You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Commanders did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high.
Whatever Caleb Williams becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. They are betting Gray proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
With cornerback and running back unsolved, spending premium capital on linebacker is the choice that costs them. For all the activity, cornerback went untouched, which is hard to explain.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Bullock. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.3
· Pick 3
· Caleb Williams
· QB
· rank 2
In slot 3 they get their guy under center for the next decade. A clean fit for the roster.
R1.4
· Pick 4
· Malik Nabers
· WR
· rank 4
A straight-up fair deal on Malik Nabers at pick 4, value and slot in agreement. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
R1.27
· Pick 27
· Olumuyiwa Fashanu
· OT
· rank 8
In No. 27 they get protection for the quarterback at a price that makes it sweeter. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
R2.2
· Pick 34
· Ja'Tavion Sanders
· TE
· rank 34
Ja'Tavion Sanders at the 34th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
R2.4
· Pick 36
· Darius Robinson
· DL-EDGE
· rank 37
They took Darius Robinson at par in the 36th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
R2.8
· Pick 40
· Edgerrin Cooper
· LB
· rank 42
No edge and no loss on Edgerrin Cooper in pick No. 40; it is a wash and a sensible one. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
R3.3
· Pick 67
· Braden Fiske
· DL
· rank 53
They let Braden Fiske come to them and pounced at Round 3, Pick 3. It fills a real need, too.
R3.4
· Pick 68
· Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
· LB
· rank 59
Of all the spots to shop, they chose linebacker. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the Round 3 slot leaves cornerback and running back for later.
R4.1
· Pick 101
· Cedric Gray
· LB
· rank 126
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending Round 4, Pick 1 on Cedric Gray with cornerback and running back unsolved.
R4.3
· Pick 103
· Gabriel Murphy
· DL-EDGE
· rank 88
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Gabriel Murphy at the 103rd overall pick. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R4.4
· Pick 104
· Brenden Rice
· WR
· rank 97
A tidy little value on Brenden Rice in pick No. 104, a step better than break-even. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
R4.5
· Pick 105
· Calen Bullock
· S
· rank 75
They barely believed it either: Calen Bullock still on the board at slot 105. A minor itch, scratched.
R5.2
· Pick 138
· Roger Rosengarten
· OT
· rank 146
The board had cheaper options than Roger Rosengarten at the Round 5 slot, and it noticed. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R6.6
· Pick 181
· Hunter Nourzad
· C
· rank 188
Hunter Nourzad in the 181st pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
R6.45
· Pick 220
· Joe Milton III
· QB
· rank 199
You do not let a quarterback like Joe Milton III reach pick 220 and blink. They did not. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
