 1: you're able to know how they're playing you on certain
Speaker 1: reads and certain things to be able to change it
Speaker 1: up a little bit. You're also one of the best
Speaker 1: when it comes to the nine six percentile when playing
Speaker 1: in the zone. You don't have time to see that.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to recognize it when you're
Speaker 1: on the run. Right, Where do these smarts come from? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would definitely say my experience at Penn State. Coming
Speaker 1: from a small high school, you don't see big time football.
Speaker 1: You're kind of out there, just kind of free for all,
Speaker 1: just playing and kind of lending your natural abilities take over.
Speaker 1: But once I got to Penn State, as you know,
Speaker 1: when you get to when you move up the ranks,
Speaker 1: you kind of get guys who are just as good
Speaker 1: as you, get just as athletic as you, and you
Speaker 1: got to find a little advantage and the film the
Speaker 1: film room was big for me. Getting in there with
Speaker 1: Sean Sean Clifford, a guy who I got to play
Speaker 1: three years with is my quarterback, and just seeing the
Speaker 1: things that he sees. He's a very intelligent football player,
Speaker 1: so just learning from him, learning how to watch film
Speaker 1: and learn the nuances of defenses and what they're trying
Speaker 1: to do to you. It helps me manipulate my defender.
Speaker 1: Everybody kind of wants to also be able to find
Speaker 1: a way to identify of who you will be as
Speaker 1: a player, so they go to kind of former guys. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we've heard coach m ar so you're remind them a
Speaker 1: little bit of Deshaun Jackson and and that of it too,
Speaker 1: was kind of playing bigger than your size. Um of
Speaker 1: Steve Smith when he was with Carolina. We've heard Tyler Lockett. Um.
Speaker 1: People even here are saying, you know, Terry McLaurin, And
Speaker 1: that's just kind of a lot of it too, I think,
Speaker 1: is how you you're carrying yourself. Um. And Terry's kind
Speaker 1: of that guy that's kind of like nitty gritty as well,
Speaker 1: Like he goes up and he prides himself on those
Speaker 1: fifty fifty balls. Who do you model your game after?
Speaker 1: Or what do you think when you hear those names
Speaker 1: doing the success that they've had. Yeah, it's definitely pretty
Speaker 1: cool to hear the names that are that I'm mentioned with,
Speaker 1: especially Terry mclauren. Uh, talking to a lot of people
Speaker 1: in the in the building and just noticing how how
Speaker 1: I'm picturing my head Terry McLaren is, I can't wait
Speaker 1: to meet him. Uh. It's honestly like this was kind
Speaker 1: of meant to be a little bit. He's kind of
Speaker 1: a guy who who goes about his work. Quiet guy
Speaker 1: who goes about his work and I'm the exact same way,
Speaker 1: So just honestly can't wait to meet him, can't wait
Speaker 1: to learn from him and take his song. He's beloved here,
Speaker 1: So you're gonna fit right in line with the Burgundy
Speaker 1: and gold. Um, and what you're going to contribute to
Speaker 1: on the field. What do people need to know about
Speaker 1: you off the field though? Yeah? Um, I'm a quiet kid,
Speaker 1: quiet laid back kid who just likes having fun, honestly,
Speaker 1: really easygoing. U loves to play video games. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: just can't wait to I'm excited for this moment, So
Speaker 1: can't wait to get in the community and really uh
Speaker 1: just be a part of it. And you have some
Speaker 1: family here as well that lives in Potomac. They told
Speaker 1: you anything to expect about your move here, Maybe where
Speaker 1: you want to look, Yeah, not too much. Knowing that
Speaker 1: I'll be able to somewhere, be able to go outside
Speaker 1: my front door and yell and hear their name will
Speaker 1: be pretty cool. But um, haven't really thought about a
Speaker 1: living situation too much, But just excited to be here
Speaker 1: in the moment right now. And we now know it's
Speaker 1: that number one Jersey that's a bold move, man, that's
Speaker 1: a bold move. That's a bold move, and I honestly
Speaker 1: can't wait for it. Feeling like the perfect it was
Speaker 1: a perfect opportunity to first pick ever for the commanders
Speaker 1: and just be able to being able to wear that
Speaker 1: number one jersey. It's gonna be pretty cool. Welcome, Glad
Speaker 1: to have you here, and let me just finish with this.
Speaker 1: Doug Williams picked you up on the flight. Yeah, there
Speaker 1: is so much rich history with this franchise. You are
Speaker 1: now a part of that history and a new chapter
Speaker 1: being that first commander drafted. Um, it's important for us
Speaker 1: to tie our history with today. What did you get
Speaker 1: take from talking with Doug to know the importance of
Speaker 1: you being here and being now the first commander? Yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely talking with Doug was amazing, honestly, just getting on
Speaker 1: the flight with him, talking to him about what it
Speaker 1: is to be a commander, what it is to be
Speaker 1: a part of this organization, and what it means to
Speaker 1: the city. Um, it's it's amazing. I can't wait for
Speaker 1: this opportunity and I can't wait to talk with him
Speaker 1: even more about it. So, um, just looking forward, looking
Speaker 1: forward to it as coach On Rivera said, you're here
Speaker 1: to help change the trajectory of this franchise. Welcome, glad
Speaker 1: to have you. Thank you. Be sure to tune into
Speaker 1: Washington Football Today weeknights five thirty and ten pm on
Speaker 1: NBC Sports Washington. And while you're at it, be sure
Speaker 1: to follow at Commanders on all social media platforms for
Speaker 1: the latest news on the team. Thanks for listening.