C-
Washington Commanders
The Commanders got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the C-.
by Maddmax ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
Boards are made to be trusted, and the Commanders shredded theirs for Fernando Carmona. He came off 55 spots early, and the room will hear about it. The final tally is a middling C-.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it.
On value alone, Bentley makes the weekend a net positive.
The verdict is a shrug for now, with the swing picks left to write the real ending.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 18 they get a disruptive interior force at fair value.
Anthony Hill Jr. is a better player than pick No. 49 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They paid up for Daylen Everette at slot 71 when waiting would have done the job. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached into another round for Keylan Rutledge, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Bryce Lance at the 123rd overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Malik Benson in Round 5, Pick 7 lands just on the right side of the ledger. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They did well to land Demond Claiborne in pick No. 163, just ahead of his grade. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They took Ephesians Prysock at par in the 187th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A slide stopped in the Round 6 slot, with Dallen Bentley worth more than the price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Value said wait; Fernando Carmona in No. 223 says they were not listening. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.