A
Washington Commanders
The Commanders answered their biggest question with Daniels. Grade: A.
by Cart ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 10 steals
· 4 reaches
The Commanders looked at the value chart, folded it up, and took Trevor Keegan at Round 3, Pick 36 regardless, 63 picks early.
Jayden Daniels gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. That is a cornerback worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
Trust the process, because this time the process plainly worked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a No. 1 receiver. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In pick No. 7 they get their guy under center for the next decade at fair value. A real need, handled.
A tidy bit of business in Round 2, Pick 6, where Kool-Aid McKinstry graded well above the range. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Taking Amarius Mims in slot 40 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Steal is underselling it; Kamari Lassiter at No. 67 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They talked themselves into Beaux Limmer at the 92nd pick, and the board did not agree. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Trevor Keegan in the 99th pick, miles early. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A running back of that caliber at No. 104 is the definition of value, full stop. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They took Theo Johnson at par in pick No. 136, which is nothing to complain about. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Luke McCaffrey. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Christian Jones in Round 5, Pick 30 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Sione Vaki at pick 178 is the proof. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They let Ty'Ron Hopper come to them and pounced at the Round 6 slot. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Circle this one: Johnny Dixon at slot 222 is a fall that decides a draft. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
You do not let a running back like Kendall Milton reach pick No. 224 and blink. They did not. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
No edge and no loss on Andrew Raym in slot 232; it is a wash and a sensible one. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Charles Turner III at No. 249 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Brevyn Spann-Ford in Round 7, Pick 31 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A wild overpay on Kedon Slovis in the 253rd pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.