D
Washington Commanders
The Commanders let Mondon Jr. fall into their laps, and walked away with a D.
by V ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 8 steals
· 3 reaches
The board owed the Commanders one, and it paid up: Smael Mondon Jr., the No. 106 name on the board, sitting there at pick No. 231 like a gift left on the doorstep. The math is unkind, and the D follows.
If Frazier pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. A whole weekend of picks and quarterback is somehow still a want.
The Tyreek Hill pickup adds a known quantity to a class of unknowns.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and quarterback is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 26 they get a disruptor off the edge at fair value.
A safety of that caliber at the 48th overall pick is the definition of value, full stop. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They robbed the room for Harold Fannin Jr. here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Tyler Booker at the 79th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Tez Johnson at pick No. 98 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They will replay TreVeyon Henderson at No. 115 for years; that is how good the value is. The roster fit checks out.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Miles Frazier in the Round 5 slot, miles early. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Cody Simon in slot 202, plain and simple. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Cam Skattebo in Round 7, Pick 8 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Smael Mondon Jr. at pick No. 231 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They jumped the gun on Shilo Sanders, taking him earlier than his grade liked. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Gentry Williams this early at the Round 7 slot. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Steal is underselling it; Xavier Nwankpa at pick 251 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.