D-
Washington Commanders
The Commanders bled value on every deal, hence the D-.
by The Top Cat ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 6 steals
· 2 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Commanders started one anyway for Dominic Zvada, 47 picks ahead of schedule.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. The Thomas steal is the beam this whole class leans on.
Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
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
Caleb Downs at pick 7 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Anthony Hill Jr. slid further than he should have, and the 47th pick is lovely value for the linebacker. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
A tidy bit of business in Round 2, Pick 16, where Emmanuel Pregnon graded well above the range. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They read the board right and Germie Bernard was the payoff at pick No. 71. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Logan Jones at the Round 4 slot is the proof. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A slide stopped in slot 113, with Jalon Kilgore worth more than the price. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Taylen Green at slot 183 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Keagen Trost in pick 187 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Kaelon Black in the 209th overall pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. A need, and now a little less of one.
Miles Kitselman in pick No. 223 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Zavion Thomas in the Round 7 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Dominic Zvada this early at Round 7, Pick 38. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.