Sport: Football
Born: March 22, 2000
Town: Newark, New Jersey
Jahan Walte Dotson was born March 22, 2000 in Newark, NJ to Robin and Al Dotson. The family moved to northeastern Pennsylvania and Jahan enrolled at Nazareth High School in 2014. He starred at wide receiver and defensive back for Tom Falzone’s Blue Eagles. As a freshman and sophomore, Jahan piled up 1,866 yards and 25 touchdowns—both career records for the varsity in just two seasons. Following his junior year, he enrolled at the Peddie School back in New Jersey, and had another great season.
Jahan decided he missed his friends and returned to Nazareth High as a senior. He had been rated as New Jersey’s #3 college prospect at the time and was already sorting through scholarship offers from the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Penn State and Ohio State. He added over 800 receiving yards and 15 more touchdowns to his résumé as a senior. Jahan committed to UCLA as a senior but decided he wanted to play closer to home and took the offer from Penn State instead.
Jahan made four starts for the Nittany Lions as a freshman in 2018 and started all 13 games as a sophomore in 2019, reeling in 27 passes for 488 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also distinguished himself as a punt return man. Penn State went 11–2 and crushed Memphis in the Cotton Bowl. Jahan caught three passes in the victory, including a short scoring pass from Sean Clifford near the end of the first half.
In 2020, Jahan added 10 pounds of muscle to his 5’11” frame and nearly doubled his reception total to 54. He found the end zone 8 times during the Covid-shortened season—three of which came in a November loss to Ohio State. During that game, he made a helmet catch and a one-handed TD grab on back-to-back plays.
As a senior in 2021, Jahan began the year with touchdowns in Penn State’s first four games, running his personal streak to six games, including the year before. He logged another three-touchdown game against Maryland, setting a school record with 242 receiving yards in a 34–14 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak for the Nittany Lions. Jahan’s big day—plus his 4.4 speed in the 40—established him as a potential first-round pick. Some were saying the combination of speed, strength and big-catch ability that produced a dozen touchdown grabs in 2021 made him the best receiver in the nation. He finished the year with 91 receptions and 1,182 yards.
Penn State went 7–5 in the regular season and received an invitation to the Outback Bowl. Because the NCAA allowed athletes to add a fifth year of varsity eligibility due to Covid, technically, Jahan could have stayed for 2022. He opted to go pro, announcing he would be available in the NFL draft and also skipping the bowl game so as not to risk his health. He wrapped up his college career with 183 receptions and 25 touchdown catches, ranking him second in school history in both categories.
Heading into the receiver-rich 2022 draft, the likely first-round picks other than Jahan were Drake London of USC, Treylon Burks of Arkansas and Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave of Ohio State. The Washington Commanders were in the market for a wideout and held the 11th pick. They felt certain that one or two elite pass-catchers would be available later and traded their pick to the Saints, who took Olave. Washington grabbed Jahan with the 16th pick. He got off to a nice start with the Commanders, catching a pair of touchdown passes on opening day to earn Rookie of the Week honors in a win over the Jaguars. It marked the first time in franchise history a rookie had reeled in two scoring passes on opening day. Jahan was named NFL Rookie of the Week. After missing several games with a sore hamstring, Jahan finished strong, earning top rookie honors again in Week 15 against the Giants. In 12 games he had 35 catches for 523 yards and seven touchdowns.
Jahan was healthy for the entirety of the 2023 season, but it was a down year for the Commanders. After an encouraging 8-8-1 record the year before, they fell to 4–13. Jahan was rarely new quarterback Sam Howell’s primary target and ended up with only 49 catches, which was third on the club. His best game came in a narrow loss to the Eagles, when he caught eight passes for 108 yards and one of his four touchdowns on the year. His longest scoring play came against the Patriots—a 33-yarder that knotted the score at 17–17 and helped Washington pull out a 20–17 victory.