D+
Washington Commanders
The Commanders answered their biggest question with Daniels. Grade: D+.
by Dirty ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 4 steals
· 4 reaches
Some picks age like wine; Matthew Jones at the 222nd pick will need to, sitting 49 spots clear of his grade. The process wobbled, and the D+ is where it lands.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. Whatever Jayden Daniels becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through running back.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Tampa.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and running back is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 4 they get a long-term answer under center. A real need, handled.
They paid sticker price for Brian Thomas Jr. in the 27th pick, and that is fine. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Graham Barton at the Round 2 slot. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They took T'Vondre Sweat at par in the 40th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Tyler Nubin in slot 43 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
The board had T.J. Tampa higher than No. 67, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Good price on Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in pick 74, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Kiran Amegadjie slipping to Round 3, Pick 14 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Cade Stover at pick No. 79 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Brenden Rice at the 100th overall pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A wild overpay on Roger Rosengarten in No. 109, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They let Johnny Wilson come to them and pounced at slot 138. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A tidy little value on Jarrian Jones in the Round 5 slot, a step better than break-even. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
By-the-book stuff, Isaiah Adams at the 140th pick squarely in line with his ranking. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Xavier Thomas at the 143rd pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A need, and now a little less of one.
They did well to land Luke McCaffrey in the Round 5 slot, just ahead of his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A big swing on Joe Milton III at the 181st overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Matthew Jones well ahead of where he belonged. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.