B
Washington Commanders
The Commanders bet the future on Daniels. The board says B.
by Mike Jags ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
The search is over. The Commanders handed the keys to Jayden Daniels, and the whole operation now runs on his development. Good, not great, and the B says as much.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Sanders. The DeJean pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at tight end, cornerback and other spots. For all the activity, tight end went untouched, which is hard to explain.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the tight end spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
They did well to land Jayden Daniels in pick 12, just ahead of his grade. The roster fit checks out.
A quiet steal in the Round 2 slot: Emeka Egbuka for less than the market said. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Value with a capital V on Taliese Fuaga in pick No. 39, a genuine coup. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Taking Johnny Wilson in No. 71 is close to grand larceny; a wide receiver that good had no business lasting this long. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A curious use of slot 100. Tight end, cornerback and other spots needed the pick; a defensive back in Cooper DeJean did not.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Rod Moore adds a defensive back and leaves tight end, cornerback and other spots untouched.
Blake Fisher in Round 5, Pick 8 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Tahj Brooks in the 185th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Circle this one: Raheim Sanders at the 228th pick is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.