On the pantheon of best quarterback-receiver duos in football history, Kliff Kingsbury and Wes Welker will have their own level. Kingsbury was a redshirt freshman upon the hiring of Mike Leach as Texas Tech's head coach, and Welker was a running back who took the last scholarship in Leach's initial recruiting class. Together, they provided proof-of-concept for the Air Raid at the major college level: from 2000-02, Kingsbury threw for 11,937 yards and 91 touchdowns, won the AP National Offensive Player of the Year, and became the first Texas Tech quarterback to beat Texas and Oklahoma. Welker switched to receiver in his sophomore season of 2001 and proceeded to become the archetype for the slot receiver in a spread passing offense. He caught 233 passes over his final three seasons, including 14 in a monumental upset of No. 5 Texas in 2002; Kingsbury went 38-of-60 for 473 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions, while Welker snagged 14 balls for 169 yards and two scores, while adding four carries for 40 yards.
Twenty-three years later, the two are back together.
Kingsbury is heading into his second season as the Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator, and on Monday the club hired Welker in an undisclosed role.
Wes Welker, who was in the news last week as a worthy nominee for the Patriots Hall of Fame (672 catches over 6 regular seasons + another 69 in playoffs), is in the news again this week.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) April 7, 2025
Welker, the former Dolphins WRs coach, has landed on the Commanders staff, per sources.
A 5-time Pro Bowler and a member of the Patriots' All-Dynasty Team, Welker played until 2015 -- Kingsbury was in his third season as Texas Tech's head coach by then, working with a sophomore quarterback named Patrick Mahomes -- and did not enter coaching until 2017. He spent 2019-21 as the San Francisco 49ers' wide receivers coach and 2021-24 in the same role for the Miami Dolphins. Bobby Engram is entering his third season as the club's wide receivers coach, so Welker will likely work in a support role.
But if Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels and his receivers are ever having trouble picking up the finer points on Mesh, perhaps Kingsbury and Welker will show the boys how it's done.