B+
Washington Commanders
The Commanders fleeced the room on the phones and earned a B+.
by CoachEastman ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 24 picks
· 2 steals
· 17 reaches
The Commanders treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending the 138th overall pick on Austin Reed a full 140 spots early. It does the job without flash, and the B+ reflects it.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. The Jenkins value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere.
They went 8 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for. Stockpiling next year's capital is patient, if unglamorous, asset work.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 20 they get a run-stuffing presence up front, though they paid up to get him.
No drama and no debate, T.J. Tampa went about where he belonged in pick 39. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A real head-scratcher, Amarius Mims in pick No. 52 is miles ahead of his ranking. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Payton Wilson. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They barely believed it either: Kris Jenkins still on the board at the 71st overall pick. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Christian Mahogany at slot 89 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board had cheaper options than Junior Colson at No. 97, and it noticed. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
A wild overpay on Tommy Eichenberg in Round 4, Pick 3, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Max Melton slipping to the 107th overall pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A reach for Beau Brade in slot 108; a little patience would have been rewarded. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A tidy little value on Marshawn Kneeland in the 120th pick, a step better than break-even. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
No edge and no loss on Ben Sinnott in pick No. 124; it is a wash and a sensible one. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Dallin Holker in the Round 4 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A big swing on Austin Reed at pick 138, well ahead of any board in the building. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They talked themselves into Jacob Cowing at slot 144, and the board did not agree. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They reached a country mile for Landon Jackson at the Round 5 slot, and the board is aghast. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Value said wait; Jason Henderson in pick 172 says they were not listening. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
They paid sticker price for Devin Neal in the 179th overall pick, and that is fine. A need, and now a little less of one.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Silas Bolden well ahead of where he belonged. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Brevyn Spann-Ford at No. 189 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the tight end. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Chico Bennett Jr. in Round 6, Pick 42 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
LaDarius Henderson at pick No. 228 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Blake Watson in No. 242, miles early. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They reached into another round for Braden Fiske, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It fills a real need, too.