D
Washington Commanders
The Commanders let Trotter fall into their laps, and walked away with a D.
by The Top Cat ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
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. Too much went sideways, and the D is the honest tally.
The Foster pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. Leaving edge rusher unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. The Trotter pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at edge rusher.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Trotter.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and edge rusher is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 28 they get a three-down second-level presence, outstanding value to boot. More want than need.
In No. 30 they get a ballhawk on the back end. Need was not the driver here.
A slide stopped in the 59th pick, with Lee Hunter worth more than the price. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Germie Bernard in the Round 3 slot is fair value, right on his grade. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Steal is underselling it; Jadarian Price at the 80th overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It fills a real need, too.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Josiah Trotter at linebacker with edge rusher open.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Ted Hurst in the 104th pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Logan Jones is a better player than the 110th overall pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Charles Demmings in pick No. 147 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They jumped the gun on Nate Boerkircher, taking him earlier than his grade liked. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Domani Jackson at No. 183 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Taylen Green at Round 6, Pick 6 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The roster fit checks out.
They did well to land Keagen Trost in pick 189, just ahead of his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They went early on Kaelon Black in slot 209, and the value did not follow. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jeremiah Wright at the 223rd overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Bryce Foster in pick 238 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Robert Spears-Jennings at slot 250. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.