A
Washington Commanders
The Commanders won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: A.
by bshea ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
The real work happened on the phones. The Commanders fleeced their trade partners, turning their picks into a noticeably bigger pile than they started with. Add it all up and it grades out a clean A.
Every board in the league had Milton III lower, and that gap is the story. The Mitchell steal is the beam this whole class leans on. Adding Jack Campbell by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies.
The kind of weekend a front office frames and hangs on the wall.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 29 they get a lockdown presence outside at a price that makes it sweeter. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A quiet steal in the 36th overall pick: Chop Robinson for less than the market said. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Xavier Worthy at No. 40 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Xavier Legette slipping to the 61st pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Kingsley Suamataia in pick No. 67 is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A straight-up fair deal on Michael Hall Jr. at the Round 3 slot, value and slot in agreement. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Khyree Jackson in Round 3, Pick 25 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A tidy little value on Cole Bishop in pick 96, a step better than break-even. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A market-rate running back, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Braelon Allen. The roster fit checks out.
No drama and no debate, Trevin Wallace went about where he belonged in the 152nd overall pick. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Myles Cole in the 168th pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Joe Milton III in pick No. 190, miles early. A need, and now a little less of one.
They liked Tanner McLachlan enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 6 slot. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.