Terrell Washington Jr. practicing at receiver could be positive sign for Iowa offense
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The way in which Terrell Washington Jr. is being utilized in spring practice is reason to be encouraged.
Because it shows that new Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester is looking for ways to put his skill players in the best positions to excel, and for ways to create mismatches in space.
Iowa is razor thin at receiver, even more so now that Jacob Bostick has entered the transfer portal.
And with five scholarship running backs currently on the Iowa spring roster, and with two more running backs in the 2024 recruiting class, it makes sense that Lester would consider moving one of the current running backs to receiver, which in this case is Washington.
The decision to start using the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Washington as a slot receiver came after a recent practice in which he showed his receiving skills.
“It just popped up one day after we had practice,” Washington said. “I caught a couple balls from the backfield, and they liked that I could move, and they wanted to try me out. So, I just said, yeah, I’m down for whatever.”
Washington appeared in four games last season as a true freshman and rushed for 50 yards on nine carries.
But he played both receiver and running back in high school in Wylie, Texas, so he isn’t brand new to the slot position.
Washington was also previously committed to Purdue when Jeff Brohm was the Purdue head coach. That would seem to suggest that Washington has good hands since Brohm’s pass-heavy offense relies heavily on versatile skill players.
And while Washington could always switch back to running back, why waste his talent at running back if he can help right away at receiver where help is desperately needed?
The Iowa offense has performed woefully in each of the past two seasons and a lack of playmakers at receiver is partly to blame.
“I’ve been getting mainly receiver (reps) right now so I can get it down,” Washington said. “But I’m going to go back and get some more at running back.”
Barring a rash of injuries, Iowa is loaded at running back with senior Leshon Williams, junior Kaleb Johnson and sophomore Jaziun Patterson all competing for playing time, along with sophomore Kamari Moulton.
Assuming they all return next season, there should be enough depth at running back to allow Washington to stay at receiver.
Iowa needs to develop receivers that can gain yards after the catch, and it’s reasonable to assume that Washington’s running back skills would help him excel in that area.
“I feel like that’s the best way I can help the team just by using my versatility,” Washington said of playing receiver.
Iowa’s three coordinators met with the media on Thursday and Lester explained the thinking behind switching Washington to slot receiver.
“Well, he’s a great athlete,” Lester said. “He threw the ball to me the other day, and the thing was spinning. And he can throw it, as well. You know, the biggest thing is we have a couple guys banged up and that were out for a short amount of time, so it just made sense to put him in there. He still played running back. He carried the ball today. So he’s still in the running back room, but he has a skill set that we figured would be great for him to learn out there.”
He has gotten a ton of reps at our slot position. Done a good job getting better. Sometimes he runs a route and he still looks like a running back running a route, and then sometimes he looks great.
“It’s been a very great — we have a good stack of running backs, and we felt like that was going to be the way that he’d get the most reps and be out there playing football, and then we’d still at the end throw him in for a couple running back reps.”
The loss of Bostick to the transfer portal could present an opportunity for Washington to climb the depth chart at receiver. Bostick was listed as the backup to junior Kaleb Brown at one of the receiver positions.
Brown, a former high school running back who transferred from Ohio State, came on strong at the end of last season. He barely played in the first half of the 2023 season, but would go on finish third on the team with 22 catches for 215 yards and one touchdown.
Brown showed the ability to gain yards after the catch, and if Washington can do the same, Iowa finally might have something positive developing at receiver
Time will tell.