D+
Washington Commanders
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Commanders and Golday: D+.
by The Top Cat ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
Somebody took the Commanders to the cleaners. The deals they made bled real value, and the whole class wears it. Too much went sideways, and the D+ is the honest tally.
The Foster pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. The Golday pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
In the end, a class the front office will want to grow past quickly.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 7 they get a two-high chess piece. More want than need.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Lee Hunter in pick No. 65. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A quiet steal in the Round 3 slot: Jake Slaughter for less than the market said. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Somehow Jake Golday was still sitting there in the 104th overall pick, and they pounced on premier edge rusher value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They paid a round early for Nate Boerkircher in No. 147, more than the board wanted. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Caleb Douglas in pick 183, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
No edge and no loss on Ephesians Prysock in the 187th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Nice patience on VJ Payne, who had no business lasting to the Round 6 slot. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jeremiah Wright. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They talked themselves into Bryce Foster at pick 223, and the board did not agree. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.