A-
Washington Commanders
The Commanders won the night they stopped Simon from sliding. Grade: A-.
by Birdie628 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 7 steals
· 1 reaches
The board owed the Commanders one, and it paid up: Cody Simon, the No. 120 name on the board, sitting there at slot 246 like a gift left on the doorstep. Add it all up and it grades out a clean A-.
They punted on wide receiver, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The Commanders clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
The kind of weekend a front office frames and hangs on the wall.
Pick-by-Pick
Jalon Walker at the 90th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Somehow Dylan Fairchild was still sitting there in No. 97, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Brashard Smith in pick 123 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Taking Cam Skattebo in Round 5, Pick 9 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Carson Vinson at pick No. 179 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Circle this one: Xavier Scott at the Round 6 slot is a fall that decides a draft. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jaylen Reed at the 236th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They will replay Cody Simon at slot 246 for years; that is how good the value is. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.