A-
Washington Commanders
McCarthy is the plan now, and the Commanders grade out a A-.
by UPTY8TM$0 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 4 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Commanders would have aced it. Cedric Johnson at slot 152 is 73 spots clear of where he belonged.
They have staked the next five years on J.J. McCarthy, which is the only story that really matters here. The Devonshire pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast.
A whole weekend of picks and tight end is somehow still a want.
In short, they turned a good board into a better roster, and it shows.
Pick-by-Pick
J.J. McCarthy at pick 13 is a conviction pick that outran the value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Javon Bullard. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Nothing to complain about; Troy Franklin went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They reached a country mile for Patrick Paul at the 44th overall pick, and the board is aghast. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Payton Wilson slipping to the Round 3 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They paid sticker price for Max Melton in the 78th pick, and that is fine. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Dominick Puni in No. 100 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They reached into another round for Xavier Thomas, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The roster fit checks out.
Cedric Johnson at Round 5, Pick 16 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A need, and now a little less of one.
M.J. Devonshire at the 222nd pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.