C
Washington Commanders
The Commanders let Muhammad fall and pounced. Final grade: C.
by Maddmax ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The Commanders lost the trade war and it was not close, handing partners the better end again and again. The good and the questionable cancel out to a C.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Muhammad. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped tight end, which is a strange place to end up. Whittington has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced.
If Arvell Reese and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 7th overall pick they get a downhill thumper at linebacker. More want than need.
Value with a capital V on Christen Miller in Round 3, Pick 7, a genuine coup. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Nothing to complain about; Connor Lew went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Somehow Malik Muhammad was still sitting there in No. 123, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They took Malik Benson at par in the Round 5 slot, which is nothing to complain about. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
VJ Payne at pick 187 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
They jumped the gun on Noah Whittington, taking him earlier than his grade liked. The roster fit checks out.
Jadon Canady at pick No. 223 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.