B-
Washington Commanders
The Commanders cashed the board's mistake on Mondon Jr.: B-.
by KevinRoll ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
The board owed the Commanders one, and it paid up: Smael Mondon Jr., the No. 110 name on the board, sitting there at slot 148 like a gift left on the doorstep.
They will need Burch to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. A whole weekend of picks and cornerback is somehow still a want.
On the needs board they went 4 of 8, with wide receiver the one that mattered most.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 29 they get a downhill hitter at safety, and a steal at that. More want than need.
They reached a country mile for Jordan Burch at No. 61, and the board is aghast. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They paid sticker price for Elijah Arroyo in the Round 3 slot, and that is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Circle this one: Smael Mondon Jr. at the 148th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Taking Ollie Gordon II in slot 207 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. It fills a real need, too.
LaJohntay Wester in Round 7, Pick 20 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Kaden Prather at pick 250 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.