A
Washington Commanders
The Commanders worked the phones like thieves and earned a A.
by bshea ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 9 steals
· 4 reaches
The Commanders treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending No. 234 on Donell Harris Jr. a full 69 spots early.
That Rosengarten pick is the receipt they will wave around later. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped interior defensive lineman, which is a strange place to end up. The Commanders indulged a want in Wilson while a need in interior defensive lineman stayed open.
A strong weekend's work, and a rare one to find this little fault with.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 14 they get a plug-and-play piece up front. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Taliese Fuaga is a better player than the Round 1 slot suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Troy Franklin in the 36th pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They let Quinyon Mitchell come to them and pounced at the 40th overall pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Graham Barton at No. 45 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
J.J. McCarthy slipping to pick No. 51 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Jonathon Brooks in the 62nd pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The roster fit checks out.
A straight-up fair deal on Junior Colson at slot 67, value and slot in agreement. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
They paid sticker price for Malachi Corley in No. 75, and that is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A want over a need in pick 82: Payton Wilson adds a linebacker while interior defensive lineman keeps waiting.
No drama and no debate, Khyree Jackson went about where he belonged in Round 4, Pick 1. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They paid a round early for James Williams in the 125th overall pick, more than the board wanted. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A reach on Ben Sinnott in pick No. 134; the board had better options right there. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Braelon Allen well ahead of where he belonged. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Edefuan Ulofoshio at pick No. 169 is money in the bank, a linebacker taken below his worth. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Steal is underselling it; LaDarius Henderson at the Round 6 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Roger Rosengarten in Round 6, Pick 43 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A wide receiver of that caliber at No. 220 is the definition of value, full stop. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Donell Harris Jr. at pick 234 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.