B
Washington Commanders
Smith should have been long gone. The Commanders pounced, and earned a B.
by draftpick ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
The Commanders spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Brashard Smith, the No. 116 name on the board, in Round 6, Pick 28.
Powell-Ryland has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced. The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
A modest surplus at the table, banked quietly. On the needs board they went 6 of 8, with wide receiver the one that mattered most.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
A reach on Aireontae Ersery in Round 1, Pick 30; the board had better options right there. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Zy Alexander at slot 61 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Value said wait; Antwaun Powell-Ryland in No. 79 says they were not listening. It fills a real need, too.
They will replay Elijah Arroyo at the 146th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Ricky White III in pick 169 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
You do not let a running back like Brashard Smith reach pick No. 203 and blink. They did not. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Steal is underselling it; Jamon Dumas-Johnson at the 236th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
No drama and no debate, Alijah Clark went about where he belonged in the Round 7 slot. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.